Surge in Off-Roading

Durango makes the New York Times series on federal lands.  This part called Wheels in the Wild.

DURANGO, Colo. In the San Juan National Forest here, an iron rod gate is the last barrier to the Weminuche Wilderness, a mountain redoubt above 10,000 feet where wheels are not allowed.

But the gate has been knocked down repeatedly, shot at and generally disregarded. Miles beyond it, a two-track trail has been punched into the wilderness by errant all-terrain-vehicle riders who have insisted on going their own way, on-trail or off.

There are so many of these machines,€ said Dave Petersen, a bow hunter who monitors public lands issues here in Durango for the environmental group Trout Unlimited,  it has€œ made our big public lands much smaller, for the wildlife and for us. (...)

T-shirt image from the The T-shirt guy.

And this sidebar from the Times story:

Groups Representing Motorized Users:

Blue Ribbon Coalition
Americans for Responsible Recreational Access
Advocates for Access to Public Lands
Ride With Respect
Utah Shared Access Alliance
Montanans for Multiple Use
Colorado Off-Highway Vehicle Coalition

Groups Seeking to Curb Off-Highway Vehicle Use on Public Lands:

Responsible Trails America
Trout Unlimited
Backcountry Hunters and Anglers
Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance
Rangers for Responsible Recreation

Notice some imbalance?  Vehicle manufacturers participate heavily in some of those motorized user groups.  And it doesn't include groups like the American Motorcyclist Association  or the Off-Road Business Association, where No Trails = No Sales!   The Times doesn't touch on these formidable business interests in the "debates" about ATV use.

Honda seems to over-stress the functional aspects of their vehicles.

(...)  On the farm, a tractor cost exponentially more to purchase and maintain, and an ATV uses 8 percent of the fuel necessary to feed a tractor.  Consequently utility usage exploded in the 1980s and ATVs became multi-purpose machines, serving both recreational and utility purposes. This multi-purpose usage grew from 30 percent of total usage in 1985 to approximately 80 percent of today's ATV market. (...)

By the time the '90s rolled in, the Honda FourTrax had become an essential part of the great American toolbox. You'd be hard pressed to find a Louisiana rice farm, Washington apple orchard or Montana cattle ranch that didn't have at least one. 

From copper mines to banana plantations, golf courses to pig farms, forest reclamation projects to shopping center maintenance, nothing on wheels had ever been as versatile, reliable, efficient and affordable, on the job or on the weekend, as the Honda ATV. 

Though sport models such as Honda's FourTrax 300EX and the new-for-'99 400EX are immensely popular with sport and recreational riders, industry observers estimate that 85 percent of ATV use in the '90s revolved around some sort of enterprise. Mr. Takeuchi's idea had grown up, gone to work and done a good job.

Now let' s go play!  But be careful.  Here's an interesting bit about the power of ATV manufacturers from Oregon Live. 

As the ATV industry's lobbyists fight to shape regulation in Washington, D.C., its lawyers have built a solid bulwark around their product in another arena: the courts. Injured riders once won huge verdicts, among them a landmark $5.7 million Oregon case that went to the U.S. Supreme Court. But that was long ago.

Many lawyers these days are reluctant to sue ATV manufacturers because it's just too hard to prevail. The ATV companies spend heavily to defend cases and blame the riders for accidents. Victories for plaintiffs are rare. One big reason is the sway that government-sanctioned ATV safety warnings carry with jurors.

Comments

[Greg]

As a local offroad enthusiast here in the Albuquerque, NM area, I'd like to say the following. There are quite a few people in this sport/hobby who give the rest of us a bad name.

Most any organized group of 4 wheelers that you'll find promotes not going off roading on private property and not trashing the trails that we have, because the number of them are already limited as it is.

There have been many clean ups set up by members of local groups to help keep our local trails clean and enjoyable for everyone, whether it be the 4 wheeled traveler or the hikers and other non-motorized outdoor enthusiasts. Treading lightly is a practice that is promoted in a majority, if not all of the organized wheeling groups.

It is unfortunate however, that just like with anything else, that a few idiots can give the rest of us a bad name.

[Inky Ink, Inc.]

On a somewhat related topic: the (dis)honor roll of Most Offensive Commercials of 2007 is now graced by a new ad for the Hummer extolling the virtues of Hummer drivers who have come to the aid of hurricane victims stranded by flooding!!!! Now, let's figure this one out: start with the Hummer's approximately 15 mpg, add its exceptionally high CO2 output (11.5 tons of greenhouse gasses annually), blend with global warming and increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events (i.e., hurricanes), and... hmmm?!?!

[Jamie]

ATV riders really do need to be aware of the rules of where they ride. When riding irresponsibly, they can damage local environements and create a lot of unwanted noise pollution. Thankfully, there are plenty of places where we can ride and have a good time doing it.