NOVA Program

The Nonhighway & Offroad Activities (NOVA) program was created in the mid-1970’s to provide funding assistance to federal and state agencies for the planning, acquisition, development and management of land and facilities for ATV use. There have been changes to this since its inception, and NMA has been there to protect your share of the NOVA account. There have been wins and losses, no doubt, but we diligently continue to protect the portion of NOVA that is specified to be used only for motorized, off-road activities. Here are some links to the history, intent, and attacks against the NOVA program and funding.

Resources
NOVA History
A short, easy to comprehend timeline of the NOVA program with recent facts and updates.

Guidelines For All-Terrain Vehicle Funds
The original guidelines document prepared in 1973 by the Interagency Committee for Outdoor Recreation (IAC). This clearly states the goal and purpose of ATV funds.

NOVA Fuel Use Study Agreement
Written in July 2000, this recommendation to the IAC shows support for a fuel use study by the IAC under specific conditions. The intent was to make sure a new fuel use study would be fairly conducted to meet the needs of all six user groups represented on the IAC-NOVA committee.

This agreement was approved by 5 of the 6 groups (ATV, Equestrian, Four Wheel Drive, Mountain Bicyclists and ORV/Motorcycle). The Hiker group, represented by the WTA, was the only group not approving the agreement.

2001 Legislative Position Paper
A formal request to the legislature to stop moving forward with a new NOVA fuel use study and other redistribution of NOVA funds.

This request was made because the WTA specifically requested a new fuel use study, clearly in an attempt to divert NOVA funds away from their rightful use. With the exception of the WTA and the hiking community, there is absolutely no support from the rest of the trail users to pursue a new fuel use study using existing NOVA funds.

This paper was signed by 5 of the 6 NOVA representative groups. Again, the Hiker group, represented by the WTA, was the only group not signing this paper.

2009 WA State Legislature Redistributes NOVA Funds / Lawsuit Decided
On September 13 Division II of the Washington State Appellate Court handed down their decision on Washington Off Highway Vehicle Alliance versus State of Washington. Two of the three judges ruled in favor of the State, allowing the State to get away with misappropriating 9.5 million dollars of offroad vehicle gas tax funds in 2009 and giving that those funds to state parks instead of allocating them to the Nonhighway and Offroad Vehicle Activities (NOVA) account. Read More Here…

NOVA FUND LAWSUIT DECISION

The NOVA Fund Theft from 2009 occured when the WA State Legislation stole all our NOVA Funds (9.5 million dollars). WOHVA sued the state for this theft. WOHVA lost the first round so the court case went to the WA State Supreme Court. Their decision was handed down on December 14, 2012. The result was not in our favor. Of the 9 judges 3 agreed with the state for the theft, 2 thought the case was moot, and 4 judges agreed with WOHVA. Here is a link to the court case results

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