the Way of the Turtle

RANTING TURTLE
"No More Motorized Vehicles on Trails!"
Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Back when I first started running in the western Massachusetts state forests (in particular, Beartown and Mount Washington), ORVs were not all that common. In the 10 years since then, use of ORVs has skyrocketed, and the effect on the trails has been heartbreaking. When I went to Beartown two years ago, the two sections of trail I was on (one to run, the other to ride) were a mess. The MA Dept of Conservation and Recreation has closed the trails in Savoy to ORVs. And I saw extensive signs of trail damage in October Mountain State Forest, from huge scum-covered mudpuddles (usually with the trail widened to get past them or side trails cut to bypass them) to rocky, eroded downhills. 10 years ago these trails, used mainly by snowmobiles in the winter, were 8 feet wide... yesterday I ran through sections that had been widened to 15 feet or more by irresponsible users who just had to use that trail even though it was too muddy and wet for responsible riding.

From what I saw yesterday, I don't think the primary culprit at October Mountain State Forest is ATVs - I think it's trucks and SUVs being driven offroad. Three pickups blasted by me at the end of my run; one blasted by my car again later as I was driving out of the park. I was also passed on one trail by two kids in an SUV, and many of the tire tracks I saw seemed indicative of large vehicle use rather than ATVs.

So what exactly is gained by allowing motorized vehicles access to these trails? All I can see is a recreational opportunity for some folks, with part of that group behaving responsibly and another part behaving irresponsibly.

What is the price of this access? Damage to trails, increased greenhouse gas emission and use of petroleum, increased noise levels, and effects on non-motorized trail users ranging from irritation to outright danger.

To me, the cost far outweighs the benefit, which is why I say trails should be closed to motorized recreation. Unfortunately, that gives rise to the question of enforcement, which is a far more difficult issue. At several points where the paths/roads were gated, side paths had been cut through the woods to bypass the gates. Effective enforcement would require a much larger population of state rangers, among other things, and that's one reason why we'll probably never see this happen.

Some of the same arguments have been made in regards to banning mountain bikes from trails, particularly trail damage and hazards to trail users on foot. To be fair, there is an obnoxious subset of the riding population that have the same attitude as the irresponsible ORV users - the "I'm having fun and I can do whatever I want" group. At the same time, because biking has been banned in numerous locations, there seems to be a greater awareness on the part of the mountain biking organizations to encourage responsible behavior, as well as attempts to "give back" by performing trail maintenance and in some places ATB safety patrols. The two major differences I see are that mountain bikers simply will not cause the same degree of damage to the trails, unless huge numbers of them are riding in a particular area, and riding is an oxygen-fed, rather than a petroleum-fed, activity with much less impact on the global environment.

I doubt we'll ever see motorized vehicles banned entirely from recreational trail use, but I hope people someday realize that we're losing something precious - the natural environment around us - and perhaps at some point a compromise is reached. Hopefully before it's too late and all we have left are 15 foot wide torn up mudhole trails and eroded downhills.

And definitely lets find a way to have effective enforcement and get the irresponsible idiots off the trail who are determined the ruin things for the rest of us!

JMH