Offroader Lie Debunked

September 24, 2008

I have a speckled past. Once upon a time I was known for fighting to keep off-road-vehicle (ORV) riders from continuing to tear up parts of northern Nevada. Back in those not-very-far-gone days there was one refrain we often heard from the motorheads defending their unlimited motorized access to everywhere: "It's just a few bad apples" that cause the problems, they said. This was despite all the evidence and ample eyewitness accounts to the contrary. So it's without any great surprise that I just now read about the Forest Service's discovery in Emery County, Utah, that about half of ORV riders they recently watched in their jurisdiction ignored and bypassed signs telling them to stay off certain trails. Duh.

For more info on how these vehicles destroy our land and resources, check out http://www.stopthrillcraft.org/.

Comments

[Barry]

Cyclists sometimes cause similar damages as well. I remember working with a restoration program and one of our tasks were to take fallen branches and logs and place them over the trails cyclists had made on hillsides. Cyclists may think it doesn't cause damage, but I'd seen one cyclist trail that had eroded into a rather wide and deep gully.

[W]

Before you start on the whole, re-re-regurgitated "cyclists are bad for trails" spiel: http://www.imba.org.uk/uploads/papers/white_et_al_study.pdf

And, to if you believe it's biased: http://www.multilingual-matters.net/jost/009/0193/jost0090193.pdf

[Atomictoad]

Hey Larry,

I'm glad you're still talking about this. We have a similar problem up in our part of Nevada. The Terribles Vegas to Reno race is one we are trying to stop.

Got some info here: http://www.basinandrangewatch.org/Terribles.html

[Larry O'Hanlon]

Thanks for the link. It's truly amazing how blind some folks are to their impacts. These are the true elitists -- ruining the public's land while they deny the degradation even exists. It's that Palin-esque denial of reality and denial of even the process to test reality, a.k.a. the science which supports the argument that OHV use destroys the landscape and wildlife habitat. Folks who can afford to be so willfully ignorant MUST be pampered to the extreme of being delusional state to think that just by saying something enough it makes it true. They have never faced a harsh reality that they couldn't weasel around or palm off. They are nothing less than spoiled, ignorant children.

[Barry]

Actually W, I specified when cyclists make their OWN trails, not maintained, designated trails. I'd seen personally trails that cyclists had made on their own that were heavily eroded and that's exactly why we blocked them so cyclists would stick to designated trails. You weren't there so please, don't talk to me like I didn't see the damage first hand.

kthxgbai, LOL.

[Matt]

Think about the impact that highways and other paved roads have had on this once beautiful landscape. On highway use is worse for the planet, loook at all the trash along highways and emissions from ON highway use.