A little late but thought I'd put a little summary of the NEA meeting hosted by Summit Crawlers in RI on May 5th...
Overall I thought it was a well run meeting with good discussions. Some things I wrote down:
Land:
Maine - NEA is looking for land chair for Maine
CT - working to establish relationship with American Indians and gain access to their land for wheeling
NH - brush fire warning due to dry winter. most if not all trails look to be on schedule for opening in May. Swanzey looks like it should be ready to go as well. A town meeting is scheduled to finalize. Word is that Fish and Game will be patrolling trails more - make sure vehicles are registered/inspected or valid OHV permit.
MA - trails in good shape. Go-arounds at Old Florida Rd appear to be used, need to stay off. Parking situation at MaBell in rough shape.
RI - working with DEM to propose opening trails for OHV use. Currently no open trails at all in RI. Ocean State Jeepers has been working with Big River Management Area supporting clean-ups and establishing relationship for possible future off-road use.
Some time was spent discussing the NEA land fund and the long term goal. This was something I was not aware of but the NEA has a fair amount of savings for purchasing land in New England for off-road use. Long term goal was to have 4 properties spaced throughout NE for all members of NEA to use. I joined a small group discussion related to this effort. We jotted down some ideas for land governance, fund governance and other general things that will have to be nailed down before this can happen. Hopefully they can keep the momentum going on this. I think the word needs to be spread more and more effort to raising money for the fund. Just having things like a 50/50 raffle at the meetings should be considered.
Clubs:
Voted to add Adirondack Jeeps to the org. Vote was passed
USAJeeps incident was discussed. Believe it is documented on the NEA forum. General issue is that trail restrictions or other rules need to be obeyed by all members or action can be taken against the whole club. Make sure all rules of a trail are understood and discussed with all on the run.
Other:
- NEA is looking to use wepay in place of paypal for payments
- working on details for upcoming meeting in NY (lodging, wheeling, etc...)
No one went wheeling after. Was a pretty wet/raw day and I didn't have a truck anyway so fine by me.
Any questions let me know.
-Eric
Overall I thought it was a well run meeting with good discussions. Some things I wrote down:
Land:
Maine - NEA is looking for land chair for Maine
CT - working to establish relationship with American Indians and gain access to their land for wheeling
NH - brush fire warning due to dry winter. most if not all trails look to be on schedule for opening in May. Swanzey looks like it should be ready to go as well. A town meeting is scheduled to finalize. Word is that Fish and Game will be patrolling trails more - make sure vehicles are registered/inspected or valid OHV permit.
MA - trails in good shape. Go-arounds at Old Florida Rd appear to be used, need to stay off. Parking situation at MaBell in rough shape.
RI - working with DEM to propose opening trails for OHV use. Currently no open trails at all in RI. Ocean State Jeepers has been working with Big River Management Area supporting clean-ups and establishing relationship for possible future off-road use.
Some time was spent discussing the NEA land fund and the long term goal. This was something I was not aware of but the NEA has a fair amount of savings for purchasing land in New England for off-road use. Long term goal was to have 4 properties spaced throughout NE for all members of NEA to use. I joined a small group discussion related to this effort. We jotted down some ideas for land governance, fund governance and other general things that will have to be nailed down before this can happen. Hopefully they can keep the momentum going on this. I think the word needs to be spread more and more effort to raising money for the fund. Just having things like a 50/50 raffle at the meetings should be considered.
Clubs:
Voted to add Adirondack Jeeps to the org. Vote was passed
USAJeeps incident was discussed. Believe it is documented on the NEA forum. General issue is that trail restrictions or other rules need to be obeyed by all members or action can be taken against the whole club. Make sure all rules of a trail are understood and discussed with all on the run.
Other:
- NEA is looking to use wepay in place of paypal for payments
- working on details for upcoming meeting in NY (lodging, wheeling, etc...)
No one went wheeling after. Was a pretty wet/raw day and I didn't have a truck anyway so fine by me.
Any questions let me know.
-Eric
