The ORV area on Keystone lake in Oklahoma is in danger of closure. There is a meeting about it on Tuesday (10-28-03) at Hardesty Regional Library - 8316 E 93rd. (Creek Turnpike and So. Memorial Dr. behind Jackie Cooper Nissan in Tulsa, OK)
I hope this place doesn't get shut down, its a really fun place to ride.

 

You know any details about whats going on? I've been there quite a few times, nice place.

 

The army corps of engineers doesnt have the manpower to run the place anymore, but a non-profit group called COBRA (Concerned Oklahomans and Bikers for the Rescue of Appalachia Bay) is negotiating with the army corps to take over management of it. I have heard that many of the boaters in the area are against keeping it open to ORV's. I emailed the guy that is heading up COBRA and he said that if they are granted management rights, they will probably have to sell memberships to help pay for the upkeep. Tuesday they are supposed to give info on the status of the negotiations.

 

There are other places boaters can go other that that island. Even then the island is big enough that the only place you'll run in to a few people is on the beach. I've been there when you have to park out by the front gate and even then once your on the island you'll only run into someone every so often. There is nothing else that that island could be used for, all the homes and buildings are long gone, you'll run across a basement or some piping every so often but thats it. The boaters won't use the interior of the island, and there are pleanty of other beaches to sunbath on. Keep me informed on what you find out. I'd pay membership dues just to keep the place open, but we ride there 2-3 times a year. Next they will want to close Disney.

 

Well I think that one of the biggest problems plaguing ATV riding areas in Oklahoma is the socio-economic level of those who ride ATV's versus the socio-economic levels of boaters and those who participate in other activities. I mean do we really need another golf course? No, but we never hear about anyone wanting to shut down municipal golf courses do we? The public perception is that ATV's are only ridden by rednecks or wild drunken teenagers. Until we can put forth the message that we are not intent on trenching the lawn of the White House we may continue to face apathy and see more riding areas closed. We have to make the public and the officials aware of what ATV riding is all about. One thing I do is I let someone who has never ridden a quad sit on my bike and tell them about all the neat things you can do on them and try to get them interested in the sport. If they ask to ride I just tell them that I don't have insurance on it and I couldn't possibly let them do that. The only other thing we can do is possibly write (not call or E-mail) to your elected officials on all levels, federal, state and local and tell them you would like to see existing areas preserved and new areas opened. Until they see the votes of ATV riders being just as important as golfers or boaters things may never change. I realize that marine fuel taxes provide more funding than that of ATV trickle downs but we have to start somewhere.

One thing we could possibly do here would be to post a sort of form letter that could be copied and pasted into a word processing program and then printed for mailing to our elected officials. We could even post the mailing addresses of public officials here as well possibly (Providing ATV connection does not have a problem with it). If anyone has any other questions, concerns or ideas please add them to this thread. The more ideas we can get the better.

Bobman

 

It looks like Appalachia Bay is getting some support from alot of atv and dirtbike people. Negotiations have been going well. There is going to be a workday on December 7th to help fix up the ORV area, and then another meeting on December 10th to finalize negotiations. Senator Inhofe is supporting keeping the ORV area open, and is helping with negotiations. It is nice to know that we have at least one politician on our side.

 

[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] My son & i rode Appalchia Bay sunday & had a great time. Something there for everybody, from sand , rock, hills, shoreline, woods, wildlife, deep ruts, off camber, water, mud, gravel, you name it, its probably there, even whooptie do's. It would be a shame to lose this area for ORV's.
We were told by Corps employee that clean up day would be Dec. 8th. It would be a good thing if those of you that can manage to give a few hours of your time for the sport you love to show up & give a hand. Looking forward to going back soon to these trails & also the trails around the dam, after the eagles leave. A lot of folks at Appalchia got to see their first 650 V Twin Arctic
Cat sunday, it was mine, a red one. Happy Trails , Jerico1