Kim Stehr grew up riding four-wheelers, dirt bikes, and snowmobiles on her family’s farm near Winona, Minnesota. “We would check on the cows and crops in the pasture and ride the trails,” she says.

Now as a University of Minnesota Extension educator in Winona County, Stehr has made ATV safety training central to her work.  Her commitment was inspired by an accident involving her mother in 2020. Thankfully, Stehr says, her mother was wearing a helmet that day.

“I said I need to teach others about the importance of being safe and mindful and responsible while on an ATV,” she says.

ATV safety training is now a part of 65 events and programs offered by 4-H, which is run through Extension. According to Nicole Pokorney, Extension educator and program director of the Minnesota 4-H Outdoor Education Program, 4-H volunteers and staff provide education around the state—at local 4-H events, the Minnesota State Fair, farm safety days, and other public events. They also offer ATV safety training that allows young people to earn certification—a rider’s license—from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

From the classroom to the field

Starting in 2019, Minnesota law began requiring anyone younger than 16 to become certified by the DNR to ride on public land and trails. Kids ages 10 and older can earn certification through 4-H.

To do so, they take an online course from the DNR and classroom training from 4-H volunteers who are trained by the DNR, where they learn about how ATVs work, how to choose the appropriate machine for their size, the importance of safety equipment and protective clothing, the state’s ATV laws and regulations, and how to be a good steward of the land on which they’re riding.

Participants also complete a field course on ATVs in which they learn to use hand signals, negotiate obstacles, and ride over hills. This training is delivered from a 28-foot mobile classroom that travels across southern Minnesota. (A static classroom trailer is stationed in Roseau.)

The static and mobile classrooms, five ATVs, and much of the training program have been funded by the Polaris Foundation, a Minnesota-based company that shares 4-H’s goal of blending outdoor adventure with youth safety.

“It’s important to teach riders of all ages responsible riding, but it’s particularly critical to instill at a young age,” says Dana Anderson, director of the Polaris Foundation. “Through this training, we’re creating riders who are safety ambassadors. They can take that knowledge and spread it through their peer community.”

Pokorney credits Polaris’ involvement with growing the program. Between April and October 2023, about 70 youth received certification. In May, 23 students at Stewartville Middle School became certified. (Through a partnership with 4-H, ATV safety training is offered to seventh graders at Stewartville schools during class time.) In all, nearly 1,000 kids received ATV safety lessons in 2023 and 2024 through the certification program and other events and programs.

“It’s been really fun to see it through,” Stehr says of the training program. “It’s nice to know we’ve done what we can to keep the kids safe. I hope they take with them a little of what we taught them.”

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