Quoting from the print version of The Lakeland Times, August 29th:
"Supervisor Walt Maciag said he found arguments against ATV's because of items such as noise, safety and invasive species to be hollow."
" 'We have noise from other kinds of vehicles', he said." (p. 28)
That's like saying if someone is kicking you in the shins, you have no right to complain if I want to poke you in the eye.
You see this argument a lot when it comes to noise. On the face of it, it doesn't make any sense. Peace and quiet is a scarce resource-the fact that other activities take away a good bit of it isn't an argument for ATV's, its an argument against them.
Its another way of dismissing those of us who think the quiet of Vilas County is an actual rare thing that needs to be preserved. Which includes, by the way, most residents and visitors.
Mr. Maciag is basically saying "quiet doesn't matter to me, and if it matters to you, you don't matter either".
There are windows of silence, little bits of time when we aren't confronted by leaf blowers, "high performance" exhausts, fireworks, thumping car speakers. That silence is an actual resource, like whitetail deer and clear lakes. Visitors know that. Its what people come here for. Its a real thing. And it can be lost.
"Board; No Advisory Referendum", The Lakeland Times, Vol 122-Issue 52 , p. 28.
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