ALGER COUNTY SORVA/FACEBOOK
What is a SORVA? BY JIM DUKE CONTRIBUTING WRITER
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t’s amazing that there are still so many folks that enjoy snowmobiling, and for that matter any motorized activity, who have no idea what a SORVA is or how important such organizations are to the existence of the activities they seem to take for granted. Although the acronym has only gained popularity in the last decade or so, it has been around for many years beyond that, but with a slightly different meaning. In the original version, the term SORVA identified clubs and user groups as an organization of sportsmen who utilized an off-road vehicle of some sort to make the activity they were experiencing more successful, and quite honestly, enjoyable. Sportsmen’s Off-Road Vehicle Association or SORVA was used for almost every recreational sporting group that employed the use of a motorized convey-
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ance, whether it was for hunting, fishing, camping, or just going for an enjoyable ride on a country backroad or forest twotrack. Eventually, when the snowmobiling community and some of the All-Terrain Vehicle clubs began joining forces to bolster memberships, the “S” was to identify the snowmobile rather than the sportsman, and many clubs became known as SORVA’s. During a series of interviews and discussions with some members of both the combined clubs and those that have elected to remain a single entity whether it be snowmobile, ATV, or a different form of off-road motorized recreation, and the reasons for either merging or not, both have merit. For example, there are snowmobile clubs that have been in existence for many years, but for some reason have failed to recruit new members. As the sus-
JULY • 2022 • MICHIGAN SNOWMOBILER + ORV
taining members grow older their numbers become fewer and they find themselves unable to perform the required maintenance to keep the trails in a safe condition. Without new and younger members, it may become necessary to dissolve the club. Their salvation comes in the form of an ATV club willing to merge and take on part of those responsibilities since both use the same multi-use trails. For the most part, members of the ATV club are much younger and certainly more energetic. It becomes a win-win for both groups, the membership grows, and the club flourishes. While there are a number of clubs and other groups that still employ the Sportsman portion of the acronym, there are snowmobile clubs also that prefer to remain snowmobile exclusive, and so it should be for those with no desire to mingle
or can see no benefit in a merger. Still, for the most part, with just so many trails available for all categories to use, it only makes sense that combining efforts to improve on existing trails and for the development of new ones would be of benefit to all user groups. In discussions with administrators of the programs governing both snowmobile and ORV’s, there is limited funding available for trail maintenance, equipment purchases, and other expenses related to the overall upkeep and everyday operations of clubs and/or grant sponsors responsible for those activities. Snowmobile grant sponsors have priority of trail usage for just four months while the other off-road groups have the other eight months to enjoy the trails, but as far as funding is concerned, the snowmobilers pay the bulk of the cost to keep the trails smooth and safe year-
