ORVs: Off-road critics
say rangers overwhelmed (12/13/2007)
Eryn Gable, special to
Land Letter
The federal agents charged with monitoring off-road vehicle use on public lands cannot keep up with reckless
riders who are tearing up the nation\'s public lands, according to the results of a survey of U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management rangers sponsored by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility.
\"We\'ve seen an explosion in the use and abuse of public lands,\" said Jim Furnish, who served as deputy chief
of the Forest Service from 1999-2002.
The BlueRibbon Coalition, an off-road vehicle advocacy group, called the survey an attempt to \"demonize\" ORV
users. \"It does nothing to promote collaboration and cooperation between trail users,\" said Brian Hawthorne, the group\'s public lands policy director.
PEER mailed surveys to 300 field rangers in Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and southern California. Less
than 70 responded. Slightly more than half of the respondents labeled ORV problems as \"out of control,\" but three-quarters said that off-road abuses are worse than they were five years ago.
PEER and other critics of off-road vehicles complain that irresponsible riders have damaged public lands by
forging trails where they don\'t belong, damaging wildlife habitat, muddying streams and disturbing other recreational users of public lands. As ORV use has risen dramatically in the past decade, so has the hostility between environmental advocates and ORV
enthusiasts.
Hearings sought
PEER held a news conference announcing the results of the survey in a House office building Tuesday in the hopes
of gaining the attention of House staffers. They want Congress to hold hearings on the issue. In addition, the groups want to see new enforcement measures and tougher penalties for those who violate the law, including stiffer fines and vehicle seizures.
About 65 percent of the rangers surveyed said current penalties for ORV violations are not severe enough, and
about the same percentage believe the loss of hunting and fishing licenses would be an effective deterrent for violators. \"A $25 to $50 fine just doesn\'t serve much purpose. It\'s not much of a deterrent,\" Furnish said. \"But if you\'re able to give out a $500
ticket and seize their vehicle, now you\'ve got their attention.\"
Though the area pictured above is closed to vehicles, the off-highway vehicle tracks indicate otherwise. The photo is by William I. Boarman. Courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey.
BLM spokesman Matt Spangler said the agency works continuously to ensure appropriate use of off-road vehicles
on public lands. \"The agency has hundreds of partnerships in place with local law enforcement authorities to ensure both public safety and protection of natural resources on public land,\" he said.
The survey comes as the Forest Service and BLM are working on management plans dictating what roads and trails
can be used by off-road vehicles. The agencies are seeking to ban ORV use outside of these designated areas.
The two agencies manage 457 million acres of federal land -- about one-fifth of the land in the United States.
ORV users make about 12 million visits a year to the 155 national forests and 20 national grasslands, according to the Forest Service. On federal land managed by the Bureau of Land Management, off-road vehicle users account for about 10 percent of all visitors,
according to agency spokesman Matt Spangler.
Environmental advocates worry the agencies won\'t be able to enforce the rules they develop because they don\'t
have enough rangers to patrol the lands in their jurisdiction.
\"The main thing the rangers are saying is that they don\'t have the ability to enforce the designations,\" said
Jeff Ruch, executive director of PEER. \"In many cases, people are creating their own roads and going into areas they\'re not supposed to go into, and the agency can\'t deter it. Designations by themselves don\'t appear to work.\"
But ORV groups say the designations are working. For instance, Hawthorne said the San Rafael Swell has seen
a dramatic drop in impacts from ORV use and lawlessness since a plan was put in place there. \"Off-roaders\' efforts are focused on trying to get good plans on the ground, and where those plans are in place, to get good enforcement,\" he said.
Gable is an independent energy and environmental writer in Woodland Park, Colo.
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