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Presidents Corner
(AZOHVC Invitation Letter) |
Written by: Steve
Carmickle on November 4th, 2005
Fire. No other word
brings focus, attention and action than this word. Today, we
have a “fire” burning in Arizona. Our “fire” is as destructive
and fast moving as the real thing. Our “fire” is the enactment
of policies that closes public land to Off Highway Vehicles (OHV)
in Arizona.
This “fire” was ignited years ago by various Federal, State and
Local bureaucratic land managers enacting policies that began
restricting and closing areas to OHV usage in Arizona without
input from the OHV community. Recently, we have seen an
escalation in area closures to OHV usage due to limited budgets
and resources. In addition, radical environmental groups have
fueled the “fire” by working through these agencies to totally
exclude all Off Highway Vehicles from public lands. We all know
that a “fire”, especially one that can run wild, has to be
confronted immediately or it consumes you.
No one wanted this “fire” to grow in Arizona, so a small group
of Off Highway Vehicle clubs, businesses and organizations met
in Phoenix two years ago to establish a plan to combat this
“fire” by creating a statewide non profit Off Highway Vehicle
organization that would begin working with these agencies to
turn the tide.
The
Arizona Off Highway Vehicle Coalition (AZOHVC) was the
product of these many meetings and on October 8th, 2005 our
first General Meeting was held outlining the 501(C) 3 Non Profit
Organization, Mission Statement and Goals to represent you on
land management issues when dealing with Federal, State, and
Local agencies and opening membership to all.
Only by combining the resources and numbers from the various OHV
groups and businesses in our state can we begin to challenge
poor land management decisions, enact moderate OHV land
policies, communicate as one voice to these agencies while
making sure that the OHV voice is heard and recognized as the
silent majority.
Today you get to make a decision. You can take a stand or you
can continue to watch your public lands be closed to activities
that you and your family love and enjoy. If you want to keep
your trails open, have input into land management policies and
be part of a coalition of OHV users that keeps you informed of
critical issues affecting the areas you recreate in, while
fighting for your rights, then get involved and join the AZOHVC.
Now is the time for you to be heard. Only through participating
in the process will we be able to affect how it is used. You
make the difference. Let us not wait for a major closure of an
area that we enjoy recreating in to bring us together but let us
take the initiative and make the public lands in our state
available to everyone. Thanks for your support.
Steve Carmickle
Past President
Arizona Off Highway Vehicle Coalition
