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| About Us Our Officers | President: | Dan Scott | | Vice President: | Kurt O’Brien | | Treasurer: | Dan O’Brien | | Secretary: | Linda Masters | | Advisor1: | Greg Tate | | Advisor2: | Kevin Shirley | | Advisor3: | Bill Smith | | Advisor4: | Bryan Shields | | Advisor5: | Kirk Neulieb |
Our Goals:
The goals of this organization have been derived and agreed upon unanimously by the membership, as well as the members of similar groups. They include:
1. Conserve existing riding opportunities.
2. Develop a large system of trails to be enjoyed by ourselves and future generations.
3. Develop partnerships with land owners to help them recognize that ATV use can be managed effectively.
4. Ensure that all ATV enthusiasts are aware of the impact of their actions on the sport.
5. Provide ongoing educational opportunities and safety training.
6. Promote a positive public image for the sport with land managers, government officials, and the general public.
In many cases, we have been stereotyped as dangerous, destructive, and disrespectful to landowners. We are looked upon as people who buy powerful machines just to go too fast, make too much noise, and leave in our wake a trail of erosion and litter. Through increased education and policing our own trails we can change that back to a favorable image for a family oriented sport through which parents can spend quality time with their kids. Sportsmen and sportswomen can access remote hunting, fishing, and camping areas. We will promote this positive image by becoming accountable for our actions and working to correct the actions of those who are responsible for these stereotypes. History: ATV Traction Inc. was founded by a group of concerned riders in Erie County in 2001. The organization is comprised of ATV riders, business owners whose livelihood depends on ATV related sales, and those concerned with promoting a positive future for ATV recreation. ATV Traction is registered as a non-profit corporation in Pennsylvania and has been awarded 501c3 tax-exempt status from the Federal Government. In the time since its creation, ATV Traction has grown to become one of Pennsylvania's largest and most influential ATV organizations.
ATV Traction's members come from many counties in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and New York. We currently have chapters in Erie, McKean, Tioga, Butler, Clarion and Venango Counties in Pennsylvania. We are doing this because we feel that uniting as many riders as possible under one charter will help to make Traction more influential, and also help to expand all of our riding opportunities at the same time. Becoming a chapter of Traction saves those who wish to form a club considerable time and expense and keeps us all in communication with one another.
Many riders considering joining ATV Traction ask: “Where will I be able to ride if I join” or “Where are your club's trails?” I'll answer that soon enough, but let me ask you a few questions. Where do you want trails? Do you expect a club to grow and thrive if potential members refuse to join and help out until there are trails available? Lastly, How do you expect these trails to become reality if nobody is laying the groundwork for them? The point is this: We must all work together if we are to ever see the creation of a trail system. Waiting until the trails exist before joining with us may just prevent our goals from happening.
What I can tell you is that if you do join and attend club functions, you will meet a lot of people. Those people have permission to ride somewhere. Our members love nothing more than to share their riding areas with new people. Getting the idea? Club membership means that you will have the opportunity to meet and share rides with fellow members. This will immediately expand your riding area. We also plan out of town trips, non-riding local club activities, volunteer to assist in community projects, and host poker and dice runs.
Many members of the club are landowners. We have mapped out their lands and identified trails that we would be given permission to designate for club members. The problem is connecting the areas together. It always seems that there is an unsympathetic landowner, a stretch of Township road, or other obstacle preventing us from connecting the trails together. Perhaps you could be the person who knows a landowner and could persuade them to rethink their position. If we had enough members in any given township, we could prove that the roads we need should be designated for ATV use.
We sincerely hope you decide to join ATV Traction Inc. and work with us to accomplish our goals. See you on the trails.

Interesting Facts
* Pennsylvania ranks third in overall annual ATV sales (right behind Ca. and Tx.) * There are currently 240,000 registered ATV’s in the state of Pennsylvania. * The DCNR estimates there are approximately 485,000 ATV’s in Pa, total. * There is a 188 miles of ATV trails in Pa. state forests. * There are 108 miles of ATV trails in Allegheny National Forest. * ATV’s are the only motorized vehicle required to be titled, registered ,insured, and display a license plate that are not allowed on the road. * 47.7 cents of the purchase price on a gallon of gas purchased in Pennsylvania is tax. Of that 18.2 cents goes to the Federal Government. * The average Pennsylvania ATV owner purchases 50 gallons of fuel per year to be used in their machine(s). At 25.5 cents per gallon, that equates to $12.75 in Pa. liquid fuels tax per year per ATV. * Pennsylvania does not spend one cent of this liquid fuels tax revenue on ATV trails. * This adds up to over 6 million dollars per year, with no return on our investment, and still no use of even our secondary roads. * The Pennsylvania Game Commission owns 1.4 million of land in the state. There is not inch of ATV trail on this land. * The PGC does not pay tax on this land. In 2002 they paid $1.20 per acre “in lieu of taxes”. * The PGC claims that Game Lands are “private property” And top PGC officials have stated many times over “ATV’s will never be allowed on Game Lands”. *Hunters did purchase some game land through license fees, but not all by a long shot. Land conservancies, state and federal grant programs, and private donations have added to the game lands as well as purchases made with hunting license dollars. * There are about one million hunters in Pa. * Our polls indicate that 90% of ATV owners are hunters. This means that at least 40% of Pa. hunters own a ATV. Yet the PGC refuses to recognize ATV recreation as a viable use of the lands that hunters paid for, even in the non-hunting season. * Numerous environmental groups have effectively curtailed expanding ATV riding opportunities in Pa. The battle rages on
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