To further a positive future for off-highway vehicle recreation, advocates must keep a careful watch for developments that might detract from our opportunities. Several organizations carefully monitor developments at the national level. It is equally important to monitor developments at the state and local level. As advocates, we need to know what is in the works so we can respond to it to protect and further our interests.
At the state level, all legislatures offer bill status information online. Forty-three states offer customizable tracking and notification service to track bills, hearings, and other legislative information. Systems can vary from state to state so I’ll share examples from my own state to illustrate some of the concepts. In Wisconsin, you can create an account that allows you to get personalized e-mail notifications based on legislative activity. There are several approaches. You can use keywords like “trails”, “motorcycles”, or “ATV” which will get you information based on a subject. You can also track proposals by entering a bill number. Choosing select committees that may be involved with OHV recreation will get you information about hearings and other related activity. You can also follow a specific legislative author (friend or foe) to keep track of what they are involved with. Lastly, you can track notices about administrative rule changes. It can be helpful to track specific chapters of administrative rules that relate to our interests.
Likewise, many agencies like our DNR have subscription and notification services as well. You may find an entry on agency web pages that allows you to subscribe to e-mail updates. When creating an account for the DNR in WI, the subscriber is presented with a list of topics to choose from. In our case, topics can be checked off (and edited any time) and can range from specific properties or trails to events, master planning changes, off-highway motorcycles, or the like. One handy check off is to get notifications of public meetings and hearings. Choosing a topic like “off-highway motorcycles” will also produce information about meetings relevant to that topic.
Another variation of notification involves RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds that can deliver news and updates to your computer or other internet device. As an example, here is some information about RSS feeds for a National Forest in WI.
Some agencies also share information via social media so it can be valuable to also connect via that method to routinely receive news and information.
Keeping track of developments at the county or even township level in areas where OHV recreation is active can be challenging since many do not have sophisticated notification systems. Monitoring often involves local clubs or enthusiasts that are from that area simply checking a committee or board agenda when it is routinely published each month. There have been instances where we have been able to respond to and head off some detrimental actions simply because a local enthusiast happened to catch an item on an agenda prior to the meeting. Developing relationships with local officials can also lend itself to staying in the information loop.
There probably isn’t a complete solution for being able to keep track of all developing issues that might have an impact on OHV recreation, but using some of the tools described above can help us be more effective in ensuring a positive future for OHV recreation.