WOODSTOCK ATV NEWSLETTER SPRING 2012
It’s that time of year again, time to ride!! The trails are now open and spring work has begun.
New bridge has been completed on the Gold Mine trail. Work has begun on building a club shed for tools and supplies. This will be located on a designated piece of property owned and being allocated for use by club president Bill Waite. This will house all club trail equipment, tools, supplies, signs, etc.. and club member access will be discussed at the next meeting.
Work recently began on the first step of a landowner relation project. Mr. Thornton addressed the club regarding planting trees and grass near the border of the access trail behind the sand pit on Milton Road. The area was seeded and partially hayed last weekend and the second phase will take place on May 5th at 8:00am to plant tree seedlings and finish spreading hay. Plans are underway for a Bar-B-Q at noon followed by an afternoon ride. Anyone interested in helping may meet either at the sandpit or at Bill Waite’s home by 8:00am.
There is also a request from the new land owner of the Gold Mine trail to build and install a gate to prevent all vehicles other than ATV’s from accessing the trails. A draft was approved by the land owner and work will need to be done to build and install the metal gate.
Excavation work was completed last fall and early spring on the following trails. The Gold Mine trail from Concord Pond to the Zircon trail and continuing through to the Franklin Annex in Rumford. Excavation work to clean up the trail form Hemingway road to Zircon was also completed.
The club officers have also been busy during the fall and winter months creating working relationships with land owners in order to keep current trails open and obtain land use for additional trails. Due to this effort along with financial help from the wind tower company, we have established continued trail use with the new land owners of what was previously known as the nature conservancy. We have also obtained permission for trail access on the Sterling property and the Thornton property.
The ATV club has agreed to collaborate with the sponsors of the Forest Road Rally event in maintaining safety for the ATV riders as well as the spectators along the Concord Pond Road by closing access trails in the area during the scheduled race time. We feel it is a responsibility and a good representation of he ATV club to show active involvement for the safety of ATV riders as well as the public during area events. The club has realized a financial gain each year for these efforts in the form of a donation from the Rally sponsors. Please help us continue the effort by abiding by the club decision to close affected trails during the rally and by spreading the word to others during the event.
As you are aware, without good land owner relationships we would not have the privilege of trail access. Please follow the trail use guidelines, ride only on marked, open trails and respect the land use privilege by treading lightly and carrying out all trash.
As you can see the club has made much progress in the last few years towards reaching the original and continued vision of obtaining and creating access trails to connect to all area ATV trails to Rumford, Peru, and Sumner.
Thank you to all who have contributed in anyway to this success. Your financial support along with your volunteer efforts for trail work is greatly appreciated and is vital to the continued growth of the club and the recreational opportunity for ATV and Snowmobile riding in the area.
The first annual meeting has not been scheduled yet as there currently are not enough registered members .
We look forward to your registration and support this year as we move forward with our mission goals.