Responding to ATV supporters...

Hello, everyone;

I am going to respond to some of the better points made by some ATV supporters who have been posting. I think they have had a great deal of space to lobby their views, so in the future I will moderate the posts that seem to make repetitive or unnecessary points. Supporters who want to promote their views more than they have are free to start their own blogs. It really is free!

There are two main problems with ATV's in the NHAL forest. There is the problems that will happen IF all ATV users use the trail as designed, and the problems that will be created if 10 percent use the trail in unauthorized ways.

I want to address the second point first, because many supporters said there is something different about ATV users than motorcycle users and snowmobile users. There will be no "ten percent" problem. But I really dont think that there is any evidence that this is true. I have talked to and listened to officials in charge of areas that have ATV trails, and they report frequent damage to off-trail areas. What disturbs me is that the ATV industry is marketing to the kinds of people who AREN"T likely to follow the rules. And noone from the ATV side expressed any concern that this is a problem.

One of the posters suggested that ATV's could be made to follow the rules through enforcement. But the DNR has said they don't have new resources for further enforcement. If you are talking about "self enforcement", we are back to where we were with snowmobile noise. And look how well motorcyclists are doing with 'self enforcement" of exhaust systems. (I have to believe that the police don't make this any sort of priority). One poster said a majority of Utility ATVs have stock mufflers. But there is no law that only utility ATV's will be goig through the quiet portions of the NHAL forest. My guess is that ATV's are going to get faster and louder as they can get away with, just as snowmobiles did and motorcycles are doing.

My personal experience with ATV noise: Experience one: A person on the other side of my small lake had an ATV that obviously wasn't mufflered properly. Experience two: A relative loaned me his properly mufflered ATV to do some work on my property (very handy, by the way.) Experience three: On a trip to the UP, we were on a beach along Lake Superior near an ATV trail. At least two of a string of 6 or 7 ATV's had very loud exhaust systems. So far, we are well over the "10 percent" mark.

My real concern is that the trend could get worse before it gets better. Why? Because the ATV industry knows that a significant number of people will buy these machines for the competition factor. There are probably many people, like the supporters who posted to this blog, who see ATV's as a gentle way to drift along quietly through the woods seeing the sites, but I don't suspect that is where the industry sees the growth potential.

More to follow.