Courtesy of Gale Kocher ORV Riders may know this junction on the BN Trail. It is the junction that takes you to visit the new owners of Hoppy’s Bar in Kenton

Whether it is one’s parents, or the safety course instructor, respecting the land, landowner or even those in the silent sport industry, respect for others is drilled into the minds of all motorsport enthusiasts.

If respect for others is not drilled into the motorsport enthusiasts, it should be whether one is just getting into the sport or one that has been into the sport for years.

With the upcoming firearm deer season, respect is not only recommended, it is the law.

ORV riders, snowmobilers, and off-road four-wheel-drive trucks, Jeeps and SUVs, they know that Michigan has the Quiet Time law that does not allow for the recreational use of an ORV or snowmobile between the hours of 7 to 11 a.m. and between 2 to 5 p.m.

The only exceptions to this law is the following;

• going to or from a residence or hunting camp that is inaccessible by a conventional vehicle (subject to state land regulations);

• on private property, with landowner’s permission;

• passenger vehicles while being operated on roads capable of sustaining automobile traffic;

• persons holding a permit to hunt from a standing vehicle or otherwise meeting disability requirements (see persons with disabilities) while engaged in hunting or fishing activity.

One of the many areas that the Tread Lightly programs stresses includes “respect the rights of others.” It also includes “avoid sensitive areas.” Tread Lightly has been an international program to educate riders through programs to address the issues affecting recreational riders.

A major issue in the Copper Country and the entire Western Upper Peninsula has been the loss of trail easements on private property. While our area is fortunate to have some public land. This includes publicly owned state and federal land, managed by either the Michigan DNR or the US Forest Service. Our area also has some large tracts of land that the landowner currently has open to off-road motorsports.

This area still has a lot of land that is privately owned. This includes Commercial Forest Reserve land where operators must secure permission from the landowner to use an ORV, snowmobile, or 4WD, Yes, CFR land still requires the permission to ride on that private landowners property.

Please note that even on public land, the DNR and/or the USFS has enacted land-use restrictions prohibiting the use of motorized vehicles. Right now, there is a major movement by anti-motorsport groups to designate more than 1,000 acres of Ottawa National Forest land as wilderness.

Fortunately, there is no current movement to get the Michigan DNR to add more wilderness areas than it already has in the area, such as the Sturgeon River and Porcupine Mountains wilderness areas. Michigan DNR has advisory committees made up of volunteers from a wide range of user groups that constantly works with the DNR on land-use areas.

The US Forest Service does not. At least on a regular basis.

Why it is so critical that the motorsport community respects the rights of others is with the large tracts of land. This includes what recently changed hands with the Keweenaw Heartlands. While the trails on these large tracts are currently open, that can change as fast as the minute a politician is elected. Remember, those large tracts of land are privately owned, they do not have to follow any state or federal laws.

Look at what transpired in Gogebic County when the owners of two ski hills shut down trails that are critical to snowmobilers and ORV riders between Ironwood and Wakefield. With the stroke of a pen, upon the purchase of that land, the ski hill owner closed an important connecting trail to communities throughout the Western UP.

By closing that trail, volunteers of the local Snowmobile and ORV club are working extremely hard to find private landowners that will grant them a trail easement, allowing them to brush and clear a totally new trail and then sign that trail. All this, before they can even put in a single mile of use with a groomer.

To get the new trails on private property opened, snowmobilers and ORV riders will stress to the landowner that they will respect that landowner’s property. They have to convince many landowners that the motorsport community will respect the landowner’s rights to require the riders to stay on the trails and will follow Michigan State Law prohibiting aftermarket exhaust systems.

It’s the same respect motorsport riders need to have for the public and private land we currently have trails on. It’s that respect that gives the motorsport riders the chance to ride to Hoppy’s in Kenton to meet the new owners to have the world-famous Hoppy’s sloppy hoppy burger.

Without respect for the land we ride on, along with respecting the quiet hours during the firearm deer season, we may have a lot of dead end trails.