Motorized vehicle abuse has been called one of the biggest problems facing public lands – but many solutions are within reach, a new report says.

Before he retired earlier this year Chief Dale Bosworth focused the agency on the problem of unmanaged motorized recreation and three of the other “greatest threats” to public land. In most cases, public lands agencies are overwhelmed by enforcement challenges. Lawbreakers too often scar the land, muddy streams and wetlands, damage habitat and create conflicts with law-abiding forest visitors.

The problem has been driven home recently by a growing number of violent and damaging incidents stemming from abuse by ATVs, dirt bikes, and 4X4s on national forests in the region. Public interest groups released a report this summer on successful strategies for enforcing the law on public lands to stop off-road vehicle abuse.

Everyone has a right to access our public lands, but no one has the right to abuse these lands or ruin the experience of others enjoying America’s Great Outdoors,” said Jason Kiely of Wildlands CPR, a Montana-based group who commissioned the report. “Fair and effective law enforcement helps everyone who values public land, whether you ride a machine, a horse or rely on your own two feet.”

Joe Gallagher, Acting OHV Program Manager for the Forest Service, called the report “thoughtful and insightful” and is concerned that funding is not adequately prioritized to enable the use of many of the strategies detailed in the report. The Forest Service dedicates less than two percent of its annual budget to law enforcement of all kinds, half the percentage that the BLM budgets and a third of what the National Park Service dedicates.

Nonetheless, the report highlights case studies where officials and citizen groups succeeded after making enforcement a priority. For example, the Hebgen Lake Ranger District on the Gallatin National Forest dramatically reduced off-road vehicle violations over a four-year period. In 2001 the district hired a seasonal off-road vehicle ranger using State grant funds. In year one, the ranger calculated that 67% of off-roaders he encountered were breaking the law in one or more ways. By the fourth year, the number of violators had dropped to merely 4% of riders he encountered.

Ravalli County Sheriff Chris Hoffman recognizes both the frustration and the challenges posed by illegal off-road vehicle use on the Bitterroot National Forest.

“I hunt here,” he said. “I’ve been miles behind a locked gate and seen people drive by on an ATV. It makes me madder than hell, too.”

As recently reported by the Missoulian, Hoffman’s office usually fields the call when people report a problem caused by illegal offroading. Meanwhile, the Bitterroot National Forest employs only two or three law enforcement officers, even though the forest comprises over half the acreage in Ravalli County.

Joe Hundley--an avid horseback rider and a member of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and Ravalli Fish & Wildlife Association—recently wrote an editorial for the Missoulian where he identified key ways that individuals, the state, and the Forest Service can contribute to better off-road vehicle enforcement:

“The [Forest Service] needs to identify important places like wetlands, big-game winter range and calving areas and steer ATV traffic away from them . . . . Time has come when all ATVs operated on public land should be required to have a visible license plate. People simply act more considerate when they know someone might have their number.”

The report, “Six Strategies for Success: Effective Enforcement of Off-Road Vehicle Use on Public Lands,” echoes these low-cost, common-sense solutions. To follow are other examples of tested strategies outlined in the report:

• Partner with county sheriffs and the state fish and wildlife agency on joint enforcement operations;
• Publicize progress so other scofflaws are aware of improved law enforcement;
• Consider natural resource damage when determining fines for citations;
• Revoke hunting and fishing privileges for serial offenders; and
• Impound vehicles of lawbreakers.

The report and news articles on violence, damage and other conflicts can be found at www.wildlandscpr.org [1].