Michigan DNR Announces License Changes

[Smit-Dog]

FYI...

Starting March 1, 2003, you can purchase ORV stickers online through the DNR's E-License web site. Check it out here:

www.mdnr-elicense.com

From the Michigan DNR web site at www.michigan.gov/dnr
Contact: Loren Hersey 517-373-1205
Agency: Natural Resources

DNR announces license changes

February 27, 2003

State conservation officials today announced changes in the DNR licensing system that will be of interest to hunters, anglers, and other outdoor enthusiasts.

The changes, effective March 1 with the start of the new licensing year, include new, non-adhesive licenses. Therefore, licenses that require adhesive backing, including off road vehicle, snowmobile permits and state parks motor vehicle permits, will be pre-printed and no longer printed on the retail sales system at DNR license locations.

Off Road Vehicle permit buyers will be among the first affected by the changes. Pre-printed 2003-04 ORV decals will be available March 1 from nearly 500 agents throughout Michigan, including select hunting and fishing license outlets with traditionally high ORV permit sales volumes, most ORV dealerships, DNR Operations Service Centers and license agents who request supplies of the pre-printed permits. Starting this year, customers can also purchase ORV permits on the DNR web site by clicking here. The new permits will be required on all ORVs starting April 1.

 

[Magoo]

So I goes down to my neighborhood license vendor to see if they're gonna have any '03 ORV stickers. Didn't "sell enough" of them for the DNR to think anyone would want to buy from us, they say, so no they don't have any ORV stickers -- never mind that they are the closest retailer to a DNR ORV Trail. Any idea who is gonna have them? Nope, no one seems to know....
I calls my local m/c dealer, to see if he's gonna be selling ORV stickers? Nope, you can get 'em at any Holiday Station, why would I fool with 'em? No one told him that they were changing their distribution channels.
So, then I goes on over to the local DNR Office (a Regional Office, mind you), to see if they gots any to sell. Nope, only have '02 stickers right now; but we'll have the '03s by the end of March when the current ones expire. OK, can I get a list of local retailers that will be selling ORV stickers so I can tell the local retailers that can no longer sell the ORV stickers where their customers can get 'em? It's not like everyone knows whre the DNR Office is, and their hours aren't exactly convenient. Ummmm, sorry, we don't have that information... can you get it? Well, we'll check and give you a call if we can find out....
Ya just gotta love the beauracracy! When the system works fine, they gotta go and break it. Sheesh!

 

[Smit-Dog]

Magoo,

I spoke with Loren Hersey this morning to try and get more clarification on some of your concerns. This is what I found out:

- Any DNR licensing agent who sold more than 80 ORV stickers in 2002 will automatically receive a supply of pre-printed 2003 ORV stickers. The 2003 stickers should already be in the possession of the licensing agents.

- If you were considered a low-volume ORV licensing agent, i.e. sold less than 80 stickers last year, you can still get a supply of ORV stickers by calling the DNR. I'd imagine that contacting Loren Hersey at (517) 373-1205 would be a good starting point. There aren't any vendors that are being denied the right to carry the stickers.

- If a club like the Sandstormers want to be able to provide ORV stickers for out-of-state riders for special events, then can get them directly from the DNR. Local licensing agents may not have the quantity required on hand, i.e. 100 stickers for the UP-300. Or clubs/event organizers can communicate to all participants that ORV stickers can be conveniently purchased ahead of time at the DNR E-License web site.

- Hopefully by the end of this week, the DNR will have a listing on their web site of the nearly 500 licensing agents that now have 2003 ORV stickers available. The 2003 stickers have already been sent out, so these agents should have a supply on hand.

- ORV stickers will also be available at any of the 9 DNR Operation Service Centers. Click here for locations: http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/1,1607,7-153--21107--,00.html

Did you go to the DNR Operations Center in Marquette? You mentioned "Regional Office", so I'm not sure if we are talking about the same thing. Anyway, hours at an DNR Operations Center are 8am-5pm Monday - Friday, so I don't know if you've had a chance to check there yet. According to this Loren guy, they should have them.

- The DNR is also looking to contract with an group/vendor like the Michigan Snowmobile Association to act as another point of distribution. This should be in place by year-end. Loren indicated that the DNR is in the process of evaluating vendors to fulfill this role.

- As far as dealers carrying them, I would think that it would be in the dealer's best interest to carry ORV stickers as a convenience to their customers. Any decision on their part not to is just shortsighted, IMO. Buy a bike, buy a sticker. Go there to buy a sticker, pick up some oil, plugs, etc.

As with any change, there are going to be some bumps in the road. I think that this is a step in the right direction. Eliminating POS stickers probably had more to do with cost-savings than making ORV stickers harder to get.

Considering that the DNR is a government entity, and that they don't necessarily have a competitive incentive to have a progressive e-commerce initiative in place, I'm fairly impressed. For some licenses and permits, you can order online, and print out the permit right on your printer. Probably will only be used by a minority of users, but still a nice convenience they're offering.

Now if they can only create something whereby I never have to step foot in a Secretary of State office for the rest of my life.... :worship:

 

[Magoo]

Heh.
Being the Internet savvy guy that I am, I went to the DNR site looking for answers and sent them a question about if I could get a list of Agents that will have ORV stickers for 2003. They sent me the list they used that shows how many each agent sold last year, and if they are an over-or-under 80 sticker seller. Really cool list. Looks like there will only be 3 outlets in my hometown (Escanaba) plus the DNR office, for 2003.
Interesting thing from the list is that of 92,500 available, only about 500 stickers were sent to the DNR offices... by far the majority of the stickers are sold by Holiday Stations, Wal-Marts, and local party stores. At least the motorsports stores beat out the DNR, selling in the neighborhood of 6,000.
I'll get off my soapbox now....

 

[Smit-Dog]

Cool Magoo! You are an internet jedi knight master!

I am again impressed by the DNR in that they would release that kind of detailed info through their web site. Can you provide a link to this data, or e-mail me an attachment of what they sent you? Thanks...

And BTW.... What's a Holiday Station? A brand of gas station in the U.P.? I am but the ignorant troll (or do you call us loopers?).

And I never noticed your soapbox, just searching for answers like me....

 

[Magoo]

Holiday Station is a chain of gas stations primarily located in the more populated towns of the UP.
The DNR list is an Excel spreadsheet that I can email to you.
What's your email?

 

[Smit-Dog]

x@x

Thanks Magoo...

 

[Smit-Dog]

Being a numbers guy with some time on my hands, I took the spreadsheet Magoo sent me, dumped it into a database, and ran a few queries. Here are some ORV facts that you might find interesting.

Note / Disclaimer: This analysis is based on the Excel spreadsheet that the DNR provided to Magoo. The spreadsheet contained a list of all ORV outlets in Michigan, along with their address, and number of ORV permits sold by each for the year 2002. I do not claim that the results listed here are "official" DNR statistics.

The original spreadsheet appears to have been used as tool by the DNR to determine which outlets would automatically be sent 2003 ORV permits to sell.

Total number of ORV outlets that sold at least 1 permit: 1,540

Total ORV Permits Distributed/Sold: 121,143

Average Number Sold Per Outlet: 79

ORV Permit Revenue: $1,968,574


Top 25 Distributors for ORV Permit Sales

- Representing 52% of all permits sold
- Based on a total of 1,180 distinct distributors

#Sold  Outlet
21,712 Meijer Inc
 7,846 Wal-Mart
 6,948 K-Mart
 6,293 Holiday Stationstore
 2,562 Dunhams
 2,251 Forward
 2,100 Silver Pointe General Store
 1,513 Gander Mountain
 1,200 Rosenau Power Sports
 1,000 St. Helen Power Sports
   976 Ace Hardware
   900 Anderson Sales & Service
   800 Rocky's Great Outdoors
   600 M.A.'s Mug & Jug, Inc.
   600 The Outpost
   600 Bay Cycle Sales
   600 Convenience Corner
   600 Franks Bait & Tackle
   500 Ed's Sport Shop
   500 Jay's Sporting Goods
   500 The General Store Inc
   500 V and B Market
   500 Leitz Sports
   500 Powers Motor Sports
   500 Pat & Garys Party Store


Top 10 Individual Locations for ORV Permit Sales

- Representing 7% of all permits sold
- Based on a total of 1,540 distinct locations

#Sold Outlet                       City
2,100 Silver Pointe General Store  Mears
1,200 Rosenau Power Sports         Dearborn Heights
1,000 St. Helen Power Sports       Saint Helen
  900 Anderson Sales & Service     Bloomfield Hills
  800 Rocky's Great Outdoors       Flint
  600 Bay Cycle Sales              Bay City
  600 Franks Bait & Tackle         Linwood
  600 Holiday Stationstore         Iron River
  600 Holiday Stationstore         Escanaba
  600 M.A.'s Mug & Jug, Inc.       Mio


Top 25 Cities for ORV Permit Sales

- Representing 27% of all permits sold
- Based on a total of 611 distinct cities

#Sold Outlet
2,274 Flint
2,100 Mears
1,910 Grand Rapids
1,779 Iron Mountain
1,720 Bay City
1,400 Mio
1,388 Escanaba
1,311 Waterford
1,302 Saint Helen
1,293 Gladwin
1,284 Saginaw
1,227 Dearborn Heights
1,173 Grayling
1,165 Marquette
1,090 Jackson
1,078 Rose City
1,038 Cheboygan
1,031 Iron River
1,009 Harrison
  989 Sault Sainte Marie
  949 Lansing
  946 Gaylord
  929 Monroe
  921 Bloomfield Hills
  895 Manistique


Sales Breakdown by Geographic / ZIP Code Area

- Top 5 ZIP codes represent 50% of all permits sold
- Based on a total of 20 distinct ZIP prefixes in Michigan

#Sold    %   ZIP Prefix
15,217  13%  486
14,979  12%  498
13,042  11%  497
 9,173   8%  481
 8,152   7%  499
 7,243   6%  494
 6,699   6%  483
 6,275   5%  480
 5,992   5%  487
 5,696   5%  488
 5,628   5%  484
 5,189   4%  496
 4,638   4%  490
 3,396   3%  493
 2,862   2%  492
 2,530   2%  485
 2,279   2%  495
   949   1%  489
   657   1%  491
    29   0%  482


ZIP Code Map: http://www.michigan.gov/documents/zcta_31920_7.htm

 

[Fred T]

Well, I hope you guys like pink, cause I got my 03 ORV stickers yesterday and they are a dark pink with white letters - :whiner:

 

[Drew 674]

pink? great! i was hoping for orange so my honda would "blend" in some more...lol

 

[Drew 674]

anybody wondering if Smit dog has too much "free" time at work?! lol...

jokin SD :)

 

[Magoo]

Nice work Smit-Dog!
Sure tells ya something about how the distribution system worked.
It'd be interesting to do a comparison at this time next year....
PINK!? Sheesh, any one got an inconspicuous (but legal) placement for the sticker?

 

[Smit-Dog]

Originally posted by Drew 674
anybody wondering if Smit dog has too much "free" time at work?! lol...

jokin SD :)

Waiting on some requirements to be signed off....

It's what I do...

;)

 

[fatherandson]

Hey guys, thanks for the  info.  Can one you forward me the Excel document?

I will be attending a DNR meeting next Wednesday and I would like to review before the meeting.  I do plan to print a copy of the analysis by SmitDog.  Thanks again.

Be aware of one issue.  Many of the places that sold ORV stickers may still have '02 stickers on hand that will be returned to the DNR at the end of this month.  Please note the nice round numbers of a couple of the establishments.

I will share the positive comments about the website/service at the meeting on Wednesday.

Mike

 

[Smit-Dog]

F&S,

I'll forward the Excel spreadsheet that Magoo sent me. He added a third worksheet tab to it to enter the ORV outlets in his area.

Yea, I realized that there were outlets with the rounded lots, so the combination of "allocated" versus "actual" counts doesn't give us a completely accurate view. Maybe the DNR can provide a final count once all unused 2002 permits are turned back in. It was interesting though just to get the data we did!

I was pretty surprised by some of the results. Who would have guessed that Meijer's was handling almost 22,000 permits! And considering that I've never heard of a Holiday Station, they do a pretty good business. Never heard of Forward either. And Silver Pointe General Store must be near a major ORV recreation area. Mears.... Silver Lake Dunes... Hmmmmm.

Quite a few powersports dealers are big-time players as well. And considering that the U.P. isn't very populated, the U.P. and tip of lower Michigan sold 30% of all permits.

Let me know if you are interested in any other types of queries with this data, and if the DNR can confirm that the stats/data are accurate.

And also let the DNR know that the entire www.michigan.gov is a big :thumb:

I was able to search their database of convicted felons and found the scumbag that broke into our house. Complete with mug shot, sentence, prison location, crimminal history, release date, etc.

 

[Drew 674]

did the price for the stickers go up?....since the state park stickers and all the hunting/fishing licenses are going up.

 

[Smit-Dog]

Nope, still $16.25.

 

[2TrakR]

Ordered my stickers from the web on 3/1 in the afternoon; got 'em yesterday in the mail (1 week later, as indicated). Seems to work pretty good for a gov't project ;-)

Speaking with my cousin recently, I heard a very different tale of getting the stickers. He ran round & round trying to find out where to get the stickers - going to the previous location sent him to the DNR office which was closed until spring or summer; the secretary of state sent him to the cop shop, who tried to send him back to the secretary of state. Ended up at Forwards (gas station). That was a 3 day adventure, I'm suprised he didn't just say the heck with it.

Cudos to the DNR for making them available online and at the other locations, shame on the bureaucracy for making it so hard for people to obtain the stickers.

 

[captainkev]

Great, Pink Sticker on Green. Sounds more like a Bass lure than a Dirt Bike.
I know where they have to go on sleds, but where is the legal spot they have to go for Michigan ORV's?

Kevin

 

[Smit-Dog]

On the back fender.

I live right next to West Bloomfield, but have never heard of Blue Lake Twp. Is that southeastern Michigan?

 

[captainkev]

Blue Lake Township is just North of 612 between Frederic and Kalkaska.
If you ride up there at all, and have ever been to The Hideaway on Starvation Lake, that is about 5 miles down the road from my place.

Kevin

 

[fatherandson]

I would LOVE to live up there.  Some of the best riding and you do NOT have to drive 3 hours to get there.

We need to plan a trail up there sometime this year.

 

[Magoo]

Originally posted by fatherandson
Hey guys, thanks for the  info.  Can one you forward me the Excel document?

I will be attending a DNR meeting next Wednesday... Mike

Sooo, anything interesting from the meeting?

 

[fatherandson]

The meeting was a non event.  It was cancelled because the chairman and vice chairman of the advisory board could not make the meeting.  The next meeting is May 12th.