Well, I should clarify that
A: the issue of H & M having jurisdiction in the whole state is not what I said- but if XYZ paper company is letting H & M use it's land for trails , the understanding is that other areas of XYZ paper company property will be kept away from. So if people go riding around on the property then XYZ company would be motivated to back out because they are not getting what they were promised- which is some control over where people go, on designated and approved trails.
B:Absolutely the problem was brewing- in your own words , "people are still riding daily on thousands of miles of this land that H&M does not want you on" Nothing is logistically impossible- just ban ORV''s, problem solved. Read things like this and your blood has to boil, but it is our own fault (from Tenenesee but I am sure I could find all sorts of WVA refernces I just don' have the time
"D. ATV traffic on state lands
(Contributed by Frank Hensley)
There has been a statewide move to limit damaging all-terrain vehicle (ATV) and similar "off-road" traffic on state lands. In State Forests, the Department has placed signs that inform such vehicles where they can travel, and warning them of fines and loss of property if they use roads that are off limits. In the Catoosa Wildlife Management Area, TWRA has banned such vehicles except when used by people with a valid hunting permit during managed hunts.
Private efforts, too, have had excellent results in the area generally west of Pickett where private land acquisition for conservation purposes has been in progress (NL240 ¶2A; NL241 ¶5). Thanks to construction of fences and a gate by Charlie Burger and helpers (NL250 ¶5F), all motorized traffic through the Tally wilderness, Dobbs Creek, and Chimney Rock areas has been stopped. All of these areas are now free of litter, and the Smoke House Cavern, which used to be full of beer cans and other trash, is completely clear"
C;
Hatfield-McCoy Project History
The Hatfield-McCoy Recreation Area is a unique trail facility. It is unique because of its size, anticipating at least 2,000 miles of trails in an area of almost three million acres in West Virginia alone. It will ultimately include more than five million acres and thousands more miles of trail when it expands into the adjoining areas of Virginia and Kentucky. It is also unique because the trails lie almost entirely on land owned by large corporations and held for timber, coal, and other resource harvesting. There is no other project like it in the world utilizing private property to such an extent for public recreation.
The factors that have made the Hatfield-McCoy unique have also made it a very difficult project to bring into reality. From the conception of the idea in 1989, it has taken more than ten years of constant effort to achieve the opening of the first 220 miles of trail in late 2000. This is a brief synopsis of that effort -- the story of the Hatfield-McCoy Recreation Area.
The story has its start with a map hanging on the wall in the government relations offices of the Motorcycle Industry Council, in Arlington, Virginia. The map shows, in soft pastel shades, the land throughout the nation that is under control of various agencies of the federal government. The map readily evidences that there is a great abundance of public land in the West, but relatively little in the East. This poses a serious problem for those who want to expand opportunities for off-highway vehicle recreation east of the Rocky Mountains. There's very little public land available to use.
Back in 1989, that was the dilemma that confronted John English, then director of state government affairs for MIC, and Leff Moore, executive director of the West Virginia Recreational Vehicle Association and a legislative consultant for MIC. When Moore asked why there are so many opportunities for OHV recreation in the West and so few in the East, English pointed to the map and explained how there are so few large tracts of public land in the East. Moore thought for a moment and then noted that there may not be much public land, but there certainly are large tracts of land owned by corporations in his home state, West Virginia. Although neither of them realized it at the time, the idea of the Hatfield-McCoy Recreation Area had just been conceived. Both began to reflect upon the possibilities of doing public recreation on large tracts of corporate-owned land.
Moore later produced from his files a somewhat dated study that had been published by the Huntington Herald-Dispatch entitled, "Who Owns West Virginia." This series of newspaper articles published in 1974 concluded that in 27 of West Virginia’s 55 counties, about 24 large corporations own more than half of the non-public land.
Following this genesis of the idea, it grew in form over the following two years as Moore and English, busy with other matters, mulled it over in their minds and in many subsequent conversations. They came to realize that southern West Virginia had the perfect terrain for trails and it had large tracts of land that over long periods of time were not being used by the corporate owners in any way inconsistent with public trails recreation. Southern West Virginia was also in great need of economic diversification, so a new tourism development there would be welcomed. The federal Bureau of Land Management had lots of experience in managing trails recreation, including trails for motorized recreation. BLM also had virtually no name recognition in the East and much needed an eastern-based project to give them a constituency there. West Virginia Senator Robert C. Byrd was well positioned in the Congress to provide funding for the project, and the enthusiastic support of Congressman Rahall was anticipated. Also, there was a great name and theme available from the famous Hatfield-McCoy feud that was part of the region’s history. All of these factors were stirred into the concept.
By June of 1991, the idea had taken the shape of a federally funded demonstration project of multiple-use recreational trails on private property in southern West Virginia managed by the federal BLM with a Hatfield-McCoy theme. This is the idea that Moore and English first shared with Mike Whitt, a former West Virginia legislator, and the executive director of the Mingo County Redevelopment Authority, right in the heart of Hatfield-McCoy country. Whitt immediately liked the idea, and a partnership was formed that would see the concept, although much reshaped in the process, through to reality.
So, although the idea was first conceived in 1989, the effort to implement it really got underway in June of 1991. The implementation of the project involved all the following:
¨ Identifying and bringing on board the necessary partners, BLM and many others;
¨ Selling the vision to community leaders in the project area and to state and federal government leaders;
¨ Completing many studies to support the feasibility of the concept and accomplishing the planning and laying out of the trail system and its manner of operation;
¨ Hosting a series of recreational events to show the feasibility of the concept and that people would really come to use the trails;
¨ Securing the passage of necessary legislation to control liability and legislation to create the entity that would operate the project;
¨ Convincing the landowners the project was in their best interests and developing the legal agreements under which the land would be used and the landowners protected;
¨ Obtaining necessary funding to complete the development and planning and to make the operation secure until it can become self-sustaining;
¨ Setting up the operating entity, hiring project staff, and completing policy documents
¨ Constructing, improving, and signing trails and trailheads to prepare for trail visitors.
Throughout this long effort, the concept has taken a new shape and has added many layers of related elements. Federal management of the project by the BLM proved to be not feasible, so BLM’s role has been redefined as a provider of quality control oversight. A new entity, a quasi-governmental corporation, now manages the project. The anticipated federal funding of the entire project also proved not feasible, and much of the necessary funding has been provided by the state of West Virginia. But much of the original vision has also survived. The part of the Hatfield-McCoy that is now open is just a beginning of the realization of the vision. Much more remains to be done and will be done over the next few years until the Hatfield-McCoy is finally completed.
One very unique quality of the Hatfield-McCoy is that virtually all the trails lie on private property. Much of the land in Hatfield-McCoy country -- so called because of the famous family feud that occurred here in the 1880s -- is owned by corporations and held for coal or timber production. With the cooperation of the corporate landowners, the land is being opened to public recreation during times when the landowners are not actively working it. The trails will close or move, as necessary, to avoid conflicting with landowner or lessee activity on the land
Also I think the bottom line is the local riders could never be the economic force needed to make Hatfield McCoy happen - they needed the tourists to justify the whol ething. So the locals should be glad they have this great riding area in their backyard. Or they can prove the naysayers right and keep riding illegally .