Not another mountain bike club membership!?
Yes, we know. There’s a lot of hands out asking for your money these days, and a lot less money going around. That said, there’s also a lot of debate and drama over trail users, trail guidelines and trail etiquette – and if Trail Fund is going to continue to put its hand up and suggest some strategic ways forward, we need to be able to prove how many people believe in our cause.
What is our cause?
Trail Fund is the only national body that represents and funds trail builders throughout the country. Over the past 13 years, our volunteer-run organisation has distributed more than 120 grants, totaling more than $300,000, to 50 clubs around the country. We also made sure mountain bikers had a seat at the table when it comes to trails on public conservation land by joining forces with Federated Mountain Clubs and New Zealand Deerstalkers Federation in 2014 to create the Outdoor Recreation Consortium (precursor to the Backcountry Trust).
Our advocacy representative Jimmy has also been working tirelessly for six years to realign Doc’s re-classification of bikes on public conservation land as ‘vehicles’ in 2018. It caused significant delays to projects around the country, leaving several passionate volunteers feeling defeated. It also meant that iconic trails – including several Great Rides – did not comply.
It’s been a slow process but Jimmy and representatives from various other local clubs are finally gaining traction, and earlier this year he prepared the Trail Fund submission for the Department of Conservation (DOC) on the modernization of conservation and management. This submission can be found on the Trail Fund website and recommends adopting an effects-based approach, improving resource allocation within DOC and ensuring a more equitable concession system.
Back to the money and membership.
As above, we aren’t doing this for the money – we’re doing it for the memberships, and we will have two different levels – individuals and clubs.
Individual memberships are $8 and include a Trail Fund member sticker – or free when you purchase any Trail Fund item in our online shop for the next two months.
Club memberships – which automatically translate to individual memberships for every club member – will be $25. Clubs will need to be members to apply for funding rounds going forward.
That’s the gist. No drama, little money, big impact.
We look forward to welcoming you to the club – officially. JOIN HERE!
April funding round now open!
Got your membership sorted? We have two ebarrows and 10 Weapon of Mass Creation Tools for grabs, so get your application in now. Applications will be accepted until 30 May.
