From the Denver Post editorial page................

New ATV rules necessary
 

Wednesday, October 01, 2003 - Humans can affect wildlife habitat and ecosystems just by traveling through them. Usually, though, the damage done by hikers, horseback riders and mountain bikers is minimal, or at least repairable. The good news is that most of the 214 million people who visit our national forests every year are proper stewards of their public lands, leaving behind footprints that disappear and taking with them only memories that last a lifetime.

That's not always the case with motorized vehicles, though. The problem is especially pernicious with all-terrain vehicles.

Unmanaged recreation, especially burgeoning ATV use, is one of four major issues facing our national forests, says U.S. Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth. The ATV issue bedevils many other public land agencies, too.

The number of people who own ATVs has exploded to about 36 million nationwide. In Colorado, the number of registered ATVs mushroomed from 11,700 in 1991 to more than 62,000 by 2001.

While ATV drivers represent just 5 percent of all forest users, they cause an enormous number (some rangers say the majority) of complaints from other visitors.

Groups like Tread Lightly try to promote responsible backcountry driving, but it takes only a few yahoos to cause damage.

For example, in 2000, two Texans drove off the road near Silverton in an area known for fragile alpine tundra, and got stuck on a cliff. It took seven hours and a legion of local rescuers to retrieve the vehicle. But it will take a century or more for nature to repair the damage to the land.

Cars and most sport utility vehicles usually stay on designated roads. ATVs, though, can easily rip through meadows and wetlands.

This destruction isn't always illegal. Federal law doesn't expressly require ATVs to stay on the road in all places, although some areas are off-limits.

The broad exemption is uncalled for in the 21st century. All motorized vehicles should have to remain on real roads and be prohibited from zooming anywhere on public lands. Bosworth thinks the Forest Service can impose that requirement through administrative action. If ATV user groups - which speak with a disproportionately loud voice on the political stage - challenge the Forest Service's power to do so, Congress should pass a law giving the agency clear authority.

But the Forest Service has to be fair about the process. The agency must survey which legitimate roads should stay open, and which illegal ones should be closed. Clear and understandable road signs must be erected. A public education campaign should precede the changes. The Forest Service must assign enough field personnel to enforce the rules.

Then Congress should increase the ridiculously puny fines now on the books. It's silly that the maximum fine is now just $1,000 when the damage from ATVs can reach many thousands of dollars.