Off-Highway Motorcycle (OHM) trail grants
Revenue collected from off-highway motorcycle (OHM) registrations is available for development, rehabilitation and maintenance of OHM trails in Wisconsin.
Contact Jillian Steffes, 715-210-4911 with questions. To sign up to recieve notifications for Governor's Off-Highway Motorcycle Council meetings and Off-Highway MotorcycleTrail Aids program updates, go here.
Who can apply
Cities, villages, towns, counties, tribes, state and federal agencies are eligible.
Eligible items
Eligible items and funding levels include:
- Maintenance of OHM-only Trail: Funded at $53/mile with a $1K surplus for use on rehab that is more than basic maintenance. Requires minimum of 2x maintenance passes per year (includes brushing, spot maintenance related to the treadway and environmental concerns, sign maintenance and the like)
- Maintenance of Motorized Recreation Parks: For OHM only trails within the park, funded at $53/mile with no $1k surplus.
- Maintenance of Shared-use OHM Trails: No set rate, applicants can request an amount based on their evaluation of need. If the trail is shared with ATVs/UTVs, it is presumed that the use by those machines will far exceed that of OHM, but additional expenses may be incurred for signage, etc. Amount of maintenance award will not exceed $50/mile.
- Development of OHM trails and areas reimburseable up to 100 percent of eligible costs;
- Traditional grooming of OHM trails is not a routine component of trail maintenance. In the event there are section of trail that eventually need to be graded, this action will be considered as a separate trail rehabilitation request for each specific section. Grading can only be done by proper and authorized equipment.
- Major rehabilitation of bridge structures reimbursable up to 100 percent of eligible costs;
Any costs incurred PRIOR to receipt of a grant are not reimbursable and MAY jeopardize your entire grant.
Ranking priorities
Trail funds are distributed according to the following ranked purposes (NR 65.11 [exit DNR]). Priority will be given to funding projects in which OHMs are the only designated motorized equipment.
- Maintenance of existing off-highway motorcycle trails.
- Maintenance of existing off-highway motorcycle facilities.
- Major rehabilitation of existing OHM trails and facilities.
- Development of new OHM trails and facilities on publicly owned land.
- Development of trails and facilities on privately-owned land using a lease or easement.
- Acquisition of land for OHM trails and facilities.
- Signage of off-highway motorcycle routes which provide access to OHM trails.
- Other eligible OHM projects.
Deadlines
Applications are due in the regional offices by July 1, annually.
Applying
Applying
Contact your DNR grant project manager before applying to discuss your potential project.
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Reimbursement
Reimbursement materials
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Resources
Trail signing
Additional Resources
Laws
Grant related statues and administrative codes
Contact
- Contact information
- For questions about ATV Trail Aids, contact:
- Jillian Steffes
Department of Natural Resources
107 Sutliff Ave
Rhinelander, WI 54501
(715) 210-4911 - Your regional DNR grant project manager
- Your County Trail Coordinator [PDF]