April 2016 Edition
New Mexico 4-Wheeler's
Cedro Peak Earth Day Stewardship Project
9:00 AM Saturday April 23 at the Cedro Peak Group Campground
Submitted by Frank Whiston
The New Mexico 4-Wheelers invite all interested parties to join them in a cleanup event on the Manzanita Mountains (aka Cedro Peak) 4WD roads and trails in association with the "25 Restoration for Recreation Projects" for Tread Lightly!'s 25th Anniversary program.
The Manzanita Mountains Trail System on the Sandia Ranger District of the Cibola National Forest is a key location for public recreation in the Albuquerque, New Mexico area. The trail system benefitted greatly from a large Recreational Trails Program grant procured by the New Mexico Off Highway Vehicle Alliance (NMOHVA). The New Mexico 4 Wheelers (NM4W) is a member club of NMOHVA and a key player in the initial project. NM4W provided the bulk of the necessary volunteer hours for the "matching funds" required by the RTP grant program.
Given the close proximity of the trail system to New Mexico's largest metropolitan area, the Manzanita Mountains Trail System sees heavy use from a very diverse set of visitors. Unfortunately, with this heavy use, some "bad apples" have been leaving their mark by throwing trash and even tagging rocks with graffiti. This clean-up event will target these issues. For all the latest details on the cleanup event and for information on how you can join in, click on this link:
Details on Clean-up Event.
OHV Trail Ambassador Program
NM4W is committed to assisting land manager's efforts to provide a recognizable presence on the lands we enjoy while providing a positive and informative role model for fellow OHV users. NM4W has committed to assist the Sandia Ranger District in expanding the OHV Trail Ambassador program to include full-size volunteer vehicles. The club typically has group outings four or five times a year in this area. The club will easily combine this ongoing presence with volunteer patrols.
The OHV Trail Ambassador program already has motorcycle and ATV volunteers, but there is a need for volunteers to serve and assist the Sandia Ranger District in monitoring areas, roads, trails and facilities used by 4WD enthusiasts. Four wheel drive use is rapidly growing in the area making the need for a 4WD patrol presence important.
Don't Forget the Annual NMOHVA Member's Meeting
The NMOHVA Annual Meeting is THIS Saturday, April 9th from 9am-12 noon. The 'business' portion of the meeting will be short (and includes the elections of Board NMOHVA will be furnishing its traditional free lunch to attendees immediately following the meeting.We will be ordering lunch around 9:30 so don't be late!
The meeting will be held at the REDW, LLC building in Albuquerque. REDW is located at the corner of Jefferson and Masthead (7425 Jefferson NE), about halfway between Osuna and Paseo del Norte. A link to a map is available
here.
We look forward to seeing all of you on Saturday!
Your NMOHVA Board of Directors
[A version of this article appeared in a recent Slavens Racing email. I thought it was an excellent message and have adapted the article for a New Mexico audience - Editor]
New Mexico experienced a really wet winter during the early part of the year with record precipitation, including deep snow at higher elevations. It has been extremely warm and dry for the last six weeks. Now March is tantalizing us with intermittent warm weather and the threat of wetter weather.
What does this mean for those of us itching to get out and ride or drive this spring? It means exercising some patience, common sense, and good stewardship of our beautiful New Mexico roads and trails. Please stay off the roads while the snow is still melting and making conditions muddy. Just because a road is officially "open" doesn't necessarily mean it is ready to use. New Mexico is famous for its mud! If you find a muddy road or trail, come back after it has sufficiently dried out.
The locals will be unable to saw-out the downfall trees until the snow melts and the mud dries. We are not talking about a couple of fallen trees, we are talking literally hundreds of trees that are often in big clusters that completely block the trail for many miles. Even one tree that falls on a sidehill trail will completely stop legal traffic. Some lower elevation trails are ride able now, others will open in the April and May, and some routes in the high country will likely be impassable until June.
NMOHVA - New Mexico Motorized Off-Highway Vehicle Association - Calendar of Events
PLEASE do not go off the road or trail to get around downed trees, damaging the terrain, then leave us with a mess to clean up and give ammo to the radical enviros who want us off all roads and trails. Going off-trail is (literally) a federal offense. If caught, you will be summoned to appear in front of a Federal Magistrate Judge in Albuquerque to explain your actions. It probably won't work out well for you.
Support the locals that do the dirty work. Trail maintenance is a tough and tiring job. Try carrying a chainsaw, bar oil and tools on your back then get off and on the bike 50 times a day, saw a pile of trees and drag them off the trail at 10,000 feet of elevation where the air is thin and you struggle to breathe. Locals like Blackfeathers and the New Mexico 4 Wheelers are salt of the earth guys. They spend the first weeks of our short riding season every year clearing roads and trail. They spend their hard earned cash to travel up and down the mountain every weekend, buy chainsaws, buy gas, buy trail permits, wear out their dirt bikes, their trucks, their bodies so that we all have great routes to ride. These are just a few of the many men, the real men that do our dirty work. If you run across a group of locals clearing trail, don't be "that guy" riding off the trail, around the trees they are cutting. Do the right thing. Stop and lend a helping hand. Please consider being a valued and much appreciated trail steward. Show the roads and trails and those that support them being open some love!
Sipapu Shindig Registrations Going Fast!
The available registrations in NMOHVA's 2016 Sipapu Shindig are filling fast. As this newsletter goes to "press", we already have 41 riders signed up. With a hard cap of 70, the remaining slots will certainly fill up well before the event. Last year's event sold out and we expect the same this year. Don't wait too long and be left out. Register today by clicking
HERE.
Upcoming Events
April 3 - New Mexico 4 Wheelers (NM4W) Trail Ride in the Jemez Mountains Santa Fe National Forest Opening Weekend, Jemez, NM
April 3 New Mexico Trials Association (NMTA) Observed Trials Round 3, Gallup, NM
April 9 - NMOHVA Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM
April 12 - Las Cruces Four Wheel Drive Club (LCFWDC) Monthly Meeting, Las Cruces, NM
April 14 - New Mexico Four Wheelers (NM4W) Monthly Meeting, Albuquerque, NM
April 16 - LCFWDC Trail Ride to Green Canyon Trail System, Arrey, NM
April 16 - LCFWDC Trail Ride to Aden Crater, Las Cruces, NM
April 17 - NM4W Trail Ride to Manzano Mountains, Tijeras, NM
April 23 - NM4W Earth Day Clean-up at Cedro Peak, Tijeras, NM
April 23 - Red Rock Motorsports Navajo Trust Land Improvement Project, Gallup, NM
April 30 - LCFWDC Billy the Kid Trail Ride, Las Cruces, NM
May 1 - New Mexico Trials Association (NMTA) Observed Trials Round 4, San Ysidro, NM
May 10-15 Burro Mountain ATV/UTV Jamboree, Silver City, NM
June 24-26 NMOHVA Sipapu Shindig, Vadito, NM
See the
NMOHVA Calendar for all the upcoming event details and contacts.
Do you have an upcoming 2016 event to share? Contact NMOHVA at
resourcedirector@nmohva.org for a listing in the newsletter and on the NMOHVA website calendar.
New Mexico Off Highway Vehicle Alliance
www.nmohva.org
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