April, 2008 Edition

ATV Routes Update

After nearly two years of working with multiple town boards around the county to get the ordinances in place to permit ATV traffic on town roads, we’re starting to see a lot of progress this Spring! Thanks to the members of the Trail Committee and the other PCAA members that have attended multiple town board meetings and hearings, their hard work and the many hours invested appears to be paying off now.

The opening of the ATV Routes in Spring Lake township has been pushed back to May 15th to allow more time for signing, to better coincide with the weight restrictions being lifted, and to allow more time for things to dry out. Signing of the township roads in Spring Lake will be happening on Saturday, May 10th. Check the PCAA web site events page for more details.

On April 14th the Ellsworth Town Board voted to approve ATV Routes on 450th Ave, 610th St, and 570th Ave west of 610th St to the Village of Ellsworth. Other township roads will be open for town residents to access the ATV Routes.

Gilman township has approved the opening of a corridor to allow ATVs to ride between Martell and Spring Lake townships. The corridor will be on 770th Ave from the border with Martell township east to 750th Ave, east on 750th to 410th St, south on 410th to 690th St, and then east on 690th to Olivet and the border with Spring Lake township.

Martell township voted to open their town roads to ATVs provided at least one neighboring township also opens their roads. Since Ellsworth and Gilman have both voted to open select roads, all town roads in Martell township will be signed and opened to ATV traffic as soon as the PCAA has the time and signage funding to get this completed.

Trimbelle township had been waiting to see what other townships do before voting one way or another. Now that several townships have approved the ATV Routes, it’s expect that Trimbelle will vote on their ordinance at their May meeting on Tuesday, May 13th at 7:00pm. PCAA members that live in Trimbelle township, here’s one last chance to attend this meeting and make your preferences known to your town board members.

The town board in El Paso township appears to be undecided at this point regarding opening some or all of their roads to ATVs. El Paso residents, please keep attending the town board meetings and voicing your opinions about opening your town roads to ATV traffic.

Ron Anderson has been talking with Pierce County about the possibility of using county roads to gain access to Elmwood and Spring Valley, but no decisions have been make yet.

Finally, Ron Anderson and the trail signing committee could still use additional help with signing, so if you can spare a few hours to help out please contact Ron at 715-495-4397.

Spring ATV Safety Class

The PCAA held an ATV Safety Class at the Spring Valley High School in Spring Valley, WI, the second week of April. 11 students from around the area successfully completed the training and received their WI ATV Safety certification.

Another class is tentatively being planned for late Summer, probably after the Pierce County Fair and before school starts back up.

WATVA Annual Meeting and Workshop Recap

Seven people from the PCAA (Dave Swenson, Scott Jones, Eric Markwardt, Jeff and Ruth Esanbock, and Joe and Teresa DeGross) attended the Wisconsin ATV Association’s Annual Meeting and Workshop in Stevens Point, WI, on March 29-30.

During the workshop portion of the event on Saturday presentations were given on a number of different topics, including:

  • An update on invasive species and how it affects our sport. Be sure to clean the weeds and other vegetation off of your ATVs before and after your rides and wash the mud off at a car wash or other location that will contain any invasive plant seeds that might be present. The anti-access folks are using this as a (flawed) argument in favor of closing trails.
  • The WI Department of Tourism has produced an ATV Travel Guide that they’re handing out at 8 welcome centers around the state. It’s a great summary of the major ATV trail systems in the state.
  • A Youth Expo is again being held in May in Beaver Dam, WI, at the Dodge County fairgrounds. 5000+ 4th and 5th graders are being introduced to ATVing and other outdoor sports.
  • Trail Patrol Ambassadors now have the option of submitting report forms online via the web site.
  • Greg Mumm, Executive Director of the Blue Ribbon Coalition, gave an overview of the BRC and urged everyone to join the BRC to help with the lobbying efforts they do at the national level to help open new trails and protect the trails we do have from the anti-access crowd.
  • Quite a bit of time was spent talking about ATV Road Routes and the implications of them. The summary seemed to be that they’re needed to connect trails but that the end goal should be to have a trail system.
  • There’s a Light Utility Vehicle (LUV) 2-year pilot program being launched in 6-8 counties around the state this Spring. LUVs (primary side-by-sides such as the Rhino, Mule, and Ranger) will be allowed on ATV trails in these counties and the impact, if any, will be surveyed and assessed over the next two years. At the end of the pilot program decisions will be made on how to proceed with LUVs.
  • Recognition awards were handed out to the top 86 Trail Patrol Ambassadors. Eric Markwardt from the PCAA received a cap and TPA patch for being in the top 60 TPAs in terms of hours patrolled.

On Sunday the WATVA Annual Meeting was held with Randy Harden, WATVA President, recapping the progress made in 2007 and the goals for 2008.

One of the big items that WATVA was able to accomplish in 2007 was getting the legislature to approve incentives for landowners to grant trail easements. This program isn’t quite available for clubs to use yet, but when it is landowners will be eligible to receive from $25-$100 per trail mile, depending on how long the trail is open during the year. 10% extra will also be available if the landowner signs a 5-year or longer easement. Hopefully the PCAA will soon be able to use this program with the landowners we’re talking to.

2008 Membership Renewals

Just a quick reminder that per the PCAA Bylaws memberships run on an annual basis from January to December, regardless of when you joined the club during the year. Only about 50% of PCAA members have renewed for 2008 at this point.

If you’ve received a membership renewal form with this newsletter, the PCAA’s records indicate that you have not yet renewed for 2008. Please fill out and return the form to the PCAA as soon as possible. If you feel that you’ve received a renewal form in error, please contact Kathy Gutting, PCAA Secretary, at 715-273-5142 or . Starting in April members that haven’t renewed will be dropped from the club membership and distribution lists.

Spring Fund-raisers In Progress

Kris Jones is coordinating another Home Interiors Candle sale. She can be reached at 715-273-4505 or if you're interested in helping out or would like to place an order. The PCAA gets $0.50 for every $1.00 of product sold, so this is a great way to stock up on Mother’s Day gifts and help out the PCAA coffers at the same time.

Dave Swenson has also been busy coordinating several meat raffles at the T-Bar in Ellsworth. Each has been generating over $200 in profit for the PCAA. The last one for the Spring will be held at 6:00pm on Thursday, May 8th. The meat raffles will resume in September or October.

Dave and Kris, thanks for your hard work!

Club Ride

On Saturday, February 16th, 10 people from the PCAA headed over to the Clark County trails for a day of winter riding. The weather was great – upper 20s and sunny – so a fun time was had by all.

Suggestions for upcoming club ride dates/locations are always welcome, and we’re still looking for a volunteer to coordinate the club rides. Let one of the Officers or Board Members know if you’d like to help out.

Apathy and the 20-20-20 RuleAn Editorial by the Webmaster

The American Heritage Dictionary defines apathy as “a lack of interest or concern, especially regarding matters of general importance or appeal; indifference.”

After attending the WATVA Annual Meeting and hearing from Greg Mumm of the Blue Ribbon Coalition, I think apathy about the riding privileges we all have is one of the greatest dangers our sport faces. The privilege of having trail systems on public and private lands is very hard to get and very easy to lose. Something as simple as riding off of established trails or assuming that, “it’s not my problem, someone else will take care of it”, are some of the ways that these privileges can quickly and easily be taken away from all of us. Face it, many of the anti-access people will use any and all means at their disposal to try to keep us off of “their” public land.

So what can you do to help preserve your riding privileges? Most importantly, Get Involved. Join a local club, a state organization, and a national organization. Each organization is involved in the political process at different levels and none can survive for long with the others. Volunteer to help out at club events. Even a few hours a year can be beneficial to the cause.

And what’s this 20-20-20 Rule that’s mentioned above? Spend $20 per year to join a local club (which most of you have already done since you’re PCAA members and are receiving this newsletter – thanks!), spend $20 to join a state organization like the Wisconsin ATV Association ( and spend $20 to join a national organization like the Blue Ribbon Coalition (

WATVA is focused on helping to form new off-highway vehicle (OHV) groups, offering meaningful help to existing ones, promoting a positive image in all things we do, and establishing a communications network in which all can share their successes or ask for assistance with particular challenges. WATVA remains committed to provide educational programs and materials for youth and adults alike, to encourage awareness of the impact we all have on the future of the sport and industry of OHV.

The Blue Ribbon Coalition is a national non-profit organization dedicated to preserving responsible recreational access to public lands all across the United States. Their goal is to keep your land open for use, whether you recreate on a mountain bike, snowmobile, motorcycle, personal watercraft, ATV, four-wheeler, horse, or your hiking boots.

Is $60 per year really too much to ask for helping to preserve and expand the riding privileges that we currently have? I don’t believe so. We spend thousands of dollars on our ATVs and we spend hundreds of dollars on gas to drag them around the state so that we can ride them. In that context an extra $60/year doesn’t seem so large to me.

Thanks for listening. I’m off now to go send in my BRC membership.

-Eric

Volunteers Still Needed

Speaking of combating apathy, volunteers are still needed to help with several committees:

The Trail Committee needs help talking with landowners about easements for trails, etc. If you know someone with some property who might be willing to grant a trail easement (possibly in exchange for some $$$?) or if you’d be willing to knock on some doors, please contact Darren Place about lending a hand.

The Signing Committee needs help putting up Route signs in Spring Lake township on May 10th and in Ellsworth, Martell, and Gilman townships as time and money permit over the next couple of months. Contact Ron Anderson if you’d like to help.

Dave Swenson could use help with selling paddles at the meat raffles the PCAA has been holding every other week at the T-Bar.

We’re still looking for someone to act as a Club Ride Coordinator. Pick a spot and a date to ride and get the word out.


Be sure to thank our Business Sponsors for their support of the Pierce County ATV Association