RUSS EHNES AND DANA BELL COMPLETE BUSY AND SUCCESSFUL WEEK IN WASHINGTON, D.C.

NOHVCC staffers get vital “face time” with agency heads, legislators, and national outdoor recreation groups

National Off-Highway Vehicle Conservation Council Executive Director Russ Ehnes and NOHVCC Project Coordinator Dana Bell returned recently from a June trip to our nation’s Capital. The visit was taken in conjunction with the Great Outdoors Week that would find many national organizations in attendance as well as interested legislators from the Hill. This forum provided a tremendous opportunity for NOHVCC to meet face-to-face with the people who will be playing vital roles regarding the future of OHV recreation in this country. Following is Russ’ account of the trip:

"On Monday Dana attended the NTTP (National Trails Training Partnership) meeting. I arrived late that afternoon. That evening we met with Christopher Douwes from the Federal Highway Administration. Douwes is the Trails and Enhancements Program Manager for the FHWA and oversees the Recreational Trails Program (RTP) that provides much of the federal funding for OHV recreation projects throughout the country.        

"Tuesday morning Dana and I met with Dr. Don Charpio, Anna Atkinson, Mark Goldbach and Bob Rathcliff from Bureau of Land Management (BLM).  Patti Klein (from the BLM Leave No Trace program) joined the meeting by conference phone. The BLM is 100% supportive of the Adventure Trail and will be getting us a letter allowing us to put their logo on the artwork next week. Don Charpio made the point that we need the Adventure Trail messages to go far beyond the typical audience.  He suggested the electronic media and opportunities like McDonalds place mats. While I’m not sure we’ll get McDonalds to commit to an OHV education program, I do agree that we need to think big and have a plan that we could approach large companies outside the industry with. We also discussed how we could work more closely with the BLM Washington Office to spread the word about our OHV Management Workshops.

"At noon Dana and I attended the Coalition for Recreational Trails Awards luncheon.  The ceremony is to present awards for the best RTP funded projects around the country.  Glen Myers, Brook Beasley, and Gary Griggs accepted an award for the Minooka Park Project and Denny Mann accepted an award for an OHV Education Outreach Program in Pennsylvania.  NOHVCC was recognized several times throughout the course of the presentation for its role in both projects. Christopher Douwes also acknowledged our organization in his address about the RTP Program. Christopher held up a copy of the Park Guidelines for Off-Highway Vehicles and used it as an example of the good products being produced by the RTP program for the states.

"At 3:00 we met with United States Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth, Dave Holland, Sharon Metzler, Mary Wagner and Gloria Manning. The Chief was very aware of the NOHVCC but was not aware of all of our programs. He and the rest of the folks seemed very impressed with the Adventure Trail and will be getting us a letter to allow us to use their logo next week also. They are also very interested in participating in the discussions about how to spread the message to the masses along with BLM. We also discussed the USFS Draft Rule, which probably won’t be released until July or August. They couldn’t share any real details about the draft other than to say it is primarily aimed at eliminating cross-country travel and establishing designated trails, routes and areas.  We’ll have to wait to see what the details are in a month or so.

"After lunch with Pat Holtz from the AMA Dana and I attended the Tread Lightly! Federal Partners meeting at the Department of Interior building. Tread Lightly! gave a brief update on their strategy for the coming year. Dana left the meeting and headed for the airport

"At noon I met with Larry Smith from ARRA. We discussed their involvement with the NOHVCC in the “Take Pride In America” program. We also talked about the bill moving through congress that addresses consistent law enforcement and fines for damaging public lands. ARRA, MIC, SVIA, and AMA support that legislation.

"I left the ARRA offices and headed home. It was an extremely busy few days but I feel it was also very successful and productive."

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