Please take a moment to sign this petition to save the ONLY public ORV park in IA that allows full size vehicles.

Thanks

Petition to save 600 acres ORV (http://www.petitiononline.com/Sept1805/petition.html)

Please pass the word to as many as you can.

got any more information

from google i sorta get the idea that the park has 160 acres and that is coreof engineers land whats the beef and...??????

got any more information

from google i sorta get the idea that the park has 160 acres and that is coreof engineers land whats the beef and...??????

I agree, I can't sign that without more info.

Cliff notes version:

Army Corp of Eng currently manages the land, which allows fullsize ORV and ATV to share wheeling on the aprox 160 acres. From personal experience of wheeling the area, both types of users get along and do wheel responsibly.

Our local 4x4 club goes out on a yearly basis and cleans up the park. We have a good relationship the ACoE.

Corp of Engineers is proposing on turning control of the land over to Iowa DNR.

DNR in turn is planning on making the area accessible only to ATV riders as they pay registration fees to DNR.

We as a club have been lobbying to keep the park open to all wheelers be they fullsize or ATV, but have not had a large voice in the matter.

More detailed info can be found on our forum here TrailHogs Jeep Club of Iowa: Landuse (http://com3.runboard.com/btrailhogsjeepclub.flanduse)

PS: thanks for your concern and support in this matter.

Al

From a post on the Trail Hogs forum:

The findings from Joe Bolkcom. Are you sitting down?

Mark,

Here is what I received from our staff member Jace Mikels. He
summarizes
information provided by IDNR below.

Let me know what questions or thoughts you might have.

Thanks.

Joe

-----Original Message-----
From: Mikels, Jace [LEGIS] [mailto:jace.mikels@legis.state.ia.us]
Sent: Tuesday, November 16, 2004 9:24 AM
To: Joe Bolkcom
Subject: RE: Iowa 4x4's


Joe-

Here is some information I received from DNR on the Off Highway Vehicle
Park in Coralville. It appears the DNR is investigating the possibility of converting the park into an ATV only facility. The DNR does not allow the cross use of parks by ATV's and full-size vehicles for
liability reasons and to curb what it sees as a dangerous practice. The DNR feels that the demand and need for a ATV park in SE Iowa is present. They are pursuing this to cut down on the amount of illegal activity
that is taking place at other riding areas in the region. This would result in the full-size vehicles being squeezed out of the Coralville area, but the DNR indicates that they have attempted to work with the
full size group in finding an acceptable area for them to use. Right now, it seems as if the ATV riders are more organized and better prepared to move ahead with creating a public riding area under state management.

Jace



Background:

Several years ago the Corp. and a local ATV club approached the Department about developing an ATV area at Eli that would be similar to the riding area at Rathbun.

The riding area at Rathbun: This riding area is on Corps property, has a local club sponsor and participates in the DNR ATV Grant program. The DNR provides funds for maintenance, liability insurance, summer worker and joint law enforcement. This formula has worked well for five years.


At the time that the local club and the Corp. were interested in developing a cooperatively managed area, the ATV program did not have the funds to develop the Eli area.

The riding area at Eli has become a haven for illegal and dangerous activity. There is unsupervised operation of full-sized off highway vehicles (Jeeps and 4x4 trucks) mixed with ATV operation. In riding areas, Jeeps and ATVs are always separated for safety reasons. DNR ATV park liability insurance will not cover full-size vehicles when mixed with ATV use (this is an extremely dangerous practice). The area is
also filled with folks who have unregistered ATVs and vehicles on public
property. This is illegal under Iowa code 321I and 321. When riders or operators have vehicles that they cannot register legally, they head for this unsupervised area.

The DNR is finding that the majority of illegal activity at our nearby ATV park in Waterloo comes from riders bored with riding at Eli and venture out.

The DNR law enforcement supervisor for the area has valid concerns that we need to take cooperative action with the Corps to stop the illegal activity in the area. By looking the other way, the DNR and the Corps
are inviting a fatality and liability issues. The illegal activity at the area is spreading to other state areas and creating an environmental nightmare. (No maintenance is being done, as would be provided in a designated riding area).

Possible Solution
The solution would be to revisit the opportunity that was presented more
than two years ago.

ATV program coordinator David Downing worked with the Iowa Full-size Off-highway Vehicle Association (which covers most organized Jeep clubs)last year to find a riding area (separate from ATVs) for full-sized vehicles. The Eli area was turned down by the Association, as they had
selected other privately owned areas to develop.

The Association was encouraged to obtain a manage agreement with the Corps to develop the Eli area, or the DNR would be looking at other options with the Iowa Off-highway Vehicle Association which represents ATV riders. The above group has funding, insurance that covers the state and federal government and a dedicated membership to provide needed maintenance.

Over the last year, the Full-Sized Off-Highway Vehicle Association has
made no organized effort to obtain a management agreement with the
Corps. They have also been unable to obtain insurance that would cover
the club members, state and federal government, or operators outside of
their club.

During 2004 legislative meetings with representatives of the Full-sized
Off-Highway Vehicle Association, the Association agreed to seek a private area for development and seek National Recreational Trail Grant Funds to cover their costs. These action-steps were also conclusions of the DNR Full-Sized Off-Highway Vehicle Plan that was presented to the legislature last session.

Need?
There are currently 42,000 registered ATVs in the state. We are working to provide legal riding areas, following common sense environmental guidelines. The Southeast corner of the state is lacking a legal
riding area.

The state Association that represents full-sized vehicles has approximately 600 members. There are at least four large private riding areas in the state, including a 2,500 acre area in the North Central part of the state.

What has the DNR done on the matter?
Following concerns from law enforcement personnel and renewed interest by a local ATV club, including the Iowa Off-Highway Vehicle Association, David Downing sent an e-mail to the truck and Jeep folks to let them know that the Department would be looking into a possible agreement with
the Corps and local ATV club riding. Downing advised them that due to the present conditions at the Eli area and a lack of an organized effort on their part, the Department we moving forward.

The Department has not contacted the Corps regarding the area. It is simply in the investigative stages, gathering public interest and input, to help inform any possible agreement.

The DNR does not allow the cross use of parks by ATV's and full-size vehicles for liability reasons...

LEGAL LIABILITY--that is going to be a monumental hurdle to overcome. If you were only combating the *idea* that ATVs and OHVs can peacefully co-exist, you'd have a good chance of convincing people; after all there are plenty of successful multi-use OHV parks.

But combating the LEGAL LIABILITY ISSUE is gonna be a significant problem; the DNR most likely has legal counsel suggesting the conversion to an ATV-only area, and unfortunately signatures on a petition don't mean SQUAT when compared to the recommendation of legal counsel.

2¢