The Saskatchewan All Terrain Vehicle Association (SATVA) is now in its second year of operation and Ken Anderson, president of the association, is hoping to spread the word about the organization and its mandates.
“The goals and objectives are maintaining the right to ride in the province,” said Anderson. “(We’re) working with the various departments in the provincial government for the operation and maintenance of trails; for obtaining a substantial growth in the number of ATV safety instructors in the province; (and) working with Tread Lightly on environmental issues.”
The organization is still in the early stages of development, but as ATVing is increasing in popularity—for recreational riders as well as farmers and ranchers—Anderson said the need for such an organization is apparent.
“The ATV fraternity/industry here is reaping the benefits of the growth in Saskatchewan,” said Anderson. “That continued growth is going to have an impact everywhere, so we want to be ready to make sure that we have the resources and vehicles available to become good corporate citizens within the province.”
Anderson believes that a central association can act as an advocate for riders and provincial ATV clubs as well as promote the activity as one that can be safe, environmentally low impact and accessible to all.
“You need a voice—you need an umbrella organization within the province—so the ATV clubs and individuals riding ATVs have a . . . source of information,” said Anderson.
Anderson believes that making riders aware of the many issues surrounding ATV use is important in order to curb some of the more dangerous or destructive activities that give all riders a bad name.
“There are some issues where (the riders) do not respect private property or they do not respect the wetlands or marshes or areas that are environmentally sensitive,” said Anderson. “That is a big public awareness that has to be brought to their attention—that there are trails out there; that there are trails that are going to be developed. We do not need a bunch of criticism that seems to be consistent province to province about destroying the environment or not being sensitive to those issues.”
Anderson is hoping the new provincial body will also help to increase safety awareness among riders in Saskatchew-an. One of the goals of the SATVA is to reduce the number of ATV-related accidents and injuries through the introduction of more safety programs and safety instructors provincewide.
“We’re developing plans,” he said. “We’re working with the All Terrain Council of Canada, the Canadian Off-Highway Vehicle Council, Tread Lightly and other groups like that to implement some of these plans—the bottom line being to make it a safer environment for us to operate in (and) hopefully reduce the bad publicity and bad incidents.
“If we can do that, we expect that there will be more clubs and more members joining the association.”
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