The Ontario ATV Search and Rescue Federation is a volunteer not for profit organization dedicated to assisting local authorities and families search for missing loved ones in remote areas where atv's are the quickest and most practical search method available.

The organization got started by the Hills Riders ATV Association in the Caledon area. The Ontario ATV Search and Rescue solidified after the group was involved in the search for 46 year old Randy Mogridge of Oakville who went missing Oct. 24/04 and was later found dead in a creek not far from where he went missing. Since then the organization has been called in to help in the search for Karla Koop of Lincoln, and more recently Dylan Zamara a 20 year old Etobicoke student.

The Ontario ATV Search and Rescue Federation is also helping to co-ordinate the work "basically we go in places where it is difficult for police vehicles (other than atv's) to operate or in large expanses of land that cannot quickly or adequately be covered by authorities alone" says John Penny one of the associations founders.

Members of the organization require some specialized training including training by the Toronto Heavy Urban Search and Rescue Team put on by members consisting of police, paramedics and firefighters. In addition some members will go to Ohio for specialized night search training and many members have recently been through the Crime Scene training put on by the Hamilton Forensic Crime Scene Unit and SAR Coordinator . All members have Standard First Aid training, CPR, Police background check and will shortly undergo OSARVA training.

The organization now has some corporate sponsors which will allow the Ontario ATV Search and Rescue to develop a full business plan. "Wed like to get to the point where we can dispatch resources in co-operation with local police departments anywhere in the province" says Mark Coles who is setting up local volunteers as part of his involvement with the Haliburton ATV Association. "This is a good cause" says Coles "and some of our members already have significant deep woods experience (including long term survival skills and tracking) and have a strong knowledge of central Ontario trails".

"Communication is a comforting thing" Penny said regarding discussions with the families of missing persons that the Ontario ATV Search and Rescue volunteers spend days searching for on missions. "When the families see us out there searching day and night it gives them hope" says Penny.

The goal is to deploy experienced and trained volunteer members and get them out quickly even in the worst of conditions especially during the first critical 24 hrs. "Searchers put there own lives on hold and may deploy to areas far from home for up to a week says Coles. "Having search resources in different regions will help spread the work load and get our volunteers deployed faster where they may be needed to assist local authorities in cases where the police K9 units come back without success". "Having trained atv riders on board in Haliburton is a positive step forward" says Penny.

In 2004 OPP and other police agencies mounted 183 missing persons cases in Ontario and according to OSARVA about 18 of those searches could have used the direct assistance of Ontario ATV Search and Rescue to help in the search. Atv's can be a tremendous asset in any search and rescue.

Volunteer information will be available on the www.haliburtonatv.com web site soon. In the mean time if you are a local atv rider who is willing to take the necessary training contact Mark Coles at the Haliburton ATV Association.

Officers from the Haliburton Highlands Detachment responded to a call for assistance by a stranded ATV rider yesterday.

Members of the Haliburton ATV Association notified the OPP late yesterday afternoon that they had received a call from an ATV rider who was stuck on a trail near Telephone Bay Road in Highlands East Township.

Three members of the Haliburton ATV Association assisted the officers in incident. Derek Klinck 47 years of Scarborough and Matthew Klinck his 6-year-old son, were riding their ATV when it became stuck in the mud on the remote trail. Mr. Klinck was able to use his cell phone to call the ATV association whose phone number was on a trail map.

The Haliburton Highlands Detachment would like to thank the members of the ATV association for their assistance and professionalism.

The OPP would also like to remind the public about the importance of being prepared for unforeseen situations when venturing out into remote areas.

The following items could be of assistance when going into the bush. A cell or satellite phone, gps, compass, and a survival kit. It is also important to let others know your expected route and the time of your return.

Last Wednesday and Thursday saw Indian summer at its finest with daytime temperatures relatively balmy and Haliburton trails, decked out in all their fall glory beckoning to ATVers to come for a ride. On Thursday, Mark Coles, Hugh Trask, and Steve Skidmore, members of the Haliburton ATV Club, ventured forth for the day on a ride to Anson Mountain and Sheldon Lake. Experienced ATVers, this was to be a relaxing day out, and it was until Coles had just unloaded his bike at home around 4 oclock and received a desperate phone call from an ATVer lost in the bush with his six year old son. Having sunk their ATV in a mudhole, father and son had been walking for an hour. Wet and cold, the father called the number on the ATV map he had with him, desperately looking for assistance. They had no matches, food or water with them and the gravity of the situation was sinking in as darkness approached.

Coles, the founder of Haliburton ATV Association, was the right person with whom to make contact. Knowledgeable about area trails, Coles continued to have intermittent snatches of conversation with the father, trying to determine where they were. The mans cell phone only worked for a few seconds at a time and then would cut out. It took five calls back and forth to determine where they might be. Cell phones, while not always reliable in The Highlands, can be the last line of defense for those lost in the extensive areas of bush.

At one point Coles asked the father if he was a member of OFATV and he sheepishly admitted that he wasnt. Coles reported, "I think at first he thought we wouldnt come for him because he wasnt a memberkind of a CAA thing in his mind but we reassured him we were on the way."

By the third or fourth call, Coles had the OPP on the other line. He tried to gauge where the stranded party was located from the details that the father was giving him, although much of it didnt make sense. The father tried to describe bridges that he had passed, but his mention of a steel bridge did not fit the area that Coles figured he was in. However, they knew he had started out on the Gooderham trail from Haliburton.

Calling Trask who in turn contacted Skidmore to head out again - "We all gassed up and headed to Donald where we rendezvoused with the OPP and finalized the plan says Coles. Some OPP officers borrowed an atv from the Haliburton Fire Department and were going to come from the Gooderham south end, said Coles. Officer Dan Collings was with them, even though he was just off shift. Coles pointed out, "I knew he was familiar with the trail as we had ridden it together. Dispatch had passed that information on to the duty officers."

The search party started down the Gooderham trail from Donald. According to Coles, "that trail is quite knarly and pretty much an all-day return ride. No stars or moon for the lost father and son. I wasn't positive that the lost fellow hadn't wandered up Wolf Lake Trail somewhere by his description, but thought he was probably south of the Telephone Bay Road trail."

It was pitch black by dinner hour and, having made contact again, Coles told them to stay put and not to move in the dark. However, they were cold so they started walking back in the direction from which they had come from. The father later told them later that could not tell when they were walking into water or rock until their feet were in it and several times they walked off the trail into the bush because it was so black.

Along the way the search and rescue team encountered a large pine that had fallen across the trail after the boy and father had passed through. It had been very windy all day. The crew couldnt get around it, so Trask worked to winch it aside. Further down the trail there was a 40-foot wide washout where a beaver dam had let go. What was left were huge boulders, some almost as big as cars. Coles recounted, "At first we thought they couldn't have come through this area, but with a flashlight inspection, we could see where they had made their way across with fresh tracks apparent"

Eventually the search party found them about three quarters of the way down the Gooderham trail. "Soaking wet, cold and covered with mud - they were glad to see us," said Coles. "The little boy had his dads coat on and was shivering but he was still full of questions." Managing to get a cell connection, Coles aborted the OPP approach from the south. Looking at the terrain, he expressed his doubt that they could have got up from the south with one bike because the area was very flooded.

The riders ATV had become mired in a wide flooded section of the trail. "The water may have come from another tributary of the washout we had seen earlier on the trail," said Coles. "I winched the bike out of the mud where it was buried. Skidmore had brought extra clothing and got father and son warmed up a bit, we brought them out to Telephone Bay Road where three OPP cars were waiting."

Extremely grateful, the rescued party professed to Coles and the OPP officers, "I definitely will be joining the Haliburton ATV Association for life."

The rescue volunteers left father and son with the OPP and headed north to get back to their trailers the same way they had come down. It was a happy ending for all, said Coles, but it could have been rough if they had remained wet like that over night with the temperature not far above freezing. "The OPP were very well organized" said Coles. "Dan knew exactly the areas we were talking about and everybody had discussed and agreed on the final plan with the staff sargeants concurrance". "It all went exactly as we had hoped and they were found very close to where we expected to find them." added Coles

This is the second such rescue that HATVA had brought about. Last fall two men sunk their ATV's in a swamp on trail south of hwy. #118. Having walked four and a half miles out of the bush and nine kilometres down Hwy. 118, the youngest guy finally lay down on the side of the road. Although they had signalled drivers to stop, nobody would because they were covered in mud. Finally around 11 p.m. someone driving by called the police. Asking the good samaritan to call their family to give their location, they waited to be picked up. Coles who had already been phoned by the worried family earlier had determined the trail and was loading up but got the second call and picked them up on the highway where they were also met by the OPP. He arranged for volunteers to meet at 7 a.m. the following morning to go in after their disabled ATV's.

It's important to take emergency supplies and safety precautions when hiking or riding trails in the bush. Swampy and flooded areas can be treacherous and it's easy to get turned around and loose your bearings. Hikers, hunters and riders should let family members know where they are heading and carry supplies to spend a night in the bush when an accident or something unexpected happens. The safest bet for atver's is to ride with organized groups whose members have experience, proper equipment and a knowledge of the terrain. While Haliburton has some of best trails in the province, help is not always a phone call away because of the large amount of wilderness. While these two situations involved atv's, wandering remote trails demands precaution for all recreationalists both motorized and non motorized. Some of the HATVA group are also involved in Ontario ATV Search & Rescue Assoc. and have been on various training exercises in preparation to assist police when asked.

All-Terrain Vehicles. Some call them noisy, some call the destructive, others still accuse them of ruining the sights and sounds of nature itself. For the Ontario Provincial Police in search of a father and son stranded on the Gooderham Trail recently, the ATVs that came to the rescue were a sight for sore eyes. Their ability to travel rough country in emergency situations is but one of their advantages.

The police use them, the Ministry of Natural Resources use them. As do Hydro One and various fire departments. Their advantages in the bush are not reserved for hunters any more.

Mark Coles, Steve Skidmore and Hugh Trask should be congratulated for their efforts in the recent search and rescue operation. The OPP are grateful to the three skilled riders, not only for their knowledge of the countys hinterland, but also for their actual help in rescuing the stranded father and son.

Coles, Skidmore and Task are, above all, recreational ATVers who have honed their skills traveling the many trails around the county. They belong to the Haliburton ATV Association.

Recreational ATVing is quickly becoming a more and more popular activity and ATVers and non-ATVers alike will become increasingly engaged. Dont be too quick to criticize recreational ATVers for using trails and roadways and causing noise. While all ATVers should be encouraged to be responsible riders and thoughtful stewards of the trails and roadways that they use, their skills might just be needed to come to your rescue.

Why should I Support the OFATV I Can Just Hop On A Trail And Ride Crown Land. Read This Actual Event Report Then Answer Your Own Question!

Yesterday Hugh, Steve and I went out riding for the day on a ride at Anson Mountain/Sheldon Lake. I had just unloaded my bike at when I got a call at 4 pm from a guy lost in the bush with his 6-year-old son. No matches, food or water. He got my number off the Haliburton ATV map. His cell phone would worked for a few seconds and then cut out. It took about five calls back and forth to figure out roughly where he might be. At one point I asked him if he was OFATV and he said sheepishly that he wasnt. I think at first he thought we wouldnt come for him because he wasnt a member kind of a CAA thing in his mind.

He had sunk his ATV and both he and his son were wet and cold and had been walking an hour and didnt know where they were. I had OPP on the other line as well by the third or fourth call. So from some of the bridges he described (some of what he said didnt make sense and some did). I had a hunch where he was but he kept talking about a steel bridge (but there is no steel bridge on that trail). I called Hugh and he said he would come with Steve so we all gasses up and headed to Donald where we rendezvoused with the OPP and finalized the plan.

OPP borrowed an ATV from the Haliburton Fire Department and were going to come to the Gooderham south end. Dan Collings was with the OPP group even though he was just off shift because I knew he was familiar with the trail as we had ridden it together and dispatch had passed that info on to the duty officers. We went down the Gooderham trail from Donald. The Gooderham trail, as many who have ridden will attest, is quite gnarly and pretty much an all day return ride. I wasn't positive that the lost fellow hadn't wandered up Wolf Lake trail somewhere but thought he was probably south of the Telephone Bay Rd trail."

It was pitch black by dinner hour and I told them to stay put but they were cold so they walked back towards the direction they had come from. Along the way we encountered a large pine that had fallen across the trail since the boy and father had passed through. It had been very windy all day. We couldnt get around it, so Hugh winch it aside. Further down the trail there was a 40-foot wide washout where a beaver dam had let go and what was left were huge boulders some as big as cars. At first we thought they couldn't have come through there but with a flashlight inspection we could see how they got through.

We found the about 3/4 way down the Gooderham trail cold and glad to see us but soaking wet and covered with mud. The little boy had his dads coat on and was shivering but still full of questions. We finally got a cell connection and aborted the OPP approach from the south. It is doubtful they could have got up from the south with anyway as area was flooded. I winched the bike, which was buried, out of the mud (it was a large flooded area that may have come from another tributary of the washout we saw earlier on the trail) and we got them warmed up a bit and we brought them out to Telephone Bay Rd. where three OPP cars were waiting. We left him with the OPP and headed north the same way we came down to get back to the trailers.

Happy ending for all but it would have been rough if they were wet like that overnight as the temperature was not far above freezing that night. The guy we rescued said he would be joining the HATVA for life