BRYDEN1

Member
Sep 22, 2003
97
0
Alberta Gov. is doing a land use review called GAMP. It WILL close most of the bike trails we use in the forestery west & south of Calgary. Go to this site and complete the questionair. www.praxis.ca/gw/gwintro.htm.
 
C

CaNaDiAn,Eh?

This includes all trails? Even motocross tracks? What about the trails used by quads and dirtbikes in rural areas such as Caroline? I never thought Alberta would pull crap like this!!!
 

Neil Wig

LIFETIME SPONSOR
Jun 22, 2000
347
0
My understanding is that a lot of the problem was caused by stolen vehicles being thrashed through the trails. May not be the case, but that's what I heard from the seedy side of Calgary. Being checked for ownership wasn't an uncommon thing, and if you didn't have proof of ownership, you were walkin'.
 

Canadian Dave

Super Power AssClown
Apr 28, 1999
1,202
0
Alberta has be pulling things like this for years. A great deal of land was lost to Special Placing 2000. Last year the Bighorn area west of Rocky Mountain House i.e. the Nordeg area was under review. Over 99.9% of the land once open to off road riding in that area was closed. Much of what remains open to off road vehicles are nothing more than gavel roads. The Alberta government plans to review land use alone the Rockies right down to the US boarder in the coming years and unless the OHV riders in Alberta can make their case heard we are all in big trouble. The Alberta Off-Highway Vehicle Association is working very hard to help ensure OHV owners have a voice in Alberta and help plug the flood gate of land that’s being closed to our use. Its ironic how many people I talk to about dirt biking in Alberta that scream and holler about land being lost but aren’t members of the AOHVA. If you’re not a member its time to join and become active in saving what land remains open. You can checkout their web page at www.aohva.com

Neil Wig you misunderstand the problem. A great deal of the problem lies with those who do not follow the rules of the road i.e. not sticking to existing trails, leaving piles of garbage behind, overly noisy bikes etc . and the fact the the government wont give OHV groups the resources they need to maintain the riding areas they use. How much of the money that you pay for your OHV registration goes bock to OHV groups and train maintenance . . zero. The Greens are putting a great deal of pressure on the Alberta government to put together a land use management plan for the area that would see zero motorized use. The really ironic thing about all of this is that the government has already said that this review will not affect existing industrial activities in the area. What do they have left to hand the green if oil field exploration and logging are untouched, you got it hand over the OHV owners.
 

markymark77

LIFETIME SPONSOR
Jan 4, 2002
80
0
I have a good question for fellow Canadian MXers. We all knew land use issues would eventually become a problem. Now who is it that represents the voice of off roaders in Canada. It is definately not the CMRC. We dont have anyone or any organisation to turn to. The provincial government can pull the plug on all riding areas if they wish and we dont have anyone to blame but ourselves. I think the next time you send a cheque to the CMRC for your licence, you should ask them what it is they are doing to improve availability of riding areas. We need to form a more effective club for not only MX racers, but a club that works to conserve valuable riding areas accross Canada. We have nothing.
 

Neil Wig

LIFETIME SPONSOR
Jun 22, 2000
347
0
Thanks for the clarification Dave.

Do you think the fires burning in California, and the recient tragedy in BC will provide some amunition for responsible land use?

Currently, all provincial forrests in Saskatchewan are open to OHV use. I haven't heard of any movement to change this.

What happens to hunting in Alberta? Does the governement expect all hunting and recovery to be done manually? No use of Quads (I know, its a 4 letter word here, but we are all in the same boat)? How big an industry is hunting in Alberta? I'm currently working near Foresburg AB (Battle River Gen Station), and from what I see here, hunting is a way of life. 6 of 8 people I talk to are into hunting, in a big way.

What's going to happen with Route 66 (snowmobile trails)? Are they closed as well? If not, they would set a precident for the government to provide an organized trail system for year round OHV use.

Thanks again

Neil.
 
Dec 22, 2000
15
0
As offroad riders we Do have a voice in the access fight. The Alberta United Recreationists society (AURS) represents all o.h.v users in the Calgary area. I am the AURS rep. working with forestry in the GAMP program. Unfortunatelly we have had little success getting bikers or quaders interested in doing anything. The 4x4 community cause most of the environmental problems, but they have also been very active in land use issues. The morons with the loud bikes have been causing us severe set-backs in our land use fight. More info is available at aurs.org or aohva.com
 

Canadian Dave

Super Power AssClown
Apr 28, 1999
1,202
0
"Currently, all provincial forests in Saskatchewan are open to OHV use. I haven't heard of any movement to change this." That may well be the case, it certainly was in Alberta a very short time ago. With my limited involvement in the AOHVA I can't recall seeing any contact info for OHV clubs in Saskatchewan so OHV users could well be caught of guard when the province moves to start reviewing recreational corridors and they most certainly will its just a mater of time.

Quads for hunting - yes access to traditional hunting areas via ATVs has already started to be effected. The Bighorn review saw a number of areas once open to ATV use in the fall closed. You can see more details on how recent land access reviews have limited OHV use in the Bighorn here

Thumper Darryl you must be Darryl C. then?
 
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