Suit Seeks to Scale Back Offroad Use in Pryors

Written by Associated Press

Friday, February 19, 2010

Conservationists and backcountry horse riders are seeking to block motorized vehicle use in much of southern Montana's Pryor Mountains, a popular destination for off-road vehicle users.

A lawsuit filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Missoula challenges the U.S. Forest Service travel plan for the 125-square mile mountain range about 50 miles south of Billings.

The suit charges the Forest Service is allowing the Pryors to become a "sacrifice zone" for ATVs, motorcycles and four-wheel drive vehicles. It says only 1 percent of trails are set aside just for non-motorized users such as hikers and horse riders.

The lead plaintiff in the case is the Pryors Coalition, made up of the Yellowstone Valley Audubon Society, Wildlands CPR, Beartooth Backcountry Horsemen and several other groups.

Source: http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/wireStory?id=9892326

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Community Voices

“It’s frustrating having a hunt ruined by people riding ATVs where off-road vehicle use is prohibited. Many ATVs look the same so there’s no way to identify violators when reporting the incident to law enforcement. There should be a requirement that off-road vehicles used on public lands have license plates or large decals. Any ATV user who follows the law and land management directives on where they can and can not use these machines should have no objection to this type of identification.”

- Holly Endersby, hunter from western Idaho