$233k in Grant Applications Submitted

​After several months of planning, and writing, and revising, and re-revising, and updating the plan again, and hundreds of various emails and phone calls getting it all sorted out... RAD got three grant applications submitted today for a combined total of $233,236.00 requested in Federal and State funding 2021 (and a day ahead of the deadline this time!).

​The timing of breaking my wrist last weekend when the RAD Rodeo was supposed to occur (but cancelled last minute due to snow) was obnoxiously inconvenient with applications due Friday morning. We couldn't blow this deadline and wait a whole 'nother year for our next funding opportunity, so I ended up finishing everything at the hospital on Wednesday during pre-op before the installation of my new titanium hardware.

With ever-evolving new information coming in over the last month, a few things changed slightly from the original plan I told you about:
 
First, we flip-flopped the funding plan for the second round of Peavine Maze Maintenance and the new Peavine Maze Connectivity projects.  Instead of the OHV program, we are running next year's Maze maintenance (an $80,000 project) through the Nevada Recreational Trails Program (Federal funding, from gas taxes) -- and then running the new trails project (Phase 1 of which will cost a cool $138,300) though the Nevada OHV Program (State funding, from your OHV registration fees).

We changed this around at the last minute because all of the current Maze trails are exclusively in Nevada, whereas the new trails will be 50/50 in both Nevada and California.  The RTP program has pretty strict rules that all funding needs to be spent in Nevada, whereas the OHV program is a little more flexible about the fact that the trails all start in Nevada.  In addition, we came to understand that the OHV Commission appreciates diversification of funding on ongoing projects - so it made sense to dip into a different honey pot for the ongoing maintenance, and it fit the bill for RTP's requirements.

I also stated in my previous post that we were not going to build a bridge over the major washout on the 304 trail and were going to do a major re-route instead. Upon diving deeper into that, we determined that a re-route without a bridge was, uh.... impossible. And we also figured out that we could do the bridge for a bit cheaper than what was originally implied.  The materials will cost about $15,000, the labor was quoted at $10,000 and we will need to pay about $3,000 for the USFS engineering staff's involvement.  Still expensive, yes ... but at the end of the day it will be a high quality, permanent solution that will be sustainable for decades. Besides, this is certainly not the worst way to spend your gas taxes.  Also, there will be a minor 600-ish foot re-route at the beginning of the 304 (unrelated to the bridge).

The third application was for about $15,000 for the "RAD Communities" project. Nothing has changed there - we will be hosting quarterly OHV registration drives to help you do the paperwork and a couple more community clean-up's to do our part to combat illegal dumping. I was recently told that registration apps submitted through RAD could get top-of-the-pile treatment at the DMV! To help with these projects and compliment others, we asked for funding for a couple custom EZ-up tents and flags, an enclosed utility trailer to hold all of RAD's tools and event supplies, even more tools, and of course disposal fees and PPE.

As a side story worth mentioning, last week I had the opportunity to give a little mini tour of the Maze and talk about our upcoming projects to some very important people who support Reno Area Dirtriders and the progress we are making. This included the District Ranger Matt Zumstein and Recreation Officer Brian Hansen of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest (the folks who signed off on all of RAD's current and future Maze projects so far); a couple of Commissioners from the Nevada OHV Commission Nikhil Narkhede (the one who wrote the checks for the maze this year) and Phil Fell; Kevin Joell (the trail builder who did the maze work); Colin Robertson (Head of the Office of Outdoor Recreation); and Holly and Nathan from Great Basin Institute, who are working on a major trail mapping collaborative for Nevada.  This was a cool, full-circle meeting that really showcased RAD's commitment to being good stewards of our trails. Our efforts are well supported, appreciated and encouraged and we kicked around more ideas for 2022 and beyond.

But what about the Moonrocks project?

After several follow up discussions with the BLM and learning about their plans to pursue funding for a full environmental assessment of the area and development of the staging area with facilities, we reassessed whether it was necessary to duplicate their work. Instead, RAD wrote a letter of support for the BLM's project, and in turn they would like to work in collaboration with us and allow us help shape the area as it applies to our interests: the single track.  In a nutshell, instead of RAD doing the NEPA work just so we can later do the trail work - we are just going to do the trail work when we are authorized to do so, and it looks like the NEPA process on the BLM's end is actually going to move forward, with a bug in their ear that they need to include some single track too. So that’s one less grant for us to write and manage... and frankly, I ran out of time anyway. So this is a win-win and we will be keeping our thumb on the pulse of the BLM's developments and keep dirtbiker interests prominently on the radar.

I have to add the disclaimer that none of these plans are final until we are actually awarded these grants. However, we feel confident about these three projects because we have so much support behind us. We will have to give some presentations next month, and then applications will be scored and decisions will be made.  But for now, it's a huge sigh of relief to have the ball out of our court for a while so we can return to other club focuses.

#theradmovement