But, just how much?

That’s the question a survey will answer after it’s completed this fall.

MO-MOTO Trail Riders (MMTR), a Missouri OHV (Off-Highway-Vehicle) association has teamed up with SEMO University in an effort to gauge the economic impact benefits to several Rural Missouri counties. This was made possible by a fundraiser held by MO-MOTO Trail Riders & state allocation from the Dept of Tourism

The results are anticipated to assist the MMTR gain sponsorship and support for a House Bill they plan to submit that will empower an OHV recreation authority enabling this entity to work with landowners and land managers by limiting liability and connecting rural communities to an extensive trail network.

“Our biggest goal as an association is to improve the sport – anything we can do to help out in maintaining the sport for people to come and have fun and ride their machines,” said Andrew Grover, president of the MO-MOTO OHV INC Association, which is administering the survey.

“With the survey, what we’re hoping to do is build knowledge for people that may not see the total impact financially to the community and, in return, perhaps maybe more funding can be put toward creating an extensive trail network.”

Surveying ATV and UTV users in South East Missouri began in mid-July and is anticipated to continue through mid-October before the results are analyzed and compiled by SEMO University. 

An overarching curiosity, however, has been the total economic impact of the trails for South East Missouri  communities and businesses – a figure believed to be large but never specifically identified and tracked, said Andrew Grover, President of MMTR “A study like this has never been performed for the OHV community in Missouri, this will be our first but not our last”. Although MMTR worked with a limited budget this year they plan to continue to grow and raise funds to provide a more in depth study.

“One of the things we’ve always been kind of curious about (is) what our economic impact is from OHVs to South East Missouri,” he said. “If you visit SE Missouri on a weekend, you will hear the roaring engines of OHV’s throughout our forests, communities or alongside our Missouri river systems.

“We’re pretty excited to see (the study results).”

MMTR will  use this survey to better help the Chamber of Commerce’s, Commissions, State Reps, USFS and community to hone in on  marketing efforts, and also bring a message back to businesses about the value of recreation in the area.

“To the best of what I’ve been told, we’ve never done any local research into the economic impact of OHVs in our state. We know we’ve used probably national or state data that shows the economic value, but we can only surmise what that means to SE Missouri” said Andrew Grover President of MMTR.

“Getting these numbers will allow us to then, No. 1, actually measure just how much dollars or how many dollars could be brought in by OHV enthusiasts, and, No. 2, it will allow us to better pinpoint marketing dollars to help grow the audience.”

MMTR believes OHV tourism can bring “new money” to rural Missouri, 80% of which we predict could be from out of state visitors that would like to experience our wild river systems, Ozarks or rich Missouri history. OHV tourism has the potential to provide economic stimulus to rural communities the same way the canoe & kayak industry has for years.

“We look at (the survey) as an important way to look at our system as to the economic impact that it has and bring awareness to the public – any time there’s money being spent, people tend to listen,”