Idaho

ORV Visible Identification

Idaho requires visible identification on ORVs. Learn more about the requirements.

View our report to learn more about the 37 states that do require visible identification. Learn how Idaho ranks compared to the other states on visible identification requirements.

Recent Legislative Action

2009

SB1098: Removes license plate requirement for ORVs not used on paved roads, but creates a new fund to pay for ORV law enforcement and restoration of damaged areas. (4/9/09: Enacted)

2008

H602: Requires license plates for ORVs (4/14/08: Signed into law)

Community Voices Demand Action in Idaho

Idahoans are increasingly voicing their concerns about a growing contingent of reckless riders who break the law, damage public and private land, injure themselves and others, and ruin hunting, fishing and hiking experiences for the rest of us.

• "The explosion in use of off-road vehicles, both two-wheeled and four-wheeled, in recent years has led to great damage to landscapes that can no longer be considered natural. Vehicles have been driven off existing roads and trails to the point that some areas are now webbed with what often begin as single-track ruts and later become double-track lanes on which nothing grows and which erosion further damages." -- Lewiston Morning Tribune Editorial, "Forest travel plans a response to real damage", Lewiston Morning Tribune (1/31/09)

• “I’ve had three near misses — two in my Forest Service vehicle and one in my personal vehicle — where you pull over to the side of the road and take a deep breath because you didn’t kill somebody on an ATV,” -- U.S. Forest Service Minidoka District Ranger Scott Nannenga, "Federal and Cassia County officials discuss safer forest roads", Times-News (1/25/11)

• "...increased use is also causing challenges for more than just land managers. Beyond dealing with conflicts between users, local law enforcement budgets are stretched thin whenever they have to rescue a lost or stuck ATV rider." -- Deanna Dar, "Motoring On", Boise Weekly (10/15/08)

• “When we see illegal ATV use like this, we want to both help users understand the environmental damage caused by their actions and correct the behavior. Then we turn to restoring function on the damaged land. In this case, the perpetrators’ actions were so egregious they were required to pay substantial fines, providing the agency with the means to begin restoration work.” -- Steve Bryant, Law Enforcement Officer for the Palouse Ranger District, "ATVs tear up meadow, now those responsible are paying for the cleanup", KLEW-TV (5/2/10)

• "The impetus for all of this on our part came from hunters themselves. Hunters who don't use them, or used them limitedly, find their experience in the hunt is compromised by other people using [OHVs] there." -- Ed Mitchell, Fish and Game spokesman on the department’s ORV rules, "Motoring On", Boise Weekly (10/15/08)

• "Our organization believes there is a place for off-road vehicles onpublic land but in the end we need to protect the resources, that isreally what we are doing there. Everyone has the right to use publiclands, but no one has the right to abuse them the way they have abusedat Meadow Creek." -- Brad Smith, Idaho Conservation League, "ATV damage leads to closure", Lewiston Morning Tribune (9/11/08)

• "Multiple times I have been in a non-motorized area when ATVs come rolling by. It is not fair to those who pour blood, sweat and tears into a backpack hunt only for it to be ruined by illegal ATV use." -- BiJay Adams, hunter, "Speaking Up", Eastman's Hunting Journal (Feb.-Mar. '10)

• "The best research and other information available documents that increasing OHV use by hunters is causing increased dissatisfaction among
  the hunting public and that expanding motorized access by hunters makes deer and elk more vulnerable to hunter harvest," -- Idaho Fish and Game, "Fish and Game ATV authority could be stripped", Rexburg Standard Journal (1/28/11)

• "There just aren't enough hours in the day to deal with all of this...Those user-made trails are showing up all over the place. They lead to a lot of resource damage." -- Officer Mike Mumford, "Direct destructive recreation down a dead end", Lewiston Morning Tribune (6/16/08)

• "ATV rules help us maintain the opportunity to hunt in general season every year and maintain an abundance of valued big game animals. We're not trying to exclude hunters but to provide a diversity of hunting opportunities." --  Idaho Fish and Game Regional Supervisor Steve Schmidt, "Fish and Game ATV authority could be stripped", Rexburg Standard Journal (1/28/11)

• "Everyone has a right to enjoy our national forests, but no one has the right to abuse them. ATV's are a legitimate way to enjoy our national forests but should not be allowed to damage the clean water and natural beauty that belongs to all of us." -- Brad Smith, Idaho Conservation League, "Lawsuit challenges forest's motorized vehicle plan", Associated Press

  (1/23/10)

•  "Illegal use of (all-terrain vehicles) is a huge problem. Unmanaged recreation is one of the top four threats to the health of the forests across the country, and 85 to 90 percent of the time, the problem is illegal ATV use." -- Wes Stumbo, Forest Engineer, "Forest Service gets tough with illegal ATV use", Idaho Falls Post Register (10/28/10)

• "During my aerial monitoring flights I have observed the trails created by ATV's, and they have increased at an alarming rate over the past decade." -- Ted Howard, Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley Indian Reservation, "House Resources Committee Hearing," US House of Representatives Committee on Natural Resources (3/13/08)

• "There's nothing like finding a trail n a map, driving 300 miles to scout, just to find out it's been turned into an ATV highway!" -- Joey Logue, sportsman, "Speaking Up", Eastman's Hunting Journal (Feb.-Mar. '10)

Recent ORV-Related Media Coverage