New Illinois Park Needs Help
 

Menu



ActionAlerts
Key Issues
E15
States
ATV




Attend Monday, August 11th Meeting to Save Ilinois OHV Park

Your Involvement Can Make The Difference

Share on facebook Share on twitter

Share on email More Sharing Services



The AMA thought you would want to know that the Brown County Board meeting this coming Monday will include public comment for and against an OHV park in Mt. Sterling, Illinois.
Jay Hall with the AMA and Bob Myer with ABATE of Illinois lead a team of OHV advocates that worked hard together on legislation that supports establishment and operation of the first state-owned OHV Park in Illinois through OHV registrations. Their efforts with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources resulted in the passage of Senate Bill 2633 on August 1st, 2014 which:
Amends the Recreational Trails of Illinois Act; Provides that the fee for an Off-Highway Vehicle Usage Stamp for a vehicle with an engine capacity of over 75 cubic centimeters shall be $15 annually; Provides that the fee for an Off-Highway Vehicle Usage Stamp for a vehicle with an engine capacity of 75 cubic centimeters and below shall be $10 annually; Provides additional exemptions to the requirement of operators of an off-highway vehicle displaying an Off-Highway Vehicle Usage Stamp; Effective immediately.
The exemptions from usage stamps noted above include family members operating an OHV on their own land, whether or not it includes their primary residence, and those using an OHV on a privately owned OHV park. Very importantly, the Recreational Trails of Illinois Act requires funds from Usage Stamps go toward OHV parks.
After extensive efforts to find a suitable location for Illinois? first state owned OHV park, news of the park plan & location on 2,200 acres in Mt Sterling was released unofficially by the IDNR before intended, and before pro-OHV leaders were told to notify their memberships. The natural result is that the anti-OHV community is well aware of the meeting and expected to attend in large numbers.
It is our hope that responsible OHV enthusiasts and advocates from Illinois and surrounding states will show up in at least equally large numbers to make the case for the Mt. Sterling Park as a sorely needed resource that will bring tourist dollars for fuel, supplies, lodging and food.
If you can, please attend or have a local friend do so, and provide clear descriptions of your needing places to ride legally and the dollars you spend in local communities when you do. This proposed park is well placed relative to other recreation uses and residential areas and critically important to the future of OHV riding in Illinois.
DATE & TIME: Monday, August 11th @ 7pm.
LOCATION: Brown County Courthouse, 200 Court St., Mt. Sterling, IL 62353
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Call the courthouse: (217) 773-2011
Now more than ever, it is crucial that you and your riding friends become members of the AMA to help us protect our riding freedoms. More members mean more clout against the opponents of motorcycling, and your support will help the AMA fight for your rights ? on the road, trail, racetrack, and in the halls of government. To join, go to AmericanMotorcyclist.com/membership/join.

Does anyone know the results of the meeting? I wish I saw this sooner so I could attend the meeting.

My son and I attended. Was very happy to see a full house of off road type people there, county board members seemed a little taken aback by the turnout, there was a local tv crew there. The meeting was very informational with Amy Madigan (IDNR tails outreach coordinator) explaining the details with a slide show, unfortunately when one of the ABATE reps started speaking a guy on the county board had a little hissy fit and most of the group filtered out, as did we.
I called Amy Madigan a week or so later with a few more questions I had, she was more than helpful, and felt likewise that it was hard to gauge reaction of county board in meeting, seemed some were in favor and curious, and to me seemed like the hunters on the board were not for it at all.
If all goes according to plan the park should open 2016, they plan to hire concessionaire to run park, they will hire outside contractor to build trails, 2200 acres total but a lot of that will be no-ride/buffer zone to help keep down noise. Would be so nice to have a park here in Illinois to ride singletrack without leaving the state. A lot of info can be found on facebook at
IDNR Buckhorn ATV Park Support Group

Thank you for the detail!

I should add that there is a link for the "IDNR OHV INTEREST SURVEY" on above mentioned Facebook page, print, fill out and mail to help the cause.

Illinois ABATE was assured we will get 3 OHV parks in exchange for this "OHV tax sticker", Mrs. Madigan sent me a map of all the sites that were being considered.
Primary First Tier Sites
Siloam Springs Buckhorn Unit
Snakeden Hollow SFWA
Kickapoo State Park Dynegy Unit
Sahara Woods SFWA
Wanted to share that in case you or someone you might know will have a connection with one of those sites that may help the cause, remember this is in the preliminary stage and there are a lot of different criteria that needs met before the IDNR will proceed.
Spread the word

I found this link with more info http://www.cantonmc.com/

You may have heard about a possible new State owned riding park known as Buckhorn near Mt. Sterling. We need as much support as possible to make this happen! Please take a few minutes to fill out this survey and email it to Amy Madigan at amy.madigan@illinois.gov or join the "IDNR BUCKHORN ATV PARK SUPPORT GROUP" Facebook page for more information!