Nevada off-road riders asked to behave

Jeff Delong

Federal land managers in Nevada have launched a publicity campaign designed to persuade off-highway vehicle riders to stick to designated trails and protect a delicate landscape.

And if a recent report by congressional investigators is correct, asking nicely might be one of the best ways to control problems posed by some OHV riders. The U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management often lack adequate strategies, money and resources to control off-highway activity, the Government Accountability Office concluded.

Both developments come as the government strives to control impacts from a fast-growing recreational activity -- an issue that has environmentalists insisting too little has been done to protect the land and many riders arguing they are being improperly restricted from public property.

Early this month, the Forest Service and BLM launched a "stay on trails" advertising campaign with highway billboards in Reno, Carson City, near Fernley, Lake Tahoe and Wells. The effort will continue with radio spots that will commence in mid-September to coincide with hunting season.

"The Forest Service truly believes OHV use is a great way to visit the national forest. We just want to be sure it's done in a sustainable way," said Christie Kalkowski, spokeswoman for Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest.

At 6.3 million acres, the Humboldt-Toiyabe is the largest forest in the lower 48 states. It has 7,700 miles of trails and routes open to OHVs, providing "ample opportunity" for recreation, Kalkowski said.

But riders need to know the serious impacts resulting when OHV riders leave designated trails, scarring the land and affecting vegetation, soil, streams and wildlife, she said.

"In Nevada, it's hard to get people to understand our landscape is so fragile," Kalkowski said. "The first step with any issue is you have to build awareness with the public that there is a problem."

The education campaign follows the recent release of a GAO report about how the Forest Service, BLM and National Park Service are managing increased OHV use. Researchers did not examine Nevada but interviewed federal land managers in California, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, Oregon, Maryland and Florida.

Representatives of the three agencies, which collectively manage more than 530 million acres, reported they have insufficient resources to manage OHV activity, which is rising steadily.

Problems result from shortages in funding and personnel. The BLM has 195 uniformed law officers, an average of one officer per 1.2 million acres, according to the report.

"Most field unit officials who said they could not sustainably manage their existing OHV areas indicated that they have insufficient resources for equipment or staff for management and enforcement," the report said.

About half of the officials interviewed also said current fines are insufficient to deter illegal or unsafe OHV use.

Genny Wilson, chief of the Forest Service's Carson Ranger District, said many of the issues cited by the GAO pertain locally. The district has two officers patrolling the 100-mile-long district from the Reno area south to Alpine County, Calif., and dealing with increasing OHV activity, Wilson said.

"It certainly is a challenge with the lack of staffing that we have," Wilson said. "I don't think there's any doubt the trend for funding continues to go down even though the demand is going up."

For that reason, public education campaigns like the "stay on trails" effort now under way could prove particularly important, Wilson said.

Brian Hawthorne, public lands policy director for the OHV advocate Blue Ribbon Coalition, agreed many of the issues raised by the GAO are legitimate but also said they've been pointed out by previous studies.

"They do an awful lot of studying. They don't do enough doing," he said.

He said more funding should be directed toward OHV recreation on public land.

"I think they should fund recreation commensurate with its importance to the American public," Hawthorne said, adding that riders would help with the cost.

"Give us a place to go, give us a map and we'll help you with the funding," he said.

Carl Adams, a Reno off-highway enthusiast and organizer of the Washoe County Backcountry Coalition, said the government appears unsure of what it wants to do when it comes to the issue.

"They seem to take it as a given that they need to control OHV use, but they don't really have any definition of what OHV use is acceptable," Adams said. "No one has ever articulated what amount of impact is acceptable and what is not. Is every track in the dirt unacceptable?"

OHVs can cause "really significant environmental damage" and the government is correct to address the problem, said Stan Vanvelsor, off-road coordinator for the Wilderness Society. He agreed funding and resources have been lacking.

"Even though there has been a desire to enforce their regulations, they have not had the staff and funding level to do so effectively," Vanvelsor said. He said he is optimistic the new chiefs of the Forest Service and BLM under the Obama administration will make enforcing OHV regulations a higher priority than in the past.

He said it is "hard to say" whether the billboard and radio campaign now being pursued in Nevada will be effective but that it's worth a try.

Adams said he's unsure how the campaign might effect an issue he described as a "huge mess."

"I'm unhappy with it, but the greens are just as unhappy," he said.

Additional Facts- GAO Off-Highway Vehicle Study

Findings:

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Source: http://www.rgj.com/article/20090819/NEWS/908190444

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