HOUGHTON - With the help of a $15,000 grant from Yamaha Motor Corporation, the Keweenaw ATV Club can fund a series of trail projects.
The donation helps support Keweenaw Trails as part of an ongoing effort to encourage safe, responsible riding as well as sustainable trails and riding areas in the Keweenaw Peninsula.
"The Keweenaw ATV Club is pleased to announce it has received a Yamaha Off-Highway Vehicle Initiative grant of $15,055 to assist with signing and general maintenance of the non-DNR supported ATV trails in northern Houghton and Keweenaw counties," said Ray Chase, on behalf of the Keweenaw ATV Club. "The grant was awarded as part of Yamaha's OHV Access Initiative promoting safe, responsible riding and sustainable riding areas."
The grant money will be used to support projects such as trail signs, flood control, equipment to assist with brush control and comprehensive trail maps.
The Keweenaw ATV Club is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization made up of business owners and ATV riding enthusiasts that sponsor and maintain ATV trails in parts of northern Houghton and Keweenaw counties. Chase said of the 140 miles of ATV trails KATV sponsors, only 78 miles are supported by funding from the sale of state DNR trail stickers.
"There's just a small percentage of our trails that supported by DNR," he said. "We have to find a way to support trails, and that's what this grant does. There's a lot that needs to be done on these trails to make them safe."
Chase heard about the grant opportunity about three months ago and wrote a grant request for support. The Keweenaw ATV Club has more than 260 members and meets monthly at local business establishments to keep members updated about ongoing issues.
"We also discuss plans for future activities, such as spring and fall maintenance projects and club sponsored rides that include breakfast stops and evening cookouts," Chase said.
Because the majority of ATV trails are on privately owned properties, Chase said the club has 22 permits from landowners to use the trails. Those private land trails do not always fit with DNR rules and regulations for a trail system, hence a lot of attention from club members to maintain them until they work out a system with the DNR to enact new rules governing private land use.
"The trails are open to ATVs and side-by-sides but are not open to dirt bikes or full-sized vehicles," he said. "That's not because of us. That's because of a land restriction."
As a result, the club has worked with the DNR and has a supported endorsed trail system while working on full designation.
"We've been promised that by spring," he said.
