Off road and out of line

Federal officials have right idea

Sunday, September 2, 2007

If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? With so many all-terrain vehicles and off-road motorcycles buzzing and whining through our national forests lately, that's been a moot point. In some areas, it's hard to hear anything but these conveyances.

The phenomenal explosion in the number of all-terrain vehicles has been a curse for hikers, campers and others who traverse the nation's protected woodlands seeking the beauty and quietude of nature.

As a recent column in the Rocky noted, "A survey conducted by the U.S. Forest Service in 2004 showed nearly 48 million Americans turned their SUVs, ATVs and motorcycles off the pavement onto trails and roads on public lands that year. Nearly 2 million of those drivers headed to trails and backcountry roads in Colorado." And sales of ATVs and dirt bikes alone have tripled since the late 1980s.

But the same terrain so valued for its isolation and stillness has also been a haven for intrepid off-roaders. These are, after all, public lands, set aside for the enjoyment of all - ATV rider and nature lover alike.

However, the growing presence of these noisy, polluting and land-damaging vehicles has reached a tipping point and the U.S. Forest Service is putting down its foot. Under the service's Travel Management Planning initiative, no longer will ATVs and dirt bikes be allowed almost anywhere. Now public lands will be "closed unless designated open" to off-roaders.

With input from the public, staff members at individual forest districts will draw up widely available motor-vehicle travel maps over the next two years or so, and the restrictions - begun in 2005 - should be in place by 2010.

We welcome the move. It will allow off-roaders a way to continue enjoying their pastime while mitigating the annoying and damaging effects. The rest of us, meanwhile, can sit back and enjoy this "quiet" victory.