Jim
September 23rd, 2003, 07:16 AM
Rangers keep ATV users on road to conservation
Posted at 4:48 p.m. September 17
By PERRY BACKUSThe Montana Standard
http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2003/09/17/mtracker/news/55offroad.txt
ENNIS (AP) - On almost any given day, Beaverhead-Deerlodge National
Forest Recreation Specialist Jonathan Klein can find evidence of
illegal off-road use in the mountains around Ennis.
But this day is different.
High up, near the top of a lonely ridge in the Tobacco Root Mountains,
Klein and ATV Ranger David DeSimone spy an ATV left just yards away
from a Forest Service sign indicating the area behind it is closed to
motorized travel.
There's no one around for miles and it would have been a simple thing
to continue up the road to the top of the ridge. On almost any other
day, no would have been the wiser.
But these riders paid attention to the signs and stopped their
machine. A closer look reveals the vehicle is both licensed and
complete with the accessories needed to make it street legal.
"This is what we like to see happen," says Klein as he climbs off his
ATV and starts walking up toward the ridge.
A few minutes later, the men come across John and Judy Hochmuht of
Livingston, preparing to take a photo of themselves in front of the
craggy peaks and mountain lakes that fill the background.
"There ought to be a good guy ticket," Klein tells the Hochmuhts after
introducing himself. "If everyone was like you, there would be no
problem at all. It just gladdens my heart."
The Hochmuhts said they've been coming up to this area for some 25
years. Recently, they traded in their motorcycles for an ATV.
"We're ridge runners," said John Hochmuht. "We just love being able to
get up to areas like this."
"We appreciate being able to still get up here," Judy Hochmuht agreed.
"Without having an open road, we wouldn't be able to do that."
But not everyone bothered to stop at the sign down below. On a nearby
ridge a pair of ATV tracks wind their way up and over the top. Looking
over in that direction, Klein shook his head.
"That's just what we're trying to stop," Klein said. "That track
probably started with one or two ATVs. Other people probably saw the
track and followed it up the hill. In the thin soils that we have
here, that track will probably be there forever, just like the old
wagon wheel tracks that you can still see in some parts of the
country."
Klein and other Forest Service officials are hoping that education
might stem a rash of illegal vehicle use on federal lands. To help
make that happen, the Forest Service and the Montana Department of
Fish, Wildlife and Parks have teamed up to hire a pair of ATV rangers
in the Madison Ranger District of the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National
Forest.
This summer was the second year of a $28,000 grant from the FWP to
help pay for the rangers who spend their time talking to all the ATV
users they find using Forest Service roads and trails about their
responsibility to the sport of motorized recreation. They also keep
their eyes open for noxious weeds and put up signs to help people stay
on the right side of the law.
"The rangers' emphasis is on education," Klein said. "Enforcement has
its place, but we all know that we'll never be able to protect the
resource through enforcement. It's too large, there's too many of
them, and there are too few of us."
"Signing is a never-ending task," he said. "Our signs are vandalized,
shot and knocked down. I think some people feel that if there is no
sign, then there is no rule. ... That's not true, and it's why people
really need to have a map with them before they venture out."
Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth said recently that the National
Leadership Team has identified four major threats to the national
forest system. They include fire and fuels; unwanted invasive species;
loss of open space; and the impacts of unmanaged recreation,
particularly the unmanaged use of off-road vehicles or off-highway
vehicles.
"OHVs are a great way to experience the outdoors, and only a tiny
fraction of the users leave lasting traces by going cross-country,"
Bosworth told members of the Izaak Walton League in Pierre, S.D., in
July. "But the number of OHV users has just exploded in recent years.
Even a tiny percentage of impact from all those millions of OHV users
is still a lot of impact."
Bosworth said the effects come in the form of hundreds of miles of
unauthorized roads and trails caused by repeated cross-country use,
more soil erosion, water degradation and habitat destruction.
There are also more conflicts occurring between different users of the
national forest, he said.
"We've got to get a handle on that," he said.
Ultimately, the Forest Service is going to need some help from people
who enjoy ATVs in the backcountry to ensure that the sport can
continue at its current levels. In the Madison District, there are
about 600-plus miles of roads, most of which are open to motorized
recreation, and another 700 miles of trail, of which about 25 percent
is open to ATVs or motorcycles.
"The options that we're faced with as land managers is either to
encourage education or if that doesn't work, then limit
opportunities," Klein said. "We've had to close places before because
of an inability to control illegal cross-country use."
"No one wants to be a fink, but ATV users do need to do a better job
of policing their ranks," he added. "They need to let those few who
can't follow the rules know they are giving the rest a black eye."
People are discovering the backcountry of Montana. All around the
Madison District, populations are growing dramatically and many of
those people are looking to recreate on nearby public lands.
"Gallatin County is the fastest growing county in Montana. We're in
easy striking distance of Salt Lake and the population of Idaho Falls
is growing," Klein said. "We're definitely on the map now."
Management decisions have to happen now to protect the resource for
future generations, Klein added.
"When it's gone, it's gone," he said. "The future of the national
forest is at stake now. It's dependent on the management decisions we
make now."
Posted at 4:48 p.m. September 17
By PERRY BACKUSThe Montana Standard
http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2003/09/17/mtracker/news/55offroad.txt
ENNIS (AP) - On almost any given day, Beaverhead-Deerlodge National
Forest Recreation Specialist Jonathan Klein can find evidence of
illegal off-road use in the mountains around Ennis.
But this day is different.
High up, near the top of a lonely ridge in the Tobacco Root Mountains,
Klein and ATV Ranger David DeSimone spy an ATV left just yards away
from a Forest Service sign indicating the area behind it is closed to
motorized travel.
There's no one around for miles and it would have been a simple thing
to continue up the road to the top of the ridge. On almost any other
day, no would have been the wiser.
But these riders paid attention to the signs and stopped their
machine. A closer look reveals the vehicle is both licensed and
complete with the accessories needed to make it street legal.
"This is what we like to see happen," says Klein as he climbs off his
ATV and starts walking up toward the ridge.
A few minutes later, the men come across John and Judy Hochmuht of
Livingston, preparing to take a photo of themselves in front of the
craggy peaks and mountain lakes that fill the background.
"There ought to be a good guy ticket," Klein tells the Hochmuhts after
introducing himself. "If everyone was like you, there would be no
problem at all. It just gladdens my heart."
The Hochmuhts said they've been coming up to this area for some 25
years. Recently, they traded in their motorcycles for an ATV.
"We're ridge runners," said John Hochmuht. "We just love being able to
get up to areas like this."
"We appreciate being able to still get up here," Judy Hochmuht agreed.
"Without having an open road, we wouldn't be able to do that."
But not everyone bothered to stop at the sign down below. On a nearby
ridge a pair of ATV tracks wind their way up and over the top. Looking
over in that direction, Klein shook his head.
"That's just what we're trying to stop," Klein said. "That track
probably started with one or two ATVs. Other people probably saw the
track and followed it up the hill. In the thin soils that we have
here, that track will probably be there forever, just like the old
wagon wheel tracks that you can still see in some parts of the
country."
Klein and other Forest Service officials are hoping that education
might stem a rash of illegal vehicle use on federal lands. To help
make that happen, the Forest Service and the Montana Department of
Fish, Wildlife and Parks have teamed up to hire a pair of ATV rangers
in the Madison Ranger District of the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National
Forest.
This summer was the second year of a $28,000 grant from the FWP to
help pay for the rangers who spend their time talking to all the ATV
users they find using Forest Service roads and trails about their
responsibility to the sport of motorized recreation. They also keep
their eyes open for noxious weeds and put up signs to help people stay
on the right side of the law.
"The rangers' emphasis is on education," Klein said. "Enforcement has
its place, but we all know that we'll never be able to protect the
resource through enforcement. It's too large, there's too many of
them, and there are too few of us."
"Signing is a never-ending task," he said. "Our signs are vandalized,
shot and knocked down. I think some people feel that if there is no
sign, then there is no rule. ... That's not true, and it's why people
really need to have a map with them before they venture out."
Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth said recently that the National
Leadership Team has identified four major threats to the national
forest system. They include fire and fuels; unwanted invasive species;
loss of open space; and the impacts of unmanaged recreation,
particularly the unmanaged use of off-road vehicles or off-highway
vehicles.
"OHVs are a great way to experience the outdoors, and only a tiny
fraction of the users leave lasting traces by going cross-country,"
Bosworth told members of the Izaak Walton League in Pierre, S.D., in
July. "But the number of OHV users has just exploded in recent years.
Even a tiny percentage of impact from all those millions of OHV users
is still a lot of impact."
Bosworth said the effects come in the form of hundreds of miles of
unauthorized roads and trails caused by repeated cross-country use,
more soil erosion, water degradation and habitat destruction.
There are also more conflicts occurring between different users of the
national forest, he said.
"We've got to get a handle on that," he said.
Ultimately, the Forest Service is going to need some help from people
who enjoy ATVs in the backcountry to ensure that the sport can
continue at its current levels. In the Madison District, there are
about 600-plus miles of roads, most of which are open to motorized
recreation, and another 700 miles of trail, of which about 25 percent
is open to ATVs or motorcycles.
"The options that we're faced with as land managers is either to
encourage education or if that doesn't work, then limit
opportunities," Klein said. "We've had to close places before because
of an inability to control illegal cross-country use."
"No one wants to be a fink, but ATV users do need to do a better job
of policing their ranks," he added. "They need to let those few who
can't follow the rules know they are giving the rest a black eye."
People are discovering the backcountry of Montana. All around the
Madison District, populations are growing dramatically and many of
those people are looking to recreate on nearby public lands.
"Gallatin County is the fastest growing county in Montana. We're in
easy striking distance of Salt Lake and the population of Idaho Falls
is growing," Klein said. "We're definitely on the map now."
Management decisions have to happen now to protect the resource for
future generations, Klein added.
"When it's gone, it's gone," he said. "The future of the national
forest is at stake now. It's dependent on the management decisions we
make now."