State money to support Fayette ATV trail network, outdoor projects in other counties

Volunteers will have an easier time maintaining and expanding a network of ATV trails in Fayette County thanks to a $54,900 grant from the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.

The Indian Creek Valley ATV Club will use the money to buy a Bobcat Toolcat, a utility work machine, to move dirt and gravel on the trails.

“This grant will be huge in taking some of the work off the old guys who are out there, and I include myself in that,” said club President Joe Perry.

Many of the volunteers who maintain the trails are retirees who do much of the work by hand and use their personal vehicles to haul gravel.

“You’ve got a bunch of 65-year-olds out there with picks and shovels working on trails,” Perry said.

The club, founded in 2000, owns about 160 acres of land and leases another 500 acres in Saltlick Township, near Seven Springs.

Membership surged last year, according to Perry.

“This past year, with covid, we had more members join than ever before, because it’s something you can do outside and be socially distanced,” he said.

The club has about 600 members.

It relies on grants to continue improving its trail network. In 2018 it received $140,000 from DCNR to build a trailhead building with restrooms and a pavilion.

The building is still in the works, having been delayed by the pandemic, Perry said.

The new grant was one of six announced Tuesday by DCNR. These grants total $339,060, and will be used to support ATV and snowmobile trails. The money comes from rider registration fees, according to the department.

“We know the activity associated these trails and projects draw many visitors and have a positive economic impact on nearby communities,” DCNR Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn said in a statement.

Perry said these grants provide riders a safe place to enjoy their hobby.

“DCNR wants to promote riding in this area,” he said. “Safe, legal riding, not outlaw trail riding.”

The Indian Creek Valley ATV Club hopes to keep expanding, buying more land and building new trails, Perry said.

The full list of DCNR grants by county:

• Cambria and Clearfield —Rock Run Recreation Area Inc., $67,700, to construct a comfort station at the Rock Run Recreation Area facility in Chest Township.
• Erie, Crawford and Warren – Tri-County Snowblazers Inc., $49,700, to purchase equipment to construct and maintain approximately 60 miles of snowmobile trails in Erie, Crawford and Warren counties.
• Fayette – Indian Creek Valley ATV Club, $54,900, to purchase equipment to construct and maintain approximately 42 miles of ATV trails in Saltlick Township.
• Lawrence and Butler – Friends of the Bantam Jeep Association, $40,760, to prepare a trail study to explore the feasibility of a 235-acre ATV and OHV facility in Slippery Rock and Muddy Creek townships.
• Monroe – Peaceful Woodlands Family Campground, $55,500, for the development of the Peaceful Woodlands Family Campground ATV Connector Trail in Tunkhannock Township. Work to include construction of 0.1 miles of ATV trail from the campground to the Dixon Miller ATV Trail System.
• Northumberland — Northumberland County Anthracite Outdoor Adventure Area Authority, $70,500, to include construction of a comfort station at the AOAA facility in Coal Township.