Info on OMTA (Ohio Motorized Trails Association)

[blazerbrad]

I've never seen any mention of this on these boards, so I thought I would at least introduce this association.

The OMTA (Ohio Motorized Trails Association) is a group that was founded several years ago with the interest of fighting for all types of motorized trails in the State of Ohio. Our club has been quite active with them and several of our members directly volunteer their time.

Here is the link to their site:
http://www.ohiotrails.org/

Here is a copy of the recent newsletter they put out (text in parentheses was added by a guy in our club who helps out):

This is a new beginning for the Ohio Motorized Trails Association, our first “hard copy” newsletter. ('Multi-use' was changed to 'Motorized')

One of the first things folks ask is “What will OMTA do for me?”

This is a good time to recount some of the history of OMTA. In the fall of 2000 a group of quad, motorcycle and 4x4(KevinM & I) riders got together for a very important meeting. They knew Ohio needed an organization to defend and fight for off pavement recreation. OMTA an Ohio 501c3 was started in 2000 and the first battle started early in 2001.

From 2001 to 2005 OMTA was engaged in the “New” Wayne national forest plan. OMTA was the only state level motorized organization involved. We traveled over 3000 miles to make all the meetings from the 6 economic opportunity meetings to over 10 open comment forums across Ohio. We proposed to the Wayne to have a “Market Place of Ideas” before the public meeting so groups could show the public attending the meetings their vision. At every public meeting we presented off pavement recreation’s values at those “Market Places of ideas”. We were the only motorized group and the only group (including our adversaries’) who presented at every meeting.

When the forest plan draft was presented we fought and won to make mileage increases mandatory, not just a “goal”. We also kept the Wayne from removing the 300 miles required in the first forest plan. (and also got the Wayne to talk about a 4x4 area near Nelsonville,OH)

OMTA has fought to keep township roads open for 4x4 and dualsport use. We have testified for roads in Hocking, Vinton, Athens and Perry Counties, as well as Richland(4x4s in the Furnace) and Ludlow(4x4s in Marietta) Township. We continue to testify at County Commissioner meetings across the state. We have kept the Wayne from closing roads in many areas(Ludlow TwpRd.407). We have testified to keep roads open in Vinton(Furnace TwpRd.15), Athens and Hocking Counties. We currently have a lawsuit in Vinton County to establish our right to speak for motorized recreation and the constitutionality of the current vacating process(Furnace TwpRd.15).

OMTA currently scans the legal sections of the Columbus Dispatch and the Athens, Vinton, Wellston, Perry, Jackson County newspapers(!!!). We have had letters to the editor and opinion pieces published in all these papers.

OMTA was the organization that went to Ohio Statehouse hearings on a law that would have allowed Townships to close roads without your input(I went with Bill). OMTA headed off that law. We made it possible for Townships to declare roads non-maintained and keep them for our use.

When off road riders where challenged by State Wildlife Officers(Ludlow citations), OMTA brought in all the State Wildlife and Wayne Officers and proved they had made a “big” mistake(I went with Bill). We established lines of communication to keep it from happening again.

The Farm Bureau and the Railroad Association sought to have a law to mandate registration and allow confiscation of all off road vehicles. OMTA had a meeting with them, the American Motorcyclists Association and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and got it stopped! Without the intervention of OMTA, you could have lost your ATV, MC or 4x4 simply for inadvertent trespass!

Have you heard of SCORP, the “State Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan”? This is Ohio’s recreation plan they do every 5 years. If you are not in the plan, you do not exist. OMTA and its officers have been involved with SCORP since before OMTA existed as an organization. The last two SCORPs have established OMTA as the only wheeled motorized group recognized in it(I submitted 4x4 data to this Plan - and it was published in it).

OMTA was and is the catalyst for the new law to restore reciprocity(for ATVs/dirtbikes). We are also working to make meaningful changes in the fee structure to expand opportunity. We are currently working with the ODNR on a new recreation area in the Northeast. We will keep you informed.

We have applied for and received educational grants to educate the personnel who “regulate” our use. We were the 5% local match for a $200,000 grant to the Wayne to repair the ATV trails. We challenged and won the right for the Wayne to use “incarcerated” volunteers labor as grant matches. You would think it was a no brainer.

We applied for a grant to buy 2400 acres(the Furnace). We did not receive it but we are working to find other properties to apply for. Do you know of one?

From legislation to advocacy to protecting our members from unjust law enforcement, OMTA is working for off pavement recreation everyday! There is NO OTHER organization in Ohio that is working for wheeled recreation in Ohio. There is no other organization working on legislation for wheeled recreation. (!!!)

OMTA is affiliated with the Blue Ribbon Coalition (BRC), the American Motorcyclists Association (AMA) and East Coast 4Wheel Drive (EC4WD). We co-operate with the Ohio State Snowmobile Association (OSSA). These groups are willing to help OMTA but it is OMTA that carries the load for wheeled recreation in Ohio. (!!!)

The answer to the question “What has OMTA done for me?” “OMTA has done it all”, there is no one else. The fact is only the folks supporting OMTA are supporting wheeled recreation in Ohio. We need everyone who rides or wheels off pavement in Ohio to support and belong to the Ohio Motorized Trails Association, OMTA!

-Bill K.


From what I've seen on this board you guys normally ride out of state, but with the recent issues with Livingston and Slade hopefully you can appreciate what the OMTA is trying to do. As stated above they have filed past and current lawsuits in an attempt to keep trails open (basically unmaintained township roads that are legal to the public unless the township official vacates them). Not sure how familiar you may be with what an "unmaintained township road" looks like, but I know a lot of trails in Livingston and Slade currently are, or were this status.

I forget the exact details right off hand, but either the entire club can join and/or individual members can join. In any case, I believe it's definitely a worthwhile investment.

[tjjeepjeep]

I'm very interested and appreciate the info. Already hit the site. Thanks for sharing.

[jeepmanjeff]

how close is one of the off road locations to Cincinnati? We would rather go in state than out of and would be more prone to affilliate with an organization that we would benifit from.

We have always wanted to wheel in OHIO, but the only place I know of is Wellsville and it is a 5 hour drive I beleive.

[lugie]

Jeff,

Mainly Vinton County, near Hamden.

mostly mud trails, lots are being shut down due to a change in landowners.

Reguardless if YOU benefit, the more trails closed, the easier it is to close other trails, it sets a precedence.

[blazerbrad]

As Pete (lugie) mentioned, a large portion of the trails we run are in the Vinton Co. area (find Chillicothe and then go east on Rt. 50 to McArthur area and that's the general area). Probably 2-2.5 hours away from Cincy (about same distance away for me).

Granted, it's not hardcore rockcrawling with the trails mostly consisting of dirt/mud with some rock ledges. Most of the challenging spots are hills consisting of loose dirt/mud, small rock, ruts, tree rots, etc... with creek crossings, and of course all of the mud you would ever want (we tend to stay away from all the mudholes we can, but you still get muddy when it's wet).

There was a nice state park/campgroud we could stay at where the rangers were very pro-4x4, and you could easily spend a long weekend in the area and see different trails every day. OMTA (with assistance from our club and others) attempted to buy one large section of land through grants, but the landowners would not work with us to do it (the old guy who owned the area finally died, and the kids wanted to sell all of the property ASAP).

[GPER]

Thanks for the link, Ohio trails need all the help they can get.