MALONE - The committee that's examining the creation of an all-terrain vehicle trail in Franklin County is looking for input from ATV riders.
Committee members put together a survey over the last few months to gauge the interest among the ATV community in a trail that would stretch across Franklin County from a trail in St. Lawrence County to a potential one in Clinton County.
The committee has said an ATV trail would rely heavily on local ATV clubs for maintenance, so members want to make sure there will be enough support from those users before moving forward with plans for a trail.
The survey asks a number of questions, from current ATV use to whether a person would be willing to pay for an annual permit to use a trail, which is how committee members expect the trail to be funded, for the most part.
It also tries to measure the amount of money ATVers spend in the county.
The survey asks about whether the person filling it out would be open to allowing ATV access on his or her private property.
The survey can be found online at www.surveymonkey.com/s/pcxnq55 or at a number of businesses throughout the county that the committee has targeted as places ATV users might frequent. Copies of the survey will also be available at the reception desk at the entrance to the Franklin County Courthouse.
Since fall 2009, committee members have been slowly parsing the issues involved with building an ATV trail, from costs to where it could go to who would enforce rules.
Lewis County's trail director made a presentation to the Franklin County Board of Legislators before that, saying he envisions a trail that stretches from central New York up to Canada and Vermont. Lewis County's ATV trail has been successful, but it has also run into some legal issues that came from opening roads to ATV access, so Franklin County is trying to foresee any issues like that before jumping in.
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Contact Jessica Collier at 518-891-2600 ext. 25 or jcollier@adirondackdailyenterprise.com.