DISTRICT (Staff)— Local outdoor recreation enthusiast, Bill Ramsay, is calling a meeting Wednesday, June 14 at the Dymond Hall to gauge the interest of local ATV riders in forming an official club under the auspices of the South Temiskaming Recreational Trails Association.
In 2018 a group formed the South Temiskaming Recreational Trails Association with the goal of creating an ATV club in the area. Things were starting to progress and Covid brought this to a sudden halt.
Issues were:
- Very hard to connect crown land areas without going across private property and it was impossible to get insurance for a small stand alone group.
- The structure to organize was not in place.
The goal is to take that Association and use it to form a chapter of Ontario Federation of ATV clubs.
There will be an AGM for the Association on June 14 at 7:00 at the Dymond Hall. At this meeting a new board of directors will be elected and the group will then contact OFATV to request membership. Although many ATV riders are not interested in an OFATV club because they believe they can ride for free in the area that reality may not be quite correct. Many of the current trails are over private property and as the president of the local snowmobile club I am hearing that much of this land will shortly be off limits to ATV’s. The hope is that OFATV will be able to continue to use these lands for members with their permits.
For more information on the formation of the ATV club contact Bill Ramsay, who is the Tri-Town Sno Travellers & Club Echo President at 705-647-4010.