As an avid 4-wheeler for almost 30 years, I’ve seen our landscape change&ldots; some by no fault of our own, most by our lack of participation in the political process that governs our lives&ldots; and our sport! What does this mean to you? To me? The present and future access to wheeling public land in Massachusetts? Well, one example in the “loss” column, is the loss of Myles Standish State Forest in Plymouth MA. For those who remember — who’ve been there, it’s an area that offered hundreds of trail miles, now closed to 4-wheel drive vehicles. There are other areas in Massachusetts that provided great opportunity and challenge&ldots; they too are gone!

I have been working with Senator Brian Joyce in an attempt to change Massachusetts General Law (MGL) Chapter 90B, Section 25. We are attempting to amend this law by inserting language that would read: “A person shall not be unreasonably prohibited from operating a registered vehicle with gross weight of 6,500 pounds or less on a way or trail in a state park or other state property open to the general public”  With this inserted, it will over-ride rules and regulations imposed by the various state agencies that restrict use of public, state-owned lands to a certain gross vehicle weight (GVW). This would effectively squash the “1000-pound rule” written by the Department of Environmental Management (DEM), as well as similar “rules” written by others in government whose express intention it is, to keep 4-wheel drive vehicles from accessing public land.

It begins with you, the taxpayer! It becomes your responsibility and that of the COLLECTIVE IN BECOMING THE VOICE OF THE COMMUNITY to get the needed changes enacted. Below, you will find a copy of the petition. Please fill it out, sign it and send it to:

Mark Dupont

9 Oak Ridge Dr.

N. Easton, MA 02356

Members of the OHRV community all throughout the New England states have already signed and mailed this petition to Mark  in support of taking the first step towards making our concerns heard in State legislature. We all hate to be "political", but sometimes you have to take a stand! This is one of those times. This bill may not go anywhere but we have to take a chance that it might. If nothing else, we will introduce ourselves to state officials and that is a huge advance for our cause. Please take the five minutes it will cost you to print the petition, sign it, and mail it to Mark!