Off-Road Association worried about public land changes

The Wapiti Off-Road Association wants it’s voice heard when it comes to setting aside public land for recreation
 
President Cory McInnis says recent decisions to close off public land to OHV’s makes this the time to organize, causing worry that dirt bike and quad enthusiasts won’t have anywhere to ride.
 
“We have Public Land Use Zones, which are going to make the bush a more complicated place.  As an association, we’re registering trails and bridges to show active involvement .”
 
He says changes will be coming quickly before next year’s provincial election.
 
“And we have to be ready for that and we have to poll the new government as they come in to make sure that any changes that are half-cocked or not really thought through are going to be changed back again.”
 
McInnis worries that the regulations may be lead to conflict where there had been none previously.
 
“We really do not have the compact and dense amount of population using the same areas as you do have right outside of Calgary that have had PLUZ go through. Being that we haven’t had those problems with those dense populations, we don’t know why they want to breed this problem (here).”
 
McInnis says limiting usage in some areas could lead to fencing, which would interfere with the movement of wildlife, along with development. He wonders why officials would stop a quad or dirt bike from going on what he calls “a traditional use trail”, but allow big machinery to come in to knock down trees and put up fencing.
 
McInnis adds memberships in the Wapiti Off-Road Association are available at local ATV dealerships for $20. Also, the Association is holding a poker rally July 7. The details on that are available on its Facebook page.