Since retiring as a metal fabricator seven years ago, Payne has averaged more than 650 hours a year working on trails in Oregon’s 364,000-acre Tillamook State Forest, where he has been riding dirt bikes since 1970. With a chainsaw and grub hoe mounted to his trusty 1991 Kawasaki KDX that he calls “Kermit,” Payne has almost single-handedly developed 26 miles of trail in the forest. Thanks to Payne, other volunteers and the staff of the state Department of Forestry, the 250 miles of available trails in the forest system are fast becoming one of the preeminent off-highway riding areas in the country.

A New Jersey native and avid backpacker, Koontz made his way west and earned a degree in geology at Colorado College in Colorado Springs. There he discovered the area’s rich off-highway riding opportunities. Later he landed a job with the National Park Service, working on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon in Arizona. Motorcycling in the nearby Wasatch Mountains in Utah, he became active in making improvements along the southern Paiute ATV Trail. In 2002, Koontz became a founding board member of Ride with Respect, a non-profit dedicated to conserving shared-use trails and their surroundings. To date, the organization has performed over 18,000 hours of trail work and education on public lands. Koontz currently serves on the board of the National Off-Highway Vehicles Conservation Council and the OHV Advisory Council of Utah State Parks.

Ehnes is being recognized for his nearly 20 years as the executive director of the National Off-Highway Vehicle Conservation Council, a nonprofit organization that develops and provides programs, materials and information to individuals, clubs, associations and agencies to further a positive future for responsible OHV recreation. Ehnes is also a dedicated OHV advocate in Montana as a charter member and officer of the Great Falls Trail Bike Riders Association and helped launch the Montana Trail Vehicle Riders Association. He continues to play active roles in both organizations.

Barrett Brown, from North Plains, Ore., is a life-long rider and AMA member who, for 15 years, was the land use and legislative director for the Oregon Motorcycle Riders Association. He gained national recognition when he designed and built the ST240, a purpose-built single-track dozer that is used to build motorcycle and mountain bike trails across the West. His company, Single Track LLC, won the 2015 State of the Art Technology Award from American Trails.

“All of the things this award speaks to, that I’ve been so lucky to be a part of, have involved many, many partners, family and supporters, and never alone,” Brown said. “From riding Six Days a couple of times, volunteer-coordinating successes and trail building, to political victories for the off-road community, I can only accept this on behalf of them and with real gratitude.

“I can’t overstate what off-road riding and racing has meant to our family,” Brown said. “Hundreds of American families share that common bond between generations, as well as this awesome framework for growth, respect and civic engagement. It’s been a humbling honor just to do the work of trying to extend these kinds of benefits to future families, and I’m deeply moved by this award.”

An accomplished off-road racer, Bates became a fierce activist for protecting off-highway vehicle access rights through her advocacy in the “Fight For Ocotillo Wells SVRA,” a coalition formed to preserve OHV riding opportunities in one of California’s most popular state vehicular recreation areas.

“It makes me so incredibly proud to receive this award from the AMA,” said Bates “This let’s me know that people are not only noticing that I am working hard, but that they trust me in what I do and they appreciate what we’ve been doing to preserve our riding rights at Ocotillo Wells. That speaks volumes and means so much more to me than words can express.”

Their dual-sport committee successfully organized and now maintains and promotes one of the world’s best known dual-sport events, the LA-Barstow to Vegas Dual Sport Tour, or LA-B-to-V. Launched in 1984, the 400 mile-plus tour typically starts after Thanksgiving and has routes for dual sport, adventure touring, vintage bikes, sidehacks and small displacement machines, so long as they are street legal.

“I am honored and humbled to be nominated and chosen for this prestigious award,” said Pilon. “I also serve as a California State Alternate of the National Off-Highway Vehicle Conservation Council and, along with the Bureau of Land Management, the United States Forest Service and various other agencies in four states, we’ve worked to create a responsible use of public land. I am proud to have others and the District 37 AMA Dual Sport Committee put forth their belief in dual sport as a national and international vehicle to enjoy what we love, to ride.”

Flanders said: “I am so honored to receive this award but feel that I can only accept it as a representative of our LA-Barstow to Vegas Committee, of which I am a part. Ten of us from District 37 Dual Sport work hard all year to put a ride together and then have 500 of our closest friends join us on Thanksgiving weekend. I am so happy to represent our committee and participants.”

Washington state’s Langley was acknowledged for his tireless work—800 to 1000 hours per year—maintaining riding trails in off-road-vehicle areas throughout his home state. The Boeing Company retiree was hailed by the state’s Department of Natural Resources as one of its top volunteers statewide in 2012.