Important Michigan DNR Western U.P. Citizens Advisory Board Meeting To Be Held May 18
The MAIN issue at hand for Mi-TRALE right now is the upcoming May 18th Michigan DNR Western U.P. Citizens Advisory Board Meeting. This meeting will take place at the Konteka in White Pine. The meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. EST. Those who want to speak during the public comment have to sign up between 6:00 and 6:30 p.m.
As all of you know, Mi-TRALE has invested thousands of dollars from our membership fund over the past 3 years to develop one of the best regional ORV trail maps. This map would be useless without having trails signed and designated. Without ever asking for a penny from the MiDNR, Mi-TRALE paid for the posts, signs, and erection of hundreds of ORV trail signs. We did this after receiving numerous complaints from snowmobile clubs about ORV riders riding on snowmobile trails that were not open to ORVs, snowmobile trails that were on private property. So we went out and spent the last 3 years putting up signs so that ORV riders would know WHERE THEY ARE and WHERE THEY CAN RIDE.
We also did this at the recommendation of emergency personnel so that they could find a person that may be injured. All emergency personnel have a copy of our map.
We did this so that we could entice people to feel safe and comfortable in coming to our area to ride. In an effort to alleviate any confusion about a snowmobile trail, which is numbered, Mi-TRALE implemented an ORV trail system using alphabetical letters. While the DNR approves and requires snowmobile clubs to use the DNR provided and funded black number on orange trail sign markers, Mi-TRALE paid for the signs that use black letters on a white background.
We did this after numerous chambers and tourism associations asked for SOMEONE to come out with a good ORV trail map ... as these chambers have been getting requests for ORV trail maps for over 20 years. After all, ATVs have been around since 1981.
Mi-TRALE and our previous organization, TRALE-UP, waited for over 25 years for the DNR to come out with some ORV trail signing program ... other than the small 3-inch “Confidence Markers.” We waited and waited ... finally we took the initiative and spent our own money and manpower to get ALL hundreds of miles of trails and preferred routes signed.
Now we have been told by the DNR to TAKE ALL THE SIGNS DOWN on the SB, BN, and IRM Trails. Yet it is OK to leave the signs up on all the other trails. That is unless we are fortunate enough to someday get some of the many miles of the non-funded trails designated ... then we would have to take those signs down also. What incentive is there to develop, build, and maintain NEW trails?
The DNR says that they have to maintain “consistency,” which is why we have to take all the trail signs down on the most heavily traveled trails. How is this “consistency” if we are to take down some trail signs and leave others up? If some other organization in the state came up with a system years ago and it worked, Mi-TRALE and TRALE-UP would have been happy to use their system. However, no one did ... so now Mi-TRALE is being punished.
That issue and the issue of the DNR requiring any organized group of over 20 ORV riders to pay for a special ORV group application fee, then wait to see if the application is approved, and if it is approved, then pay ANOTHER fee, will be the topics at the May 18th meeting.
Mi-TRALE is asking that anyone that can attend this meeting to not only attend, but sign up to speak on behalf of all the people that have donated so much time, money, and effort ONLY to IMPROVE the ORV riding in the Western U.P.
When you get a chance look at a highway map ... see if highways are specified by either a number or a letter. Then pick up a snowmobile map; see if the snowmobile trails have numbers. Then pick up an Ottawa National Forest Map; see if the USFS numbers their roads. Yet ORV riders are supposed to only have a symbol of an ORV on a post, and nothing on a map to specify a trail or a route.
What actually is Mi-TRALE?
Mi-TRALE stands for Michigan Trails and Recreation Alliance of Land and the Environment. The organization was formed in July of 2001 in Bruce Crossing, Michigan. The mission statement and purpose of the organization was to bring different recreational groups to work together, to ride together, and to meet together. While this “spirit” of cooperation sounds easy and is many times a difficult task, Mi-TRALE has stood by its original goals and in many ways has accomplished them!
Mi-TRALE was one of the first in the entire United States to provide competition for ORVs that put trail and utility machines in a “race format.” The idea and the name started by Mi-TRALE was “Super Challenge.” The club held its first “Super Challenge” in the fall of 2002. That “Super Challenge” idea consisted of having ORVs go through water, mud, up and down hills, and over obstacles. It’s an idea that now falls under different names and has other organizations doing much the same thing.
Mi-TRALE changed it from “Super Challenge” to XTreme Challenge and brought an important segment of our group into the fun. That was the Jeeps and 4x4 trucks. On the final Saturday of July every year, Mi-TRALE holds its ATV/Truck XTreme Challenge during the Ontonagon County Fair. The group did this to bring competitors and fans to the fair. The event has now become one of the biggest attactions at the Ontonagon County Fair.
Mi-TRALE didn’t stop in its ongoing efforts to help other groups, organizations, and communities. With our purpose of “uniting” people, Mi-TRALE then developed a close relationship with the Superior Snowmobile Club and the Snow Valley Riders Snowmobile Club. Since our conception, Mi-TRALE has worked on maintaining multi-use (ORV and snowmobile) trails from May to October. Mi-TRALE has helped the Snow Valley Riders in putting mats down on the Baltimore River Bridge. Mi-TRALE has helped in putting up new stop signs on the IRM, SB, and BN Trails (which are also snowmobile trails).
In an effort to keep ORV riders off of the snowmobile trails where the private landowner does not permit wheeled vehicles, Mi-TRALE developed the first ORV trail signing program in the state. While this program has not brought the support of the Michigan DNR, Mi-TRALE vows to keep an ORV trail signing program, a program that has received accolades and support from county boards, county sheriff’s departments, emergency personnel, county chambers and thousands of ORV riders.
Over the past 8 years, Mi-TRALE has built and maintained a trail network of close to 1,000 miles. These trails are used by off-road motorcycles, side-by-side (UTVs) ORVs, and ATVs. We’re in the planning stages of developing an off-road vehicle park for numerous different users, including the 4x4 and Jeep community.
It's not just motorized recreation that Mi-TRALE is involved with. The organization continues to work on building an equestrian park. This park would not only be used by horseback riders from Memorial Day to October 15th, but also used by cross-country skiers and dogsled enthusiasts in the winter.
Mi-TRALE is INVOLVED. It is Mi-TRALE that started a fall color ride for senior citizens. Our group takes young people between the ages of 65 and 90 for a fun, scenic, and informative ride on our popular P (Pioneer Trail). The senior citizens ride in a Mi-TRALE, Polaris, or Yamaha furnished side-by-side ORV.
It was Mi-TRALE that brought the Ontonagon County Search and Rescue Unit back to life. This group was dissolved over 10 years ago. In April of 2008, Mi-TRALE reorganized the unit, and this group meets for training sessions every month!
Mi-TRALE members have been asked to serve on the Blue Ribbon Coalition’s National Land Use Advisory Council, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources Western Upper Peninsula Citizens Advisory Board, the Ontonagon Historical Society Board of Directors, the Ontonagon County Habitat for Humanity Board of Directors, Ontonagon Search and Rescue, and NUMEROUS other organizations.
This involvement by Mi-TRALE and its members allowed the organization to play an active role in establishing policies, ordinances, and laws that were beneficial to many outdoor enthusiasts. Mi-TRALE helped pass the new Michigan State Law PA 240, which provided counties with the right to allow for the legal operation of an ORV on county roads. Mi-TRALE continues to be the primary organization in the entire Western Upper Peninsula in gaining access to more trails and roads on the Ottawa National Forest.
It is Mi-TRALE that has its annual Legislators’ ORV Ride where we invite representatives of the Michigan DNR, Ottawa National Forest, local, county, and state legislators, and tourism representatives to experience the thrill of riding trails that Mi-TRALE developed.
When it comes to trails, few in the nation have put together a connecting ORV trail network like that of Mi-TRALE. This is an ORV trail network that is so extensive and widespread, our organization offers the special CP2R Award to anyone that can actually ride a PORTION of our ORV trail network and an ORV trail network that required the Mi-TRALE volunteers to put out a 6-county Western Upper Peninsula ORV trail map. You’ll find a list of the businesses that sell the Mi-TRALE Western U.P. ORV map on this Web site.
Even though Mi-TRALE has miles upon miles of ORV trails, we’re not done working on getting more trails for ORV riders opened this year. Mi-TRALE continues to expand ORV riding opportunities.
Yet, our group is more than just one of the best groups to join for ORV riders. We’re the group to join if you ride on 2 or 4 wheels, or 4 legs, or skis, or dogsleds. We are Michigan Trails and Recreation Alliance of Land and the Environment. We are Mi-TRALE! Join us!
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