Maryland

Riding an all-terrain vehicle can be fun and even useful under some circumstances. Also known as four-wheelers or quads, ATVs are not unlike snowmobiles for dry land. Users like to take them through forests and across streams and open meadows, places that other motor vehicles can't reach.

That makes them a thrill for off-road recreation, but they can also be helpful in yardwork and around the farm, slogging through mud and standing water. Small wonder there is a growing interest in ATVs and in all-terrain vehicle parks and trails to accommodate them.

But Sunday's early-morning crash in Baltimore County that killed two men and injured three others is a reminder that the vehicles can be extremely dangerous, too. According to an initial report by Baltimore County police, the five people were riding an ATV that drove off a cliff in White Hall and into a stream below.

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources has closed three of the state’s off-road vehicle trails — Green Ridge, Chandler and Poplar Lick trails — but has plans to offer other trail riding opportunities.

The trails had been temporarily closed pending the results of a forest certification audit. The audit, which was completed last week, is part of the state’s effort to receive dual certification for all three Western Maryland state forests — a move that will protect the $950 million Western Maryland forest products industry, which employs 9,200 people.

The Northern Virginia Trail Riders club said Monday that its members regularly use the Green Ridge State Forest trail and patronize western Maryland businesses.

The Department of Natural Resources said Tuesday it’s considering closing the state’s most popular off-road vehicle trail, an 18-mile loop in western Maryland’s Green Ridge State Forest, as part of a plan to curb environmental damage and illegal riding statewide.

Other recommendations include tighter enforcement of illegal trail riding, possibly with higher fines, and an increase in the $15 annual fee that Maryland charges to ride all-terrain vehicles on state forest land.

Alyana Gomez

FRUITLAND, Md. - The construction of the ATV park has been causing a lot of controversy for Fruitland residents.

So a meeting was held to hear everyone's concerns, but the tension in the room was overwhelming.

Michael Dresser

Amtrak has a problem — and it can use all the help it can get. So why is it spurning a good neighbor who only wants to lend a hand in Amtrak's effort to protect its tracks from trespassers?

Several times a year, police issue a report of an intruder being struck and killed by an Amtrak train somewhere in Maryland. Occasionally, the death receives extensive news coverage as in the case of 14-year-old Anna Stickel hit by a train in Middle River in January. More often, as in the case of Timothy Francis Jenkins, 41, killed April 6 along the Northeast Corridor tracks south of BWI Marshall Airport, the case gets no more than a brief mention.

Andrea Noble

A Waldorf man convicted of attacking two men, killing one of them who he mistakenly believed was riding his stolen all-terrain vehicle, was sentenced to 32 years in prison Friday.

Martinez Witherspoon, 24, was found guilty of second-degree murder and two counts of carrying a dangerous weapon in the 2008 slaying of Greenbelt resident Steven Williams, 28, and first-degree assault against Williams' friend, Matthew Bovell. Williams and Bovell were riding ATVs in a wooded area near Surrattsville High School in Clinton when they were attacked.

Allison Bourg

A salesman at Pete's Cycle Co. in Severna Park, John Keough, said he hears frequent complaints from customers looking for places to ride their all-terrain vehicles.

They can't find any, at least not within the county, he said.

Allison Bourg

A salesman at Pete's Cycle Co. in Severna Park, John Keough said he hears frequent complaints from customers looking for places to ride their all-terrain vehicles.

They can't find any, at least not within the county's borders.