All-Terrain Vehicle Association director named

PICKERINGTON, Ohio -- A powersports professional with extensive experience

riding all-terrain vehicles, teaching others to ride them and working to keep

riding areas open for all off-road vehicles has been tapped to head up a new

association focused on the needs of the nation's ATV owners.

Doug Morris, a 15-year ATV enthusiast who has coordinated state and

regional ATV safety courses as a central region manager of the ATV Safety

Institute, has been named director of the newly formed All-Terrain Vehicle

Association (ATVA), which is in the final stages of planning prior to a

late-spring launch. The new organization will work in partnership with the

American Motorcyclist Association (AMA).

Aside from being a former regional manager for the ATV Safety Institute,

Morris most recently served as the operations manager at Fay Myers Motorcycle

World in Denver, one of the largest powersports dealerships in the country.

"We're pleased to have someone of Doug's experience take the reins of an

organization that stands to become a serious advocacy group on behalf of the

country's growing ATV-riding population," said Bill Amick, vice president of

events and entertainment for the AMA. "We will make more detailed announcements

later about the scope and breadth of the new ATVA, but everyone who rides an ATV

can rest assured that they now have one of the most qualified people in the

country looking out for their interests."

Morris started riding all-terrain cycles in the mid 1980s, and worked with

the Kansas ATV Association for several years, promoting ATV riding and even

leasing land from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to use as a club riding area.

He moved into ATV instruction in 1998, at one point overseeing instructors in 12

states.

Through his position as operations manager of Fay Myers Motorcycle World,

Morris worked with most of the major ATV manufacturers, coordinating product

evaluations of new ATVs as well as overseeing public relations efforts on behalf

of the ATV industry. An active ATV enthusiast, Morris has competed in almost

every form of ATV competition, from motocross, TT and flat-track, to ice racing,

hare scrambles, mud bogs, ATV rodeos, sand drags and dirt drags.

"The reason I'm here is my enthusiasm for ATVs," Morris said. "For the last

15 years, ATVs have been the main focus in almost everything I have been doing.

I want to see the sport grow into the future, and the new ATVA will be a strong

vehicle to make that happen.''

The ATVA, which will be able to count on the technical and legislative

resources of the 270,000-member AMA. The ATVA will provide a wide range of

services and benefits to ATV enthusiasts, much like the AMA does for

motorcyclists.

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