National Off-Highway Vehicle Conservation Council Recognizes Excellence.

On Apr 28, 2009

NOHVCC awarded outstanding performances for the previous year plus Hall of Fame awards at its 2009 annual conference.

The National Off-Highway Vehicle Conservation Council is pleased NOHVCC CONF 09 189to announce its 2009 award winners. The Hall of Fame award is given to people who have, through years of service, advanced off-highway vehicle recreation in their state and in the nation. They have also given years of service to NOHVCC and are great examples of our mission and principles. The two 2009 Hall of Fame award recipients are Dan KIeen and Mona Ehnes.

NOHVCC CONF 09 177Dan Kleen has served NOHVCC as President of the Board since 2002. He is the NOHVCC State Partner for Iowa. In Iowa, he serves as the Executive Director of the Iowa OHV Association. Dan helped to create and build the Iowa Dealership Association and continues to lobby for this association. There are now 8 OHV parks NOHVCC CONF 09 182in Iowa. Much of this is due to Dan’s efforts in working with the legislature to create laws that would allow the parks as well as working with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources to establish management and funding for the parks. There are new park proposals as well as park expansions in the works.

NOHVCC CONF 09 187Mona Ehnes has worked tirelessly for trails in Montana for a number of years. Much of the success of the Montana trail system, the Great Falls Trail Bike Riders Association, and the Montana Trail Vehicle Riders Association is NOHVCC CONF 09 188due to Mona’s efforts. She continues to work hard in Montana and is currently working on the Lewis and Clark National Forest trail system. Mona also works ‘part time’ for NOHVCC in the Great Falls office. Mona recently agreed to pick up all the accounting duties for the office .

NOHVCC CONF 09 120During the conference this year, NOHVCC gave out a special, one of a kind award. Max Reid retired from the US Forest Service in 2008. During his tenure with the Forest Service, he was instrumental in the creation and management on the Paiute Trail System. Max also took the difficult to use Forest Service map (MVUM) and made it into a map that is easy to read and is user friendly. The Paiute Trail System is one of the best examples of how a managed trail system can work for the enthusiast, the community, and the environment. It also exemplifies all that P1010178NOHVCC teaches in using partnerships and in how to do things correctly. To honor Max for all of his efforts, NOHVCC worked with the US Forest Service to dedicate a portion of the Paiute Trail system to Max. Mel Bolling , with the Fishlake National Forest, the location of the Paiute Trail System, presented Max with one of the trail signs which designates the Max Reid Trail. Pictures of the monument that now sits at the beginning of the Max Reid Trail were also shown at the conference. Thank you Max!

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The 2009 NOHVCC State Partner of the Year goes to Alex Bub of Wisconsin. Alex has spent a lot of time during the past few years working on setting up an OHV Association in Wisconsin. As the association was being developed, it became apparent that while the ATV and the Snowmobile individual associations were strong in the state, there wasn’t an Off-Highway Motorcycle association that dealt with the land use issues. Alex and a team of people set the stage and created the Wisconsin Off-Highway Motorcycle Association, with the help of the NOHVCC association development workshops.

Tom Umphress received the Walk the Talk award. Ron Potter, with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, told of an incident where Tom was testifying at the Legislature and a lobbyist leaned over and said, “Man, is he good.” Tom has spent countless hours at the legislature, teaching sound testing to local clubs, working booths, etc. Tom recently directed a drive to purchase an educational trailer for the Coalition of Recreational Trail Users to educate the public on OHV issues in Minnesota. Tom is currently the NOHVCC Secretary of the Board.

NOHVCC CONF 09 166Some people retire, and some people just stop getting paid. Charles McKenzie fits into the later description. Charles has worked on OHV issues in Missouri for a number of years. Once he retired as a University Professor, he started volunteering full time on OHV issues. Charles helps create and run the yearly Missouri Trails Conference. He is also working to legitimize the off-highway trail systems that have existed in Missouri for years.

Although he was unable to travel to Houston for the conference, Conservation Officer Leland Ownes, the Recreational Vehicle Coordinator for the MNDNR, gave a presentation regarding the new Trail 023Ambassador program during the conference. Leland and his department were given the task by the legislature to create the program. Leland did a lot of homework, contact ing other states, to find out what worked and what did not. They created a program that had great results for its first year in operation, including locating trail maintenance issues, invasive species identified and located, and educating the public regarding the rules and regulations of OHV use in Minnesota. Ron Potter accepted the award for Leland at the conference and then presented the award to Leland in Minnesota.

Dick Lepley received the prestigious ‘Voice of NOHVCC’ award. We See full size imageare extremely happy that Dick is as helpful as he is talented. Dick spent a large number of hours assisting NOHVCC with our video project. Dick reviewed and corrected the scripts and then recorded each of the 14 video sessions that NOHVCC is producing. We also appreciate the patience of Dick’s wife, Joanne, for allowing Dick to spend days in his studio recording for NOHVCC during January in Pennsylvania instead of being in Florida. Thank you, Dick, we appreciate all of the time you spent assisting us.

The people that we mentioned above were the ones who were recognized during the 2009 awards ceremony. However, the NOHVCC Partners and Association Partners are the ones who make NOHVCC great. We appreciate all of the efforts that every one of you put in to creating and keeping riding areas open and promoting the safe and responsible use of Off-Highway Vehicles.