Well, I know you get sick of hearing me say it
but I'm going to encourage you one more time
to get active in the politics of our sport's survival.
Yes, I used the word "survival" because it's appropriate.
In the first few weeks of the 2018 NETRA season, we've seen incredible attendance growth of more than 20% across most of our series. The new format of junior enduros is attracting more riders, the peewees are doing great, vintage numbers are good and steady, and HS and enduros are pulling higher numbers than they have in the past 7-8 years. From all indications, things are great for NETRA!
But we need to remember that there are political forces that are always looking for ways to shut us down. And, in general, our political enemies are better organized and more vocal than we are. This is how we got the crappy Massachusetts law that says you can't even ride your dirtbike in your own yard without a registration....our enemies made friends in the MA legislature and slipped in a law that is terrible.
Later in this issue you'll read my recollections of the Clarkie's Enduro. Read the first couple paragraphs with care and realize that we very easily could have lost this event altogether if it weren't for Raffi Peterson putting in tens of hours of work on the phone, in personal meetings, and emailing with politicians, bureaucrats, and our lobbyist to build relationships and prove that we're willing to fight for our rights to ride. But Raffi can't be the only one doing this.
As I write this (at 10:00pm after a 13-hour work day, forgive the spelling errors) a meeting is wrapping up in Griswold, CT to try to stop the State Police from locating their new shooting range alongside the Pachaug Forest dualsport loop. Pachaug is the only state land in CT that allows dirtbikes and there's a chance we could lose a big chunk of this loop to the "exclusion zone" that will be placed surrounding the range. The threat is real and we only have a chance of winning if we speak up. But the trouble is, it was hard for me to find someone to go and speak on our behalf. Thanks to Frank Colon, new member on our Board of Directors, for getting there and
President's Message