Off-road vehicles are environmentalists’ latest target

Matt Kelley

Sunday, April 23, 2000 | 10:12 a.m.

WASHINGTON - Environmental groups that have won restrictions on logging and grazing on federal land are now turning their attention to off-road vehicle use, saying snowmobiles, motorcycles and 4x4s are ruining pristine areas.

"The No. 1 threat to many of our public lands is irresponsible use of off-road vehicles," Wilderness Society President Bill Meadows said earlier this month at a conference of environmental activists on the issue.

Faced with an explosion both in the popularity of off-road vehicles and in criticism of their use, federal land management agencies are now struggling with whether to enact new restrictions:

"With 104 million acres of wilderness and trails set aside for non-motorized use, I really resent the non-motorized activists trying to take away any more of these areas that have recreational value," said Clark Collins, executive director of the Idaho-based Blue Ribbon Coalition, an off-road vehicle users' group. "They're attempting to kick us out of areas all over the country that we've used and shared and helped maintain."

Off-road opponents say vehicles like swamp buggies, snowmobiles and Jeeps hurt public land in many ways. Tires kill plants and dig ruts, causing soil erosion. Engines pollute the air and water with exhaust and unburned fuel. Noise scares wildlife and ruins the backcountry solitude sought by hikers and cross-country skiers.

Vehicle users are organizing to battle efforts to close areas to their use. Several testified at a House Resources subcommittee hearing the same week the environmentalists held their anti-vehicle conference. And the off-roaders say they're being smeared by the environmentalists.

"I believe they want us out and they will do anything to get us out including distorting the truth of things," said Brian Hawthorne of the Utah Shared Access Alliance, an off-road vehicle group. "The impact of people visiting public lands is something that has to be managed. But just because you're having an impact doesn't mean you have to lock everyone out."

Off-road vehicle users say technological advances are making their vehicles lighter, quieter and cleaner. They acknowledge that some irresponsible vehicle users are damaging sensitive areas. But the solution, they say, is a system of properly maintained trails and land agencies willing to work with vehicle groups to enforce the rules of responsible riding.

"We think it would be a lot more constructive if these guys would work together with us to solve these problems rather than try to demonize the whole (off-road vehicle) community," said Collins, who rides motorcycles and snowmobiles on public land near his home in Pocatello, Idaho.

Off-road vehicle advocates say they fear environmentalists want to shut them out completely; a statement on the Blue Ribbon Coalition's website says off-roaders are "subjects of the 'ethnic cleansing' currently underway" on public land. Some environmentalists do want that.

"Motor vehicles allow insensitive people onto sensitive land," said Dan Heinz of the Sagebrush Coalition in Reno, Nev. "Putting people on foot maximizes public land."

Others are more conciliatory.

"We're not trying to eliminate off-road vehicle use in this country. We're trying to find a way to have responsible use," said Meadows of the Wilderness Society.

Federal officials acknowledge that vehicle use needs to be better managed but say a complete ban is not going to happen.

"Will off-highway vehicles be allowed on public land? The answer is yes," Jim Furnish, deputy chief of the U.S. Forest Service, told the environmentalists' conference. "The question is, how will we do that?"