With the growth of Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) recreation and the government's land acquisition practices, the private landowners of this state have seen themselves caught in the middle of a battle of interests. This informational page will show you how letting a local club use a small portion of private property can pay huge dividends to you, the community, and the environment.

What You May Not Know

Unknown to most private landowners, New York State offers some protection for you against lawsuits regarding recklessness on your property. General Obligations Law 9-103 helps landowners with a special immunity against the usual duty to keep designated open spaces reasonably safe for persons who enter to recreate. The key prerequisite favors owners against users who enter places to engage in statutorily enumerated recreational activities, including by specified motorized vehicle operation. The complementary goals of the statute are to encourage landowners to leave and allow their open lands to be accessible to recreators, the inducement being the special immunity; and to correspondingly withdraw from recreators, as a quid pro quo, their usual right to sue an owner for injuries suffered from failure to keep a place reasonably safe. As with most laws, further consult your attorney for more information on the NYS General Obligations Law.

Land Owner Benefits

The greatest benefit of allowing OHV access is the amount of control you actually have. As a landowner, you're helping a club with something that's harder and harder to find - good, legal places to recreate. The club members are sincerely appreciative of this, and may show it by donating their time and efforts in helping you maintain your property. Fence and gate building, erosion control, tree removal, and general trail maintenance are all things volunteers can help you achieve. Such is our need, just ask and you'll get it!

Planning

From the onset and throughout, the club President and Land Use Officer will work with you on what is acceptable on your property. Existing trails on the property will be mapped out and marked so that no vehicle will ever be where is shouldn't. If new trails are allowed, the landowner will be consulted accordingly. Under no circumstances will a club member remove or alter anything on the property unless specifically asked to by you! Trails are normally just wide enough for a Jeep, even more narrow than most State snowmobile trails!

Control

Most trails in use now are only used once or twice a year, May to November, with anywhere from three to thirty vehicles. A group of thirty would be divided up to no more than seven vehicles per outing, but of course it's your call! You control when, where, and how many at all times. And if you or the club feel the trail is seeing too much use, the club will stop and remedy the trail as you see fit, using knowledge gained from years of trail maintenance experience.
Gates, fences, and natural barriers can be erected and used by volunteers to help the land owner control illegal trail activity. If any is discovered, please contact the club representative and/or the police.

Responsible Recreation

The private landowner can rest assured that supervised, responsible groups are working with him/her in this endeavor. All club members have been voted in pending an evaluation by other members and the club's officers. You're welcome to meet anyone and everyone at any time. If a member is deemed irresponsible or reckless, even away from club functions, that member forfeits all rights (not to mention all dues) afforded them by the club. If a member is identified during a ride as doing an unsafe or illegal act, they are immediately dispelled and the authorities may be notified. All members have their names, addresses, phone numbers, and vehicle information on file.

Community Benefits

In addition to the assistance you may receive, by hosting a club your community will also greatly benefit. Nearby motels, restaurants, and small grocery stores or shops house and feed club members and families to the tune of $100-$150 a day per vehicle occupant. On a typical weekend, a group of ten vehicles, each carrying two people will spend at least $2000 nearby! Not including gas and souvenirs. If you're also a business owner, you're that much more likely to see the incredible benefits. And as a friend of the club, you're invited to our Burger Burns, Holiday Dinners, and join any meeting or trail ride you want.

---

General Obligations Law

New York State Consolidated Laws

ARTICLE 9 - TITLE 1 CONDITIONS ON REAL PROPERTY

9-103. No duty to keep premises safe for certain uses; responsibility for acts of such users.

1. Except as provided in subdivision two,

A. an owner, lessee or occupant of premises, whether or not posted as provided in section 11-2111 of the environmental conservation law, owes no duty to keep the premises safe for entry or use by others for hunting, fishing, organized gleaning as defined in section seventy-one-y of the agriculture and markets law, canoeing, boating, trapping, hiking, cross-country skiing, tobogganing, sledding, speleological activities, horseback riding, bicycle riding, hang gliding, motorized vehicle operation for recreational purposes, snowmobile operation, cutting or gathering of wood for non-commercial purposes or training of dogs, or to give warning of any hazardous condition or use of or structure or activity on such premises to persons entering for such purposes;

B. an owner, lessee or occupant of premises who gives permission to another to pursue any such activities upon such premises does not thereby
(1) extend any assurance that the premises are safe for such purpose, or
(2) constitute the person to whom permission is granted an invitee to whom a duty of care is owed, or
(3) assume responsibility for or incur liability for any injury to person or property caused by any act of persons to whom the permission is granted.

(Added L 1980)
C. an owner, lessee or occupant of a farm, as defined in section six hundred seventy-one of the labor law, whether or not posted as provided in section 11-2111 of the environmental conservation law, owes no duty to keep such farm safe for entry or use by a person who enters or remains in or upon such farm without consent or privilege, or to give warning of any hazardous condition or use of or structure or activity on such farm to persons so entering or remaining. This shall not be interpreted, or construed, as a limit on liability for acts of gross negligence in addition to those other acts referred to in subdivision two of this section.

2. This section does not limit the liability which would otherwise exist
A. for willful or malicious failure to guard, or to warn against, a dangerous condition, use, structure or activity; or
B. for injury suffered in any case where permission to pursue any of the activities enumerated in this section was granted for a consideration other than the consideration, if any, paid to said landowner by the state or federal government, or permission to train dogs was granted for a consideration other than that provided for in section 11-0925 of the environmental conservation law; or
C. for injury caused, by acts of persons to whom permission to pursue any of the activities enumerated in this section was granted, to other persons as to whom the person granting permission, or the owner, lessee or occupant of the premises, owed a duty to keep the premises safe or to warn of danger.
3. Nothing in this section creates a duty of care or ground of liability for injury to person or property.
Eff. Sept. 1, 1979

Please consult your attorney for more information.

---

The Future of OHV

The future of OHV use is in the hands of private land owners like you. As you can see, the OHV community as a whole is not what you see during a "truck commercial". Many trail rides are family functions that seldom see 3 mph, take long breaks to have lunch and relax, and enjoy ourselves outdoors.

We're responsible, we're appreciative, and we Tread Lightly!