| NORTHWOODS CITIZENS FOR RESPONSIBLE STEWARDSHIP |
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Some articles may require Adobe Acrobat Reader to be installed on your machine in order to view them in full. If you don't have Acrobat Reader installed, click the icon below to download it.  ----------------------------------- Line drawn in woods over ATVs By TOM HELD theld@journalsentinel.com Eagle River - An old tale is making the rounds again in the North Woods - the story about the bicyclist who stops in at a restaurant, uses the bathroom, asks for a glass of water and leaves without spending a dime. That issue will go to the county's 15,000 registered voters in an advisory referendum on Feb. 17. The question on the ballot is simply "Do you favor allowing the operation of all-terrain vehicles on Vilas County Forest lands and County-owned land in Vilas County?" The County Board pushed for the referendum after five local ATV clubs sought permission to build a trail system on county forest property. The system would connect with trails in surrounding counties and the Ottawa National Forest in Michigan. Opposition to the proposal ignited in the small border town of Presque Isle, where in July residents voted, 178-17, to prohibit ATVs on town roads. ATV opponents argued that the motorized four-wheelers would ruin the quiet beauty of their county.
The number of all-terrain vehicles has exploded in recent years, from fewer than 100,000 five years ago to almost double that now. There may soon be more ATVs than snowmobiles registered in Wisconsin, especially if snowless winters continue. But the explosion in numbers has sparked a debate that is about as contentious as any in the north since the days of Indian spearfishing. ATV forces are clamoring for more trails to ride, even as environmentalists and advocates of silent sports are resisting the incursion they fear could change the very character of the North Woods. ATVs are dangerous, they say, erode trails and pose a direct threat to a fragile environment. The war is not restricted to Wisconsin - it's a wildfire issue in Minnesota, as well, where ATV backers want to open some state trails for their use even as new state regulations have been installed - but it's raging here. State and federal officials are wrestling with the role of ATVs on public forestland. Communities large and small are debating whether to court the ATV crowd and its perceived economic benefits or to resist the army of boys on toys that make noise and protect the woods and water from abusive recreation. Vilas County's unique physical environment - with its 1,400 lakes, miles of rivers and streams and wetlands it has the second-highest concentration of freshwater bodies in the world - is another strong argument to limit ATV use. "I don't worry too much about local residents" damaging the land, said Schmall, who cites what she calls "hair-raising photos" of damage caused by ATV use. "What worries me is the people - and I hate to say this to you - the city folks who don't have a clue when they ride through the wetlands.
Harland Brown has been living in the same house he grew up in in South Gardiner for the last 57 years of his life. Twenty years ago, he bought 100 acres of land in Chelsea, planning on renting an apartment house on the land and enjoying the rest of the land for personal use. But last fall he had no choice but to post "No Trespassing" signs on his property and close off the land to everyone. Trails were being beaten through his property, digging deep ruts into banks and hills and disturbing the wildlife that lived on the land. It looked like the work of ATV users. Brown is only one of many landowners throughout the state that are feeling the impact of a nationwide ATV explosion and deciding to close off their land. "If ATV users are going to wreck my land, I've got no choice but to shut it off to everybody," Brown said. Making Tracks, Making Enemies By JASON TANZ In her two years as chief ranger at the Driving A.T.V.'s, the lightweight, heavy-horsepower thrill machines that have exploded in popularity the last decade, is forbidden on any state-owned land in She is not the only one who thinks so. Ed Waldheim refers to scofflaw off-roaders as "idiots" and "morons." But Mr. Waldheim isn't a park ranger. He is president of the California Off-Road Vehicle Association, a man who has delighted in riding dirt bikes the last 30 years and who continues to tool his Honda X400 in the Mojave Desert near California City, Calif., two or three times a week. Nevertheless, he has had it with the law breakers, he said. "I talk to law enforcement and say, 'Let me shoot 'em.' " Another front has opened in the land-use war. For more than four decades, greenies and gearheads have been battling in parks, courts and state houses across the country over off-roading on public lands. 2003 ASSEMBLY BILL 5961. The bill increases all of the registration–related fees for registering ATVs. 4. The bill requires that any person who is at least 12 years old and who is born on or after January 1, 1988, have a valid safety certificate issued by the DNR or a similar certificate issued by another state or Canadian province to operate an ATV. This provision does not affect the exemption for minors under the age of 12 who are authorized to operate ATVs without having a safety certificate under the limited circumstances described above. 5. The bill increases the penalties imposed on a person operating an ATV under the influence of an intoxicant or controlled substance if the person’s alcohol level is above a given level. For example, if a person has an alcohol concentration level of 0.17 to 0.199 at the time of the offense, the minimum and maximum fines if convicted are doubled. Higher alcohol concentration levels result in the minimum and maximum fines being tripled and quadrupled. 6. The bill prohibits the manufacturing, sale, rental, or operation of an ATV that is constructed in such a manner that the noise from the ATV exceeds 96 decibels on the A scale as measured in compliance with rules promulgated by DNR. Current law only requires that an ATV muffler not produce excessive or unusual noise. 7. The bill increases the number of gallons used in calculating the estimated ATV gas tax payment from 25 to 52 gallons. The estimated payment is calculated for each fiscal year by multiplying the number of registered ATVs (except those registered only for private use) by this number of gallons and then multiplying this product by the excise tax imposed on gasoline and diesel fuel on the last day of February of the previous fiscal year. [Pittstown, Rensselaer County, NY] "Phil Kelly ... finds himself constantly chasing off and being threatened by illegal hunters and all-terrain vehicle riders on his posted property. ... The landowner said ATV riders began cutting through and even stealing gates off of one section of his property ... They destroyed around $6,000 worth of gates .... "I've had neighbors and people at the Country Store threaten to burn me out and put a bullet in me ["and that other (Landowner), Ferran]" Kelly said. "Little did I know serious they were." [They burned down his storage barn and attempted to enter his home at midnight] "It's like something out of 'Deliverance'. ... the State Police ... make me feel like the criminal instead of the victim." A Farmer stopped a group of riders and told them to leave. He was beaten up. "ARSON. A male on Rutland Way, Stephentown [Rensselaer County, NY], said his vehicle, which was parked along a trail to deter ATV use, was damaged by fire. Officer: Trooper Steve Kovaleski." Albany (NY) Times Union, Police Blotter (Wed. July 28, 1999 p. F2) http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1430/a09.html |
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