Sorry your leaders seem to have their heads up their collective asses. Guess they are not elected huh? I did however just send an e-mail off to the commissioner at the address you posted and explained that my family and my MONEY will not be in Michigan this year. I also asked him to explain to me why kids are welcomed on 2 wheels but not 4. We will see if I get a response to my questions or if I get the blow-off. I will keep you all updated as to what happens. We need to get everyone on board with this to try and get this changed.

 

Well that was fast. Below is a copy of the e-mail I received back from "Dick" along with a copy of the e-mail I sent.
Mike:

That statue was put in years ago. I don't agree with it, but have yet to find the allies to change things. We have one thing going in our favor, with our recent enactment of PA 240 permitting 12 and over to ride on the road under adult supervision, we had no youth fatalities to our knowledge.

At the Indy Dealers show in a couple of weeks, rumor has it there will be some kind of announcement, not sure if its on age or if its on the lead ban.

We are all anxiously waiting to see if there is any substance to the rumors floating around. So much controversy is going around on these two issues, lets hope someone puts it all to rest.

later, Dick
----- Original Message -----
From: Michael XXXXXXXX
To: dranney1@charter.net
Sent: Friday, February 05, 2010 4:25 PM
Subject: Kids and Atv's in Michigan

Dear Chairperson.
I am sorry to find out about Michigan not allowing children to enjoy your trail system with their parents. I live in northern Indiana and was excited to be able to share my love of the outdoors and my passion for trail riding with my wife and children. Two years ago I was able to purchase my two older boys ( 8 and 10) their own ATV's. While we do enjoy riding around our friends farm, we were looking forward to being able to make a special trip to ride as a family. Your trails seemed like the perfect spot. Not to far away, no large mountains to worry about and camping in some of what I think is the most beautiful areas in our country. But after much investigation this was not to be. Imagine my surprise to find out that my children were not allowed to enjoy the sport they love in your state. And what surprised me more was the fact that if they rode dirtbikes it seems to be ok. I do not understand the logic in this thinking. Putting younger kids on 4 wheels as opposed to 2 seems like a no-brainer.
I was wondering if Michigan realizes how much revenue it misses out on because of this law. Atv trail riding is a FAMILY sport. The days of the "guys" loading up the truck and leaving the kids and women at home for the weekend are gone. I love to watch my kids having fun and I know they love spending time with Mom and Dad away from home doing something special. These kind of weekend trips are what make memories that last a lifetime. In a world that seems to be spinning down the toilet and families are falling apart at record rates, shouldn't we take any action we can to allow families to do something they love as a family? I wish we could visit your state and enjoy our sport this year but I guess I will take my family and my MONEY to somewhere else.
I would love to hear your comments on this matter and maybe a reason why my kids would be welcomed if they were on 2 wheels instead of 4. Seems very unfair and silly to me. So at your earliest convenience please respond to me with some sort of reasoning or maybe what those of us that love this sport can do to change this. Thank-you.......

 

i am new the the atv world. but i have been a snowmobiler for a while now. they just up the price for the trail permits on the sled and for what, nothing.... i ride from waters up to the bridge and there was nothing done to the trails. seem to me that they only groomed the trail once at night and once in the morning very rough ride. think i would have more fun with my quad. dont see why they need to up the price for any of the permits anyways. all the trail i know of are marked and cleaned by volunteers not the state. the state doesnt have the people to do this type of work so they shouldnt get the money for it, it should be the volunteers getting the money for the supplys.

 

[QUOTE=voodoo574;2892239]Well that was fast. Below is a copy of the e-mail I received back from "Dick" along with a copy of the e-mail I sent.
Mike:

That statue was put in years ago. I don't agree with it, but have yet to find the allies to change things. We have one thing going in our favor, with our recent enactment of PA 240 permitting 12 and over to ride on the road under adult supervision, we had no youth fatalities to our knowledge.

At the Indy Dealers show in a couple of weeks, rumor has it there will be some kind of announcement, not sure if its on age or if its on the lead ban.

We are all anxiously waiting to see if there is any substance to the rumors floating around. So much controversy is going around on these two issues, lets hope someone puts it all to rest.

later, Dick

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ah,
nothing but political BS from Dick.

QUOTE* ''have yet to find the allies to change things''

Its very tough to find the allies to change the ATV age when YOU HAVE'NT LOOKED!

This is the SAME guy who wants to go to our legislature and request an increase in ORV stickers from 16.25 a year, all the way up to 30.50 WITHOUT first addressing the lack of trail maintenance,poor trail signage, untrained ORV safety instructors, and a host of OTHER issues that lack any real ACCOUNTABILITY on behalf of the DNR.

As an ORV Safety Director who has trained 1000s of parents and kids thru the years, I have PERSONALLY informed Dick that I would FLOOD any legislatures office with letters of support that would amend the old/outdated law that descriminates against a youth under the age of 12 from operating an ORV on Michigans designated trails.

It goes to deaf ears with Mr Ranney.

 

Tell me about it. Even though it was an E-mail you could almost smell the Zerox form letter. Waste of time but I don't live in Michigan. I wish all riders in Michigan would start a letter writing campaign or vote the S.O.B. out.

 

The guy does not need to be voted out of anything because he is legally nothing.

At one time, he was the ORV Board Chairperson, but thanks to the jerk head of a Governor we have here in Michigan, we no longer have this Board anymore.

He ''self appointed'' himself to HIS ''so called'' MMRC or the Michigan Motorized Recreation Council. It is ''suppose'' to be made-up of all types of differant ORV operators/clubs, including ATVers, Dirt bike riders, Full size trucks, and a host of other types of ORV user base.

I have asked him SEVERAL times the following questions,

*Where are the MMRC meetings held at?
*What are the dates/times of the MMRC meetings?
*How does one join this super secret MMRC?

At no time did he ever tell me when a meeting was held or HOW I could become a member of the MMRC.

WHY you ask?

Because the MMRC has no legal statis what so ever in the State of Michigan, they have,

*No minutes of meetings
*No By Laws
*No Board members
*Not registerd with the State of Michigan

And he knows I'll pose the hard questions that he dont want to answer. Another words, im a pain in his azz and am better left out of the picture.

 

Keep fighting the good fight Muddy! We need more people like you to make sure we are heard and not just swept under the rug. If there is anything I can do to help please let me know. Michigan has the potential to make money off what they have up there and become a real destination point for Ohv'ers. Just wish they could wake up and and realize working with us is a better solution than fighting us.

 

I wont stop busting my butt for the advancement of our sport and will continue to be a thorn in the side for folks like Mr Ranney until they decide that it aint all about what THEY want in our sport, its about what the ''people want''.

You did your job by sending him your e-mail and making him know that you'll be spending your dollars in a State that does not descriminate against youth ATV operation.