Should the Southern Tire or Western part of New York introduce ATV trails?
Today, a report published in The Post Journal says that the lawmakers of those localities intend to explore in the coming days. In fact, this issue resurfaced during the meeting that was held by Chautauqua County Legislature Planning and Economic Development Committee Here, the Kinzu Region ATV Association together with Tim D’Angelo discussed this issue at length.
Tim D’Angelo is a strong believer that ATV trails should be introduced as a regional matter rather than a county issue in reference to Chautauqua County. Additionally, he noted that the Hatfield-McCoy Regional Recreational Authority is actually a 9-county economic development project that is located in West Virginia.
As per the Economic and Fiscal Impact of Hatfied-McCoy Trail system study that was conducted in 2022, 94000+ riding permits were given out, where 78000 of those permits originated from West Virginia. Whenever non-locals come to have fun on the ATV trails, it is estimated that they spend $80 million or thereabout. This means that introducing ATVs and developing ATV trails can help generate more income within the region. For example, there had been news on state grants for ATV & Snowmobile projects in Pennsylvania with the aim of boosting local economy and tourism potentials.
In fact, New York Off Highway Recreational Vehicle Association conducted a study and established that within 120 minutes of Chautauqua County, 500000+ ATVs and UTVs were looking for venues to ride. With these numbers in place, it is no secret that introducing ATV trails as a regional issue rather than a county issue can pay off.
According to D’Angelo, the state of New York can offer much-needed help by doing what it does with snowmobile fees. Here, these fees usually go back to the organization that is mandated with maintaining the trail system. As we say, ATV registration fees are not used for this purpose. As a reminder, UTV cannot be registered in New York as they weigh 1000 pounds and above.
The change D’Angelo aims to see is that the conventional registration fees that are charged on UTVs and funnels be taken back to develop the trail system. He also noted that snowmobiling has been weather dependent for years. This means that you can snowmobile in January, March, April, October, November or even December. It all depends on the timelines that work for you. This makes snowmobiles better than ATVs.
As far as ATVs are concerned, it is imperative to note that one can operate them in NY for longer sessions. However, if you want to ride your ATV, ensure that you avoid doing so during the hunting season. Moreover, avoid riding it during spring and winter since you might come across muddy trails along the way, thereby damaging your ATV.
If you want to have unlimited fun when riding your ATV, first and foremost, look out for the area where the trails head to and then determine who are the landowners there so that you can know their preferences. Once you are done, you can look out for the associated costs and whether there are any funds offered as grants or not.
According to D’Angelo, an ATV trail system has to be separated from a snowmobile trail as the ATV needs to have an improved foundation especially when there is a high traffic. This will make them more sustainable. According to David Wilfong, R-Jamestown, parking an ATV outside Bradford will cost you $35.Thankfully, there are a few places where you can purchase meals and also wash basins.
Both D’Angelo and David Wilfong agree that one cannot ride an ATV on snowmobile trails. This can be attributed to the fact that snowmobile ride on ice and do not get damaged while their counterparts are likely to be damaged in the long run. After all, the ATVs have spinning wheels and thus might need more maintenance once if you have to keep riding on snow trails.
With this in mind, D’Angelo was recommended by Kevin Muldoweney and R-Dunkirk to meet Mark Geise who is currently the deputy county executive of economic development and CEO of the county Industrial Development Agency (IDA) and establish if there is a possibility for ATV trails to be introduced as a regional issue and see how it goes. However, to avoid fatalities associated with ATV riding and other off-road fun; safety awareness must be given importance. That may include introducing speed limit (news on death for high-speed ATV running) for ATV and helmet to be a must wear ATV accessory. Wearing a helmet is both a law in almost all the states in USA and a mandatory rule in the ATV trails in USA. But to ensure safety measures, you must pick the right ATV helmet for you.