North Carolina ATV club honored for hard work
Sept. 16, 2003 – A lot of ATV clubs do a lot of good work, often without recognition. So it's good to see that every now and then a club gets the recognition it deserves.
The Smokey Mountain ORV Club of Cullowhee, North Carolina, recently earned a 2003 Achievement Award from the Coalition for Recreational Trails for the outstanding use of Recreational Trails Program money.
The ceremony honoring the club took place in Washington, D.C.
The Coalition for Recreational Trails is a national organization made up of a diverse group of trail users that, among other things, gives out various awards each year for good works related to trails.
The federal Recreational Trails Program fund uses gas tax money to provide grants for various trail-related projects, such as trail maintenance and rehabilitation.
The Smokey Mountain ORV Club earned its 2003 Achievement Award for Trail Maintenance and Rehabilitation. The club has worked with the Highlands Ranger District of the Nantahala National Forest since 1990 developing and maintaining the Wayehutta ATV Trail System.
The 28-mile trail system uses many old logging roads and rail beds that were used long ago to take timber down the mountain to market. There are numerous bridges and culverts for stream crossing, silt fencing to keep dirt out of streams, and many dirt berms to control erosion of the trail.
"From the beginning, one of the goals in this project was to protect the pure waters that crisscross the area, which are home to native trout," says Nancy Minard, Smokey Mountain ORV Club member.
Minard, who is past secretary and current newsletter editor for the club, as well as president of the North Carolina OHV Association, adds: "Having national recognition for all our hard work really means a lot to the group. There are about 25 volunteers who have been on this project from the very beginning. This core group is responsible for Wayehutta being a prime example of how recreational trails can enhance forest resources."
Club members who took part in the ceremonies were Nancy Minard, Andy Minard, Bill Blythe, Rachel Blythe, Melanie Broom, Amber Broom and Neil Blythe.