Yamaha Celebrates Grant Program With North Georgia Mountain OHV Trail Work

Yamaha Motor Corp., USA, marked the 14th anniversary of the Yamaha Outdoor Access Initiative (OAI) with an employee volunteer event in the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest, helping The Great Outdoors Fund fulfill its OAI grant project on the Oakey Mountain OHV trail system. In a fitting celebration of the OAI program awarding more than $5 million in grant funding to date, a contingent of employees and volunteers joined the effort north of Yamaha’s motorsports headquarters and factory in Georgia to clean up and restore an area decommissioned to public motorized access.

The Oakey Mountain OHV recreation area is just south of Lake Burton and west of Lake Rabun. It offers two-way trails that are open to OHVs (off-highway vehicles) with less than a 48-inch axle width, and offers terrain from intermediate to rocky and steep. All OHV trails on the national forest close during wet conditions when trail use can cause damage to trails and erosion into nearby streams. Contact the Chattooga River Ranger District for the latest information on trail availability due to frequent weather contingencies. Call 706-754-6221 ext. 105 or check the website at www.fs.usda.gov/conf.

A group of Yamaha employees and volunteers joined the effort to restore trails at the Oakey Mountain OHV area on Chattahoochee National Forest land.

OHV trails are open March 15 to Dec. 31. A user fee is required for OHV trail use.
• 1-Day Permit: $5/operator/day (Pay at site) Cash or Check only. All Checks made out to: USDA Forest Service.
• OHV Annual Pass: $50/operator/year (Obtain at any Forest Service Office.
• Digital Passes: Digital Passes through Recreation.gov are now available for purchase and print to put on your dash for proof of fee payment. Or, if you have the recreation.gov app on your smart device, you can pay using the QR code located at the kiosk at the site or in front of the District Office in Lakemont.

“It’s immensely gratifying to help communities and improve rider access across the nation through Yamaha’s Outdoor Access Initiative, especially when seeing a consistently positive outcome after the program’s fourteen years of dedication and determination,” said Mike Martinez, president of Motorsports at Yamaha, who led the company’s attendance at the north Georgia event on April 30, 2022. “When grant recipients are local and our employees can provide hands-on assistance, like on the Oakey Mountain trail in the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest, it only further reinforces the vital need to keep our nation’s public lands open for all to enjoy through the Yamaha Outdoor Access Initiative.”

The 2022 Yamaha OAI program is underway and riding clubs, land stewardship associations, and public land managers are encouraged to work together with Yamaha dealers to identify projects and apply for support.

“With the demand for these spaces being at an all-time high, the resources and energy required to protect, maintain, and improve access to public land has never been greater,” said Steve Nessl, Yamaha’s Motorsports marketing manager. “Therefore, we strive to make it an easy process to receive the necessary assets through the Yamaha OAI program to fulfill projects and keep trails open; from our perspective, the sooner we get the funds working on the ground, the quicker the impact on what matters most.”

To help those thinking about applying for a grant, the Yamaha OAI has answered the most popular questions about the program at YamahaOAI.com and offers recaps of some typical projects as inspiration.

The first quarter grants for 2022 have been awarded to five applicants including:
• FireFrost ATV Club, Halstad, Minnesota
• Friends of the Flathead Avalanche Center, Whitefish, Montana
• San Juan Mountains Association, Durango, Colorado
• Turin Ridge Riders, Constable, New York

The Southern California Mountain Foundation also received a grant in the first quarter of 2022, extending a decade-long partnership that historically includes frequent Yamaha employee volunteer events on the San Bernardino National Forest, providing hands-on support for trail clearing, erosion control, and facilities improvements in one of the country’s most popular areas for outdoor and motorized recreation.

The application deadline for consideration in the second quarter of the 2022 funding cycle is June 30, 2022. Submission guidelines and an application for a Yamaha OAI grant are available at YamahaOAI.com. Connect with Yamaha on social media via @YamahaOutdoors or search any of the following hashtags on all platforms: #Yamaha #YamahaOAI #REALizeYourAdventure #ProvenOffRoad #AssembledInUSA

About the Yamaha Outdoor Access Initiative
Since 2008, the Yamaha Outdoor Access Initiative has led the Powersports industry in supporting responsible access to our nation’s public lands for outdoor enthusiasts. With more than $5 million contributed to 400 projects across the country, Yamaha has directly and indirectly supported thousands of miles of motorized recreation trails, maintained and rehabilitated riding and hunting areas, improved staging areas, supplied agricultural organizations with essential OHV safety education, built bridges over fish-bearing streams and partnered with local outdoor enthusiast communities across the country to improve access to public lands. Each quarter, Yamaha accepts applications from nonprofit or tax-exempt organizations including OHV riding clubs and associations, national, state and local public land-use agencies, outdoor enthusiast associations, and land conservation groups with an interest in protecting, improving, expanding, and/or maintaining access for safe, responsible, and sustainable public use.

Updated guidelines, application form, information, and news about the Outdoor Access Initiative are available at YamahaOAI.com. For specific questions about the Yamaha Outdoor Access Initiative, call the dedicated hotline at 1-877-OHV-TRAIL (877-648-8724), email [email protected], or write to:

Yamaha Outdoor Access Initiative, Yamaha Motor Corp., USA, 3065 Chastain Meadows Parkway, Bldg. 100, Marietta, GA 30066

About Yamaha Motor Corporation, USA
Yamaha Motor Corporation, USA (YMUS), is a recognized leader in the outdoor recreation industry. The company’s ever-expanding product offerings include Motorcycles and Scooters, ATV and Side-by-Side vehicles, Snowmobiles, WaveRunner Personal Watercraft, Boats, Outboard Motors, Outdoor Power Equipment, Power Assist Bicycles, Golf Cars, Power Assist Wheelchair Systems, Surface Mount Technology (SMT) and Robotic Machines, Unmanned Helicopters, Accessories, Apparel, Yamalube products, and much more. YMUS products are sold through a nationwide network of distributors and dealers in the United States.

YMUS has a corporate office in California, two corporate offices in Georgia, facilities in Wisconsin and Alabama, and factory operations in Tennessee and Georgia. Additional U.S.-based subsidiaries include Yamaha Marine Systems Company (YMSC) with divisions Bennett Marine (Florida), Kracor Systems (Wisconsin) and Siren Marine, Inc. (Rhode Island), Skeeter Boats (Texas), with division G3 Boats (Missouri), and Yamaha Precision Propeller (Indiana).