On my trip to Iron Mountain, MI on Sunday, I was fortunate to make stop to meet up with some leaders from the Wisconsin Off Highway Vehicle Association (WOHVA) in Mole Lake, WI. Lots of good input with discussion over breakfast including themes like the struggles organizations have with reaching and keeping members and volunteers, the false image of OHV created by the spin of extremist groups, how that translates to the attitudes of legislators and land managers, and the need for cross sharing of information with other groups around the country. WOHVA has done some tremendous work partnering with the Tribal leaders in the area and, as a result, have been able to develop some very sustainable trails on Tribal Land that benefit everyone. Look for some coming articles on http://www.sharetrails.org on what they have been doing.

Then today in Iron Mountain, I was able to meet with some of the folks of MI-TRALE. Again, it was really good input and discussion. I am so glad I came here. It was great to hear of some of the innovative work they are doing toward connecting trails across between Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. They also shared some of the frustration they have with results of the Travel Management Planning in the National Forests up here. Having seen the maps of what was and what is now after the planning, I can see why. It is like common sense certainly wasn't common in that thought process. They also pointed out how better regional coordination and communications between various groups, including agency folks, is something they think could be improved and felt BRC as a national organization could play a role there. They are doing some creative things up here and I hope to get an article or two from them as well to share on BRC's website.

Thanks to all of the good people at WOHVA and MI-TRALE for taking the time to meet with me and for your input.

Tomorrow I head across the UP and down into lower Michigan to meet up with some of the good folks down there. Track my progress at http://www.wearebrc.org/map and be sure to share your concerns and suggestions for BRC moving forward at http://www.wearebrc.org/comments. Share this blog site with your friends. Remember, to make this politically significant, we need to get as many tracking along with this as we can.