Obey The Rules + Leave No Trace = Happy Trailing for All
SAFETY MINDED ATV ASSOCIATION
Nova Scotia, Canada
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RCMP are reminding ATV Riders to make safety a priority.
SMATVA Rally, February 25, 2023
The Safety Minded ATV Association is one of the largest ATV clubs in Nova Scotia with over 300 members. Our clubhouse is a small school at 15 Station Road, Head of St. Margaret's Bay, just off highway #3. Our meetings are at 7:30 p.m. on the third Monday of the month, with no meetings in July and August. Our clubhouse will accommodate up to 130 people, depending on type of function.
Some of our work includes maintaining existing trails and building new ones while always respecting and preserving the natural woodlands and waterways. We organize Fun Runs and Rallies to raise funds. Some of the money raised is used for charitable donations to
local groups and organizations.
As our name depicts, all of our activities are focused around Safety Minded ATVing. Our club has two
certified ATV safety instructors offering training to ATV operators with a special rate for club members.
SMATVA is one of five founding clubs that in 1997 formed ATVANS, the All Terrain Vehicle Association of Nova Scotia. The other four clubs were St. Margaret's Snowmobile/ATV Club, Kings County ATV Club, Colchester Five Islands ATV Club, and Pictou County ATV Club.
The monthly meeting is held at
7:30 p.m. on the
3rd MONDAY OF THE MONTH
except for July and August.
(Changes may occur due to COVID-19)
ATV Association of Nova Scotia, November 16, 2021
A great day in New Germany with our friends from Central Nova ATV Club, the Annapolis South Shore Trail Society, Deputy Mayor Cathy Moore, Laura Barkhouse, Corey Robar and lots of interested and involved onlookers.
Big thanks to the funding partners like Central Nova ATV Club, Mid Valley ATV Club, District of Lunenburg, Province of Nova Scotia and the Government of Canada.
A special thank you to our local Conservation Officers.
FUN RUN MARCH 13, 2021
New Proposed Wilderness Sites
Mike Marriott
Tue, July 20, 8:07 PM
Members,
With more protected areas being announced, the threat of losing more sections of our existing trail system is a real fact.
When many former crown lands were proposed and then protected over the last decades, we lost many trails, whether connecting trails or dead-end trails to lakes, camping areas, or fishing and hunting areas, etc.
The goal set previously was 13%, now we see it is 14% and some groups are pushing for even more.
Certainly, we need areas protected from development, but all crown lands are now exempt from that, as well as setbacks for waterways, lakes, overcutting, conservation, sustainable trails and more.
Crown lands are Public Lands for Public Use, and not limited to those physically able to hike for access. Many people at any age have disabilities and are happy to enjoy our public lands by use of motorized options
We need more than just one connecting trail. We need all existing trails EXCLUDED from the WPA lands. Any area I have looked at or have been involved with over the years has been a tiny percent of the land area, or probably less than one percent, so excluding all existing trails can be done under legislation. New trails would only be possible under a thorough review process and many of these sites would have little or no opposition from the majority of residents.
So please have your voice heard and state EXCLUSION of all existing trails identified prior to designation. Managed trails are onerous for groups to maintain, and usually it is always motorized groups that need to commit to this. If that management ceases for any reason other then the trail is blocked for that use, this is not sustainable for many clubs or groups to commit to for eternity.
Our first meeting is this Wednesday with some of the local groups looking to have the main one in our area (Ingram River Area). I had meetings in 2018 and 2019 and I stated that excluding all existing trails was the only position we will agree to for SMATVA support, which we agreed on. However not sure if that is the feeling now that it has gone into consultation phase before getting officially designated. Hopefully it is!
Myself and a few other executives are meeting with them, so I will send an update after that. All residents can have their say over the next 60 days, so exercise the right to do so.
Sincerely
Mike Marriott,
President SMATVA
DEXTER
CONSTRUCTION NOTICE
Members,
Dexter construction, who is doing the contract work on the103 highway twinning and New Vingar Lake Access Road (Tunnel), is asking for everyone to avoid being on or too near the sites under construction. I know we all want to view what is going on as it progresses, but please do so at a distance and avoid riding on cleared areas as well. For safety and environmental reasons, I have attached the correspondence I received from them that sums up their concerns, and it is a reasonable request. This work is going to have a tremendous benefit to all OHV operators and the general public once completed, so please let them do their jobs and keep everyone safe.
Thanks and Regards,
Mike Marriott
President, SMATVA
902 430 6079
On behalf of Dexter Construction, I am enquiring how something could be posted to your members about riding on the portions of the Highway 103 that are actively under construction. There are two main concerns, one is the safety of riders and second is riders entering water/swampy areas on the sites and “stirring” up mud and silt and causing issues that NS Environment has identified to us and holding us accountable.
We continue to note ATV tracks on the various sites we have under construction, so wanted to reach out to possibly discuss/figure out a way to help protect riders. As you can appreciate it is very dangerous for the public to be riding in the areas of construction, and as a fellow rider want to ensure safety to staff and public, as well as to the environment.
Tue, Jun 29,10:23 AM
Hello Members,
With the new lifting of restrictions we can now start to resume activities, including clubhouse use - hopefully for good this time!!
Monday July 19, 7:00 pm at the clubhouse, we will be having an informal meeting to discuss trail work and fun runs. Any members interested in either of these can attend, and we will review what is now in progress as well as future plans for summer. We typically do not have any formal meetings in July/August, but we do have meetings to organize fun runs and trail work as needed. We will stick with our original plan to hold our first meeting for 2021 on our usual September date, which this year is on the 20th of September, and the plan is to have this as our AGM. SMATVA board will work on details during the next two months.
We have started work on the ESSO trail (ground work) and have realigned the sharp turn before the bridge for safer access. Lumber is on its way for replacing bridge deck and railing. I will give notice of the day we plan to do that and ask for some volunteers to help throughout the day to get it completed.
The Nine Mile River project to Goodwood is moving along. I have most of the paperwork needed for TIR to issue us an LOA so we can start working on that section late summer and into fall.
The movie crew has ceased using the building on June 23, however they have asked if any alterations not in our way could stay, as they very possibly may want to rent again in September and early October for some additional filming. We can receive more funding for those days, so all walls and a few changes outside are as they were for filming. Main room and hall/kitchen are usable as before, so there are only a few minor impacts to us.
They have rented some space in our 40 foot container as well for up to 12 weeks for prop storage. Once the first week of October is over, the building will be returned exactly as it was previous to production. Some alterations may stay if we agree it’s an improvement. That will be done by executives reviewing at the time.
Other than that, have a great summer. See some of you July 19 on the trails and or on some trail projects.
ESSO trail pictures > https://photos.app.goo.gl/7awqMFyswkmKEExe6
Mike Marriott,
President SMATVA
Hi Members (email from Mike Marriott)
Went out Saturday to look at some trails for clearing and an issue on a trail near the 101, which we are sourcing some supplies for fixing in the next 2 weeks. I'll send an email for no more then 5 members, depending upon latest restrictions, to spend a couple hours on site to fix it.
We also went to see how the new road is coming along to link up the Pipeline Road to the 101 Service Road. This will give us a connection for the east side of Big Indian Lake that never existed before and will open up many new trails and routes for general riding and club events.
It looks like they will have it decked possibly in the next couple weeks, and I'm thinking it will be open by this summer for sure. Pretty exciting development!!.
Due to the latest restrictions our clubhouse will be out of use untill May 20 at least, so if we go for a run, numbers will be limited to gathering limits in place at the time.
We hope to have a couple meetings before summer, but as you see this pandemic is going to make all plans unpredictable.
New bridge and road pictures >>
https://photos.app.goo.gl/tNjFjjbwoxx763cb9
Mike Marriott
President, SMATVA
902 430 6079
