Possible new OHV park in TN... send an email and make it happen

[BigClay]

Copied (with a little editing :)) from NC4x4 http://www.nc4x4.com/forums/showthread.php?t=106048

Would you like to have a new OHV trail opportunity in eastern TN?

Let's get an email campaign started from the four wheeling community to encourage Cocke County, TN in their efforts to start an OHV park! Even though we are not all TN residents, a large showing of email support from our community will show that there is a large base of OHV'ers that will support such an effort.

All you have to do is send an email stating your support for this venture along with the fact that you would use an OHV park in this area! Do it TODAY!

County Mayor
Vaughn Moore
360 East Main Street
Newport, TN 37821
423-623-8791
vmoore@cockecounty.net

[ATL ZJ]

I know at least one member here who lives 45 minutes away who would be all over this.

Clay, got a link to the nc4x4 thread? I'm assuming...

[BigClay]

Yep, just updated my first post.

Here is a local (to the area) news article
http://www.newportplaintalk.com/story/34050

[WJvol]

just emailed mr. vaughn moore. and will pass this along to a few other I know.

[ATL ZJ]

just sent my email

[TN_WJ]

Hell yeah! This would be awesome. Just sent one as well

[SirFuego]

I have a question...

In the article you posted:
"But, unless you hike or ride horses, there is no way now to enjoy our state forests"

Is the land in question state, county owned, or some sort of joint venture between the two? I got the impression that it was county-owned, but the mention of state forests threw me off.

Any other information regarding the economic status of that county? Is it similar to what Harlan was?

Just trying to gather more information to try to put together something a bit beyond the typical "I'm an avid, responsible wheeler, and I would love to see this built." I'm planning to go into a little bit of detail about how an "out of stater" like me would contribute to the local economy and also cite how I have already traveled to Windrock and Harlan despite the distance from where I live.

[BigClay]

Here is a direct quote from my local board from a guy that was actually at the meeting yesterday:


Their was roughly 100 in attendance at the courthouse,meeting started by explaining that they were tryin to open a OHV park that it would be on state land. About 10 min into the meeting the 3rd person to ask a question brought up the fact that the area had streams that had brown trout in them and they were against any OHV usage,go figure.

The mayor said they had requested a 800K grant from the state and that they(the county) would have to contribute 20% in cash,services,and/or supplies to recieve the grant.Someone mentioned gettin SFWDA involved to help maintain the trails.A couple of other issues the mayor discussed was the fact that they were to use existing logging roads and one of them was bein maintained by the county and was no longer considered a loggin road,also mentioned was the Buffalo mountain trail system in the Cherokee National forest and it was only "suppose" to have 12.5 miles of trails and they had recently discovered over 40 miles of "wildcat" trails and that would give the whole ideal a black eye.

He also said their was a law they were tryin to get overturned but their is a 45 day moratorium (sp) on law reversals and it would take longer than they were anticipating.Sorry didnt get what the exact law regarded I was kinda in the back and everybody around me was talkin.

Also mentioned was that the trails will be somewhat in the vicinity of the Appalachion Trail.I ask how close and was told that their was about a 2000K acre buffer in between the two.
My concerns with this are.

[SirFuego]

OK, that makes more sense. So it's technically owned and funded by the state, but the county is in the driver's seat in terms of getting this plan going. I'll try to put something together tonight.

[SirFuego]

E-mail sent!

[ATL ZJ]

I just said that I travel a lot to go wheeling, and although it's not just to support small towns, but that's a side effect of our recreation. Gave Evarts, KY as an example. Then said call me if you need help planning the park; if I can't help I probably know someone who can.

SFWDA has their hands full "managing" Tellico. They haven't earned any more responsibility yet.

[zjeepin]

I know at least one member here who lives 45 minutes away who would be all over this.

Clay, got a link to the nc4x4 thread? I'm assuming...

That would be me.. :supz:

Sending email shortly edit: SENT

[SirFuego]

Here is my e-mail for everyone's reference to give them some ideas:

Dear Mayor Moore,

My name is Jared XXXXX and I am writing in support of the recently proposed Cocke County OHV park. I heard about this through an article from the Newport Plain Talk that was sent to me by a friend. The article mentioned the potential economic benefits to the area from such a park. As an avid and responsible offroad enthusiast that resides just outside of Buffalo, NY (approximately an 11 hour drive from Cocke County), I feel the need to mention that in the past year, I have made trips to Coal Creek OHV in Oliver Springs, TN (http://www.coalcreekohv.com/) and Black Mountain OHV in Harlan County, KY (http://www.harlancountytrails.com/offroad.php). Both parks are also about an 11 hour drive for me, and I have every intention of doing similar trips in the near future to enjoy the trails and beautiful scenery that the southeast has to offer. Should the proposed Cocke County OHV park come into fruition, I would be extremely interested in visiting the park.

On both of these trips, I stayed in the respective areas for 3 days and paid for a hotel/cabin, ate a few dinners at local restaurants, and also made trips to the local gas stations and convenience stores. In the group I was with, there were at least 20 other vehicles that attended from all over the southeast, midwest, and parts of the northeast. This does not include the numerous other avid enthusiasts that we saw in the parks during our stay. We also always make it a point to only travel on the pre-defined trails. I should also mention that members of my club regularly go to OHV parks that are at least 5-8 hours away from where we live. All of these places offer a wide variety of trails from "mild to wild", which I think is a necessity for a successful park that will be trying to attract tourism to the area.

I am hoping that this brief e-mail will provide you some perspective with the distances that OHV enthusiasts are willing to travel and also validate that we do indeed spend money in the local area during our time spent there. I fully support the efforts you are putting forth to make the proposed OHV park a reality and will be excitedly following the progress. If you have any questions that you need answered by an "out of stater", please do not hesitate to contact me.

Best Regards,

[BigClay]

Awesome guys!

[biggoofy]

Email sent!

[WJvol]

I posted this in a windrock group on facebook, and a fellow that claimed he was at the hearings said they need a much bigger showing next hearing (Whenever that is I don't know) to make a difference so that's a little discouraging.