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| The
Vroom Report The State of Off-Road Vehicles (ORVs) Across America
June 4, 2003 In this Issue:
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Will Hold Hearing on ATV Safety Crisis Tomorrow in Morgantown, West Virginia In response to the rising tide of injuries and deaths related to all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) will hold a field hearing to gather additional public input related to ATV safety. The hearing follows a request from doctors and consumer safety advocates that the Commission prohibit the sale of large ATVs for use by children under 16. The hearing, to be conducted by Chairman Hal Stratton and Commissioners May Seila Gall and Thomas Moore, will be held tomorrow at 10 am in Morgantown, West Virginia. This is the only hearing scheduled on this issue to date. View the press advisory at www.naturaltrails.org Draft Rule on Yellowstone National Park The Park Service is scheduled to release in late June or July, a draft rule on its decision to allow large-scale snowmobile use in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. Recently, eight former top ranking officials from the National Park Service and Department of Interior wrote to Interior Secretary Gale Norton asking her to reverse the decision to keep snowmobiles in America's first National Park. In their words, "It is our deep hope as this issue now moves to your final review that you will ensure the highest protection for Yellowstone." An editorial in the Idaho Falls Register mentions that "men who know the National Park Service inside and out" are urging her not to allow snowmobile use that would continue pressures on Yellowstone's wildlife and air quality and create risks for public health. The editorial reiterates "Study after study --including the latest conducted by the Bush administration--has found that snowmobiles cause stress to wildlife when these animals are trying to survive the winter. Snowmobiles cause pollution. Policing these machines is more expensive--about $1.3 million a year--than using snowcoaches. A snowmobile ban has broad public support." Other editorials reflect the same sentiment. Read: "Former Park Service officials back Yellowstone snowmobile ban," Casper Star Tribune, May 24, 2003 http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2003/05/24/news/wyoming/a2957bc1354625c6e9b6e08b637c41d8.txt Read the Idaho Falls Post Register editorial. To get a copy of the letter from former officials, contact Alix Rauschman at 202-429-2672. Colorado Could Pursue to RS2477 Claims in National Parks The Bush Administration recently worked behind closed doors to develop a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Utah Governor Leavitt that would make it easier for energy development and off-road vehicle interests to claim rights-of-way to cow paths and off-road vehicle routes on public lands. The Governor is asserting, however, that it won't make claims in Wilderness Study Areas, National Park lands or National Wildlife Refuges. The State of Colorado, on the other hand, is attempting to assert broader claims on public lands. On May 15, 2003, Colorado Department of Natural Resources Director Greg Walcher sent a letter to Interior Secretary Gale Norton on May 15 asking that the State of Colorado and the Department of Interior (DOI) cut a similar deal, but one that opens up even more public lands. The letter suggests that the State intends to press claims to highways through National Parks, National Monuments, National Wildlife Refuges, and Wilderness Study Areas, as well as National Forests and Bureau of Land Management land. The proposal puts at risk public lands, such as Dinosaur National Monument and Browns Park National Wildlife Refuge in northwestern Colorado, where Moffat County has proposed converting hundreds of miles of cattle trails, hiking paths, dirt tracks, off-road vehicle routes and nearly invisible routes to "constructed highways" using a 19th Century right-of-way law known as Revised Statute (R.S.) 2477. Under the law, states and counties could obtain rights-of-way across lands not set aside for other uses (like National Parks and Forests) where local governments had constructed highways. The law was repealed in 1976, but certain highways constructed before then could still be claimed. In its modern form, this law has serious implications, putting our nation's public lands at risk. Read "Highway Robbery," The Daily Camera, June 3, 2003,
http://www.dailycamera.com/bdc/editorials/article/0,1713,BDC_2489_2006690,00.html On May 23, 2003, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management opened all
but a small portion of Scientific evidence demonstrates that the Dunes are a special place that needs protection. The BLM's preferred management alternative, however, would reopen these 49,000 protected acres and adopt an "adaptive management" program that would attempt to limit the number of off-road vehicles present at any time in designated areas to 525. With a small enforcement staff at the Dunes, monitoring the number of vehicles present at any time will remain as much of a problem as it has been in the past. In addition to threatened and endangered species, human health and safety are also risk. Labeled "The Most Dangerous Place in the World" by the New York Times in 2002, the Dunes are inundated with hundreds of thousands of off-road vehicles on holiday weekends. In attempts to control crowds, the BLM has been forced to beg and borrow law enforcement from other federal agencies, including the Border Patrol, the State of California, and local counties. This action is costing taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars in overtime and other expenses. The final decision to reopen the Dunes could be issued this October. Read Los Angeles Times, May 24, 2003, http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-dunes24may24,1,429991.story?coll=la%2Dheadlines%2Dcalifornia Bi-Partisan Legislation Supports Protections for 3 Million Acres of New York State Wilderness from Off-Road Vehicles On May 21, 2003 Democratic Assemblyman Steve Englebright and Republic Senator Kenneth LaValle introduced legislation to prohibit off-road vehicle use on approximately three million acres of wilderness in the Adirondack and Catskill Forest Preserves. Machines would also be banned in the Long Island Pine Barrens and the Albany Pine Brush. Illegal off-road vehicle use has caused extensive damage in all four of these environmentally sensitive areas. Read: "Bill prohibits ATVs from state's wilderness", Times-Herald Record, May 22, 2003 http://www.recordonline.com/archive/2003/05/22/onsatvs.htm Illegal ATV Use on State Gamelands Damages Habitat and Displaces Hunters Pennsylvania papers report that prolific illegal off-road vehicle use on state gamelands is causing immense damage to these sensitive places. Officials with the State Game Commission report that that they do not have the manpower needed to monitor the "maze of trails" made by ATVs and that the growth of use on state gamelands - particularly on weekends - is "unbelievable." ATV use on state gamelands is illegal; however, that does not stop the onslaught of ATVs that ignore "No Motor Vehicle" signs. The environmental damage that ensues is significant as ATVs cause erosion that runs into streambeds, many of which are pristine trout streams. This illegal behavior is also costing taxpayers. In addition to causing serious erosion problems, ATVs have driven through food plots on gamelands. Press reports indicate that the Commission spent $7.1 million last year on developing and maintaining these plots. As Jerry Feaser, Game Commission spokesman, reports: "All you need is one ATV to go in there and do some 'doughnuts' and they can literally waste thousands of dollars in one shot." Meanwhile, hunters are being displaced from these gamelands because ATV use is both ruining their experience and causing severe habitat degradation. In Indiana County, PA, state officials have noticed this problem. "I have talked to several people who used to hunt down here and they won't hunt here now because of interference with ATVs," said Pat Snickles, Northern Indiana County Wildlife Conservation Manager. "That's too bad because it is an ideal place for the hunters." Read: "ATVs wrecking state gamelands, officials say"
NEPA News,(PA) - May 18, 2003 Read: "You Have Been Warned" The Indiana Gazette, (PA) May 18, 2003. http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1078&dept_id=493374&newsid=8050348&PAG=461&rfi=9 Quotes of the week: "The bottom line is, ATVs and the forest preserve don't mix." "It only gets worse over time as the trail is established
and the erosion continues; it just keeps getting bigger and bigger
and deeper and deeper." Alix Rauschman The Natural Trails and Waters Coalition includes conservation, recreation and other groups working to protect and restore all public lands and waters from the severe damage caused by snowmobiles, all-terrain vehicles, dirt bikes, jet skis and all other off-road vehicles.
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