Illegal ATV Drivers Riding in Northwest Georgia

Filed in archive Outdoor News on August 13, 2007

Since I'm based out of Atlanta, I often orientate myself with outdoor activities and events in the surrounding area as well as statewide. However, today, I was a bit surprised when I learned that the Mountaintown Roadless Area has become a haven for illegal ATV riders.

The sport of ATV is often debated. Some say its detrimental to the forests, the environment, and wildlife. Other argue its just harmless fun. What do you think?

Renegade ATV trails are regarded as one of the biggest threats to pristine wildlife by foresters, but many struggle with how to actually put an end to the abuses.

In Mountaintown, a patch of forest in northwest Georgia, the traditional defenses against ATVs haven't worked.

Tank traps, the bumpy dips meant to deter drivers, have been turned to playpens. Strategically placed branches or timber has been shorn by machete-wielding drivers. Gates and barriers have been quickly destroyed. And rangers complain there's too few patrolling officers to be much of a deterrent.

"We've got eight officers - that's almost a million acres we're covering," sighed Stewart Delugach, the patrol captain of the sprawling Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest, which includes Mountaintown. "There's no way they can be everywhere at once."

Some environmentalists are encouraging more drastic steps.

A report released earlier this summer by Wildlands CPR, a Montana-based group that aims to stop off-road vehicle abuse, encourages stiffer patrols, tougher penalties and electronic monitoring to deter ATV drivers. It also suggests encouraging more self-policing by closing the legal off-road areas hit by repeat offenders.

"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, one of the group's leaders.

ATVs and other off-road vehicles had almost unfettered access to federal lands until 1972, when President Nixon issued an executive order that required agency heads to develop regulations. President Carter expanded it five years later to allow agencies to ban ATVs and other off-road vehicles on trails if they're damaging the forests.

Since then, illegal trails have exploded. Rangers say that thousands of miles of trails now crisscross federal forestland. Many are disused logging trails, but in some cases ATV drivers armed with axes, machetes and other tools carve out their own paths.

The U.S. Forest Service has tried to sate the demand by setting aside vast tracts of land for ATV use, but they're often seeing those areas turned into a hub for more illegal trails.

Source