THE BIG THREE ADVOCACY GROUPS
Making Sense of the ATVA, BRC, and NOHVCC
Three major off-highway vehicle organizations are dedicated to the advancement of the sport of ATV and dirt bike riding. Rather than having similar agendas, each one of the three organizations serves a different purpose for the recreational ATV rider.
The All-Terrain Vehicle Association (ATVA) is a direct branch of the longer-established American Motorcyclist Association (AMA). The ATVA and AMA’s primary focus is at the competition and legislative end of our sport. In addition to sanctioning thousands of professional and amateur races every year, the ATVA and AMA busy themselves with impending legislation at the local, state, and federal levels regarding OHV recreation. They fight for the laws, rules, and regulations that they feel will most benefit their members and the industry as a whole. Contact the AMA at 13515 Yarmouth Drive, Pickerington, Ohio 43147, or call (800) AMA-JOIN, or check the organization’s website: www.ama-cycle.org.
The BlueRibbon Coalition (BRC) is a membership-based organization dedicated to recreational land-access issues throughout the country. The group has often been described as the “pitbull” branch of OHV advocacy groups as it regularly engages in lawsuits against the anti-recreation access groups, which attempt to shut down and impede public motorized trail systems. The BRC also serves an educational role, its most recent being a program to quiet noisy dirt bikes and ATVs. BRC depends on the money derived from individual memberships to be able to fight its land-use battles. To join, contact the group at Blue Ribbon Membership, 4555 Burley Drive, Suite A, Pocatello, Idaho 83202, or call 1-800-BLUE-RIB (1-800-258-3742) or check out its website: http://www.sharetrails.org.
The National Off-Highway Vehicle Conservation Council (NOHVCC) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit education foundation with a mission to “create a positive future for responsible off-highway vehicle recreation” by offering resources, documents, and educational materials to OHV enthusiasts and groups, land managers and officials, and other recreation organizations. One of the NOHVCC’s initial goals was to form strong OHV state associations and clubs throughout the country to give OHV enthusiasts it a unified voice on OHV recreation issues. The organization also conducts workshops to educate land managers, recreation planners, trail builders and maintenance crews, and OHV enthusiasts about the design and management of fun and sustainable trails. In addition, NOHVCC provides educational programs and materials that promote safety and ethics of OHV trail riding. NOHVCC is a non-membership based organization that encourages riders to join an OHV club in their area. You can contact NOHVCC by calling (800) 348-6487, emailing trailhead@nohvcc.org, or writing to 427 Central Ave. West, Great Falls, MT 59404. You can also find more about the organization’s many services at this website: www.nohvcc.org.
THE BIG THREE OHV ADVOCACY GROUPS
