New Hampshire

Greg Kwasnik

One local resident is making himself heard this year with a petition warrant article to limit nuisance noise in residential areas.

Wayne Perreault, of Spring Street, collected 40 signatures this winter to place his article on the town warrant. If approved by voters, the article would amend the town's noise ordinance to prohibit excessive noise from ATVs, dirt bikes, 4x4s, modified cars or other machinery.

Hiroko Sato

Just call them the snow patrol.

Pelham police have launched a snowmobile-patrol program to keep illegal four-wheel drivers off snowmobile trails.

Shira Schoenberg

Joseph Cartwright owns 430 acres in Alstead. He has cut timber and sold firewood, but he said he can't make a living off his land.

"Before you cut a tree, you give 35 percent to government agencies," Cartwright said, citing a litany of federal and state taxes. "If you can correct that so you make money owning land, the conservation problem will solve itself."

Trent Spiner

Despite the best efforts of local volunteers, vandals have destroyed a number of gates blocking traffic into Bow's Nottingcook Forest, also leaving behind trash and damaged hiking trails.

Selectmen voted to have the gates installed after the police found a number of people dumping items such as old appliances and roofing shingles in the town-owned forest. The gates were installed two weeks ago.

Edith Tucker

GORHAM — A controversial proposal by the state Bureau of Trails to open about a mile on the east end of the 20-mile-long state-owned Presidential Rail Trail to summertime use by ATVs and trail bikes has been withdrawn, for at least a year, said Trails Bureau Chief Chris Gamache in a Monday afternoon telephone interview.

Businesses in Gorham requested the state's help in finding a route that would bring ATV enthusiasts to their doors, he explained, noting that the Gorham have been notified.

John Harrigan

This letter ran in Colebrook's weekly News and Sentinel last week, and yes, I helped my wife write it. It concerns a farm she owns just up the river in Beecher Falls, Vt., but it could well have been written about just about any open lands near populated areas anywhere.

Several readers thought that the letter touched on so many core issues that it deserved wider publication. (Caveat: We own an ATV for farm use, and I have written often about my many friends and readers who are responsible riders and about ATV clubs and the many good community deeds they do.)

Brandon McKinstry was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident, which took place at the River's Edge Campground and ATV Park, located at 500 Route 118.

Police said McKinstry was operating the vehicle within the park. As he drove it atop an embankment, the soil gave way, causing the machine to tip.

John Harrigan

THERE ARE thousands of camps scattered throughout the woods, ranging from one-room tarpaper shacks to elaborate dwellings with running water, generators and all the comforts of home.

Memorial Day weekend is the traditional camp-opening time for many people. The snow has melted, the back roads have dried out, the birds are back, and it's time to go open up camp. For many people, it's the first time they've seen the place since Labor Day, or the end of hunting season.