Colorado

A judge is allowing supporters of motorized recreation on public lands to fight a lawsuit that seeks to stop expansion of motorized routes in the Pike and San Isabel national forests.

Senior U.S. District Judge John Kane last week, granted the request of three motorized-recreation groups to join the U.S. Forest Service as defendants in the lawsuit.

Five environmental groups sued Jan. 31, asking the judge to bar the forest service's plan to expand motor vehicle routes in the two forests by 500 miles.

For the Horsetooth Four-Wheelers, the Crystal Mountain ride is part of a big annual campout and trail cleanup, said the group's vice president, Bob Paul.

But the cleanup and campout might not go as planned this year because the state may prevent off-highway vehicle riders from accessing the trail leading to Crystal Mountain from the south.

David Petersen

Once again, the Internet has shown its ability to prompt arrogantly stupid people to broadcast their idiocy for the entire world to see. This time, thoughtless snowmobilers here in Colorado videotaped themselves chasing a moose at high speed along a trail. The encounter ends in a near collision when the harassed moose suddenly stops and turns to face its pursuer. This incident highlights the growing problem of rude, thoughtless, illegal, and just plain dumb activity by users of off-highway motorized vehicles (OHVs). It's way past time for our laws, and our law-enforcers, to slam down hard on these growing motorized insults to our public land's wildlife and wildlands.

As a lifelong hunter and angler, I know with personal pain how illegal riders can ruin a trip into the outdoors. Be it the noise of their engines frightening game, the damage their heavy machines cause when their tires or tracks weigh into loose ground or compress soil beneath snow, or the vandalism that occurs when riders destroy barriers meant to keep them from places vehicles don't belong, reckless riding increasingly ruins the outdoor experience for non-motorized users.

Jule Banville

A YouTube video, embedded below, of a snowmobile chasing a moose on a trail in Grand County, Colo., prompted the Colorado Division of Wildlife to issue warnings about interacting with moose and other wildlife.

The public education campaign is primarily aimed at snowmobilers and snowmobile rental companies.  Wildlife officials say they’re seeing too many videos like the YouTube offering that show people chasing and harassing moose while riding snowmobiles.

I’m writing to applaud the Grand Junction field office of the BLM for submitting a very thoughtful application for needed law enforcement to the state Off Highway Vehicle Grant Program. Last summer, new guidelines were unanimously approved by the State Parks Board which paved the way for law enforcement and restoration grant applications to be considered for funding.

The BLM’s grant application underscores the need for more law enforcement patrolling OHV areas and justifies the changes made by the Parks Board. I applaud the BLM’s grant application.
The BLM’s Grand Junction field office manages 1.5 million acres of public land, yet it has not had a commissioned law enforcement officer dedicated to the field office for years. This has led to a feeling among some reckless, off-road riders that anything goes.

David O. Williams

Few things get Coloradans as riled up as access to our public lands. The debate tends to rage on numerous fronts, but by far the most contentious battles are fought over off-road vehicle access: where, when, how and when is enough enough?

Officials with the Pike-San Isabel National Forest in southern-central Colorado touched off a powder keg of controversy recently when they issued a Motor Vehicle Use Map (MVUM) that conservationists say includes more than 500 miles of illegal roads and tracks – or “rogue” trails – formed by all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) or motorcycles over the years.

Amy Joi O'Donoghue

The San Juan County Sheriff's Office is looking into a case involving "wanted dead or alive" posters targeting the Great Old Broads for Wilderness environmental group.

Featuring a skull and crossbones, the poster reads that the group is not allowed in San Juan County and the notice was put up under the authority of the sheriff's office and the Bureau of Land Management agency.

Amy Joi O'Donoghue

The San Juan County Sheriff's Office is looking into a case involving "wanted dead or alive" posters targeting the Great Old Broads for Wilderness environmental group.

Featuring a skull and crossbones, the poster reads that the group is not allowed in San Juan County and the notice was put up under the authority of the sheriff's office and the Bureau of Land Management agency.

Froma Harrop

Colorado's Arkansas River is a masterpiece. Crafted by the Creator, it is a natural work of art that needs no improvement. That a ludicrous proposal to cover 42 miles of it with 120-foot-wide fabric has gotten as far as it has speaks to the marketing genius of showman-artist "Christo."

Bulgarian-born Christo Javacheff has succeeded in running a white fabric fence along 25 miles of Northern California. The so-called environmental artist has surrounded islands in Florida's Key Biscayne with pink polypropylene and erected 7,500 orange panels in New York City's Central Park. Each time he came up against local opposition. Each time he won.