ATV Report: New York Times Opines On ORV Damage to Public Lands

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

New York Times Opines On ORV Damage to Public Lands

On January 8, 2008 The New York Times in an editorial lamented the lack of action by government to protect our public lands from the depredations of off-road-vehicles.

"There are now nine million off-road vehicles, meaning all-terrain vehicles and dirt bikes (snowmobiles are a separate category). And their owners, with little resistance from the authorities that ought to be policing them, are transforming some of America’s most sensitive public lands into their personal playgrounds. "

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ATV Travesty

ATVs are destroying the countryside across America. In doing so they are killing and injurying countless riders, passengers and hapless pedestrians. They are ruining forests, hillsides, deserts, trails, streams, marshes, bogs, beaches and other wetlands. They are dividing communities. Complicit in this devastation are local, state and national govermental agencies and elected officials.

Leading the fight against this onslaught are local and national environmental groups and alliances that need your support.In Minnesota the ATV industry, hand in hand with the Minnesota DNR and many county officials, has set its sights on opening all of Northern Minnesota to virtually unregulated ATV travel.

As this is being written the Mississippi River Headwaters is in imminent danger as is all of the North Shore of Lake Superior, in particular Cook County and those lands bordering the Boundary Waters Wilderness. In Cook County, the Sustainable Recreation Coalition has come together to help stop the onslaught. You are urged to support their efforts.

sustainable-recreation-coalition@hughes.net.

Sustainable Recreation Coalition

The Sustainable Recreation Coalition (SRC) is an informal and non-structured organization of individuals, businesses, neighborhoods, and non-profit organizations working together on a consensus basis. SRC is not a corporation. SRC has no membership fees; our financial support is from donations by individuals.

A majority of Cook County residents support SRC’s policy positions on keeping ATVs out of residential neighborhoods, restricting ATV use on public lands, and on not promoting Cook County as an ATV tourist destination based on our statistically valid survey of 2007. This is from 2,800 to 3,200 of the most recent estimated population of Cook County of 5,329.

Our supporters are Lake and Cook County residents and represent a wide variety of interests including: hikers, hunters, tourism businesses, farmers, artists, snowmobilers, and birders. Campaign participation is by invitation, however, email inquires are promptly responded to and arrangements for us to receive tax-deductible donations through a fiscal agent are easily made.

Inquiries about membership can be directed in confidence to: sustainable-recreation-coaltion@hughes.net. All inquires and donations are dealt with confidentially.

We are an independent, local grass-roots coalition that works with many conservation and community organizations. SRC leaves it up to other organizations whether to make public their work with our coalition. Our mission is to protect the special places of the North Shore from damage by dirt bikes, mudder trucks and ATVs and to defend jobs based on active (human-powered) outdoor activities and the quiet beauty of the area. We do this by giving a voice to those who are concerned about the impact of outdoor recreational activities that are inconsistent with a conservation ethic and not sustainable over the long term. Due in a large part to our work, the North Shore State Snowmobile Trail remains available to hikers in the summer and has not been converted to an ATV trail, thus protecting over 1/3 of Minnesota’s trout streams from increased turbidity. We have solidified community support for not promoting Cook County as an ATV tourist destination. We have documented ATV damage and violations. We have raised public awareness of ATV road riding safety problems. We have endorsed the Cook County Community Foundation’s Civility Project principles. We have submitted written comments to the Cook County Commissioners on the economic, legal, safety and environmental reasons not to open roads, shoulders and inside ditch banks to Class I ATVs at the 2007 public hearing on a proposed ordinance. We have kept conservation organizations and seasonal residents informed of local ATV issues and plans. We have published Survey of Cook County Residents’ Views on ATV Use of Roads, Ditches and Public Lands (available at the Grand Marais Public Library).

In 2007 the SRC commissioned an independent professional survey of the attitudes of a random sample of Cook County residents about various aspects of ATV recreational use in Cook County. This statistically valid survey was designed and administered by Ingrid Schneider, Ph.D. the Director of the University of Minnesota, who has done similar surveys for the ATV and snowmobile industries. The survey respondents averaged 27 years residency in the country. The survey results were published in the report, Survey of Cook County Residents’ Views on ATV Use of Roads, Ditches and Public Lands which is available at the library. “We are pleased the survey confirms that a majority of our community values quiet and safety and supports common-sense limits on where ATVs can be driven,” said Clyde Hanson, a volunteer for the Sustainable Recreation Coalition. “The results show our community cares about the land and knows an ATV image is not attractive to the much larger market segments of those who prefer active sports like skiing, biking, and hiking” said Jerry Hiniker, former store owner. Our ongoing efforts are focused on public education through studies, surveys, reports and the distribution of factual information regarding the need for a sustainable recreation ethic and the consequences of those activities that aren’t supportive of the ideal of a safe, quiet, wild North Shore.We monitor public agencies and policies and hold public officials accountable for their decisions related to our mission. We compile news reports of ATV deaths and injuries, violations and environmental damage. We encourage human-powered outdoor recreation for the benefit of body, mind and spirit.

SRC is helping to monitor the Superior National Forest and the BWCAW for illegal motor vehicle use and has recruited tree planting volunteers for the Ham Lake fire area. SRC is also an underwriter of WTIP Northshore Community Radio. Our additional work includes educating the public on the need to protect the region for future generations as a home and destination for safe and quiet outdoor recreation.

In that regard we urge the community to: Create a “Safe, Quiet and Wild Cook County” tourism task force; prepare an environmental assessment before deciding to open any public lands, roads or ditches to ATVs; make an official pedestrian birding trail of the North Shore State Snowmobile Trail in the summer; hire a Recreation Patrol Officer for the Sheriff’s Department; and disband the Cook County ATV ordinance task force.

It is a sad commentary on our community that many people who enthusiastically share the values and policy goals of the SRC are fearful about sharing their views in public forums for fear of the rude behavior, name-calling, general intimidation and economic boycotts by those who disagree. Yet when we protect the privacy of our volunteers and partner organizations to shield them from harassment, we are accused of being secretive.

Sustainable Recreation Coalition is made up of your Cook County neighbors: Hikers ▪ Mountain Bikers ▪ Hunters ▪ Birders ▪ Anglers ▪ Tourism Businesses ▪ Homeowners ▪ Soil & Water Conservationists ▪ Nature Photographers ▪ Fiscal Conservatives ▪ Sugar Bush Operators ▪ Farmers ▪ Artists ▪ Foresters ▪ Wildlife Biologists ▪ Snowmobilers ▪ Real Estate Agents ▪ Tree Farmers

Sustainable Recreation CoalitionP. O. Box 878, Grand Marais, 55604

ATV Report

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

New York Times Opines On ORV Damage to Public Lands

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