Off-Roaders Need Regulation

Garrett Veneklasen

Access into New Mexico's magnificent public lands is truly a blessing for an avid outdoorsman like myself. There are hundreds of thousands of acres of public lands across the state for fishing, hunting, hiking, biking, camping and motorized recreation. In fact, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management manages 13.4 million acres of public lands in New Mexico and the Forest Service oversees 9.4 million acres alone.

I've been riding my quad on much of that land over the past 15 years. But the irresponsible behavior of a growing contingent of reckless off-highway vehicle (OHV) riders is not only threatening to limit my access to those trails — more importantly, it's threatening wildlife and wildlife habitat. Increased road density and OHV activity is destroying riparian areas and forcing wildlife out of critical habitat at an increasingly alarming rate.  

For riders like me, OHVs allows us to reach areas that you just can't reach by foot or bike. At the same time, the roads that we use must be limited in number to preserve and protect wildlife and wildlife habitat. Exploring the terrain is part of the draw, but illegal user-created routes are causing a profoundly negative ecological impact.

The number of OHVs in the U.S. grew by 230 percent from 1993 to 2003. Now is the time for Congress to implement responsible travel management policy to ensure that the exponential increase in OHV activity does not threaten the well-being of our forests and grasslands.

I would hate to have the OHV riding experience taken away from me or from the millions of others that enjoy riding like I do. Unfortunately, our access to our public lands is facing a threat. The threat isn't from Washington politicians or environmentalists. It's coming from within the off-roading community.

A growing reckless contingent is threatening to ruin things for all of us. They're trespassing on other people's property, disturbing peace and quiet and disrupting the livelihoods of ranchers and others who make their living off the land. They're straying off trails on public lands, destroying precious habitat and tearing up the backcountry.

Public lands belong to the American taxpayer and we should have access to them. But with that privilege comes responsibility. I want future generations to be able to enjoy the lands as much as I do. And it doesn't just belong to OHV riders, it belongs to other trail users, whether for motorized or unmotorized recreation.

But this growing contingent of reckless riders doesn't get that. The Bush Administration identified unmanaged recreation, particularly unmanaged off-roading, as one of the top four threats to America's forests. According to the BLM, while off-roading represented about 25 percent of all visits to the lands they manage, reckless riding accounted for nearly 50 percent of all law enforcement incidents recorded by the Bureau in 2006.

What should we do about this? In New Mexico, a lot of riders supported a bill sponsored by State Sen. Phil Griego, and I was among them. Property owners initiated the bill because they were fed up with reckless riders cutting their fences and harassing their livestock. Frankly, I didn't blame them. Gov. Bill Richardson signed a pretty good bill into law earlier this year that shifted OHV management responsibility from the Tourism Department to the Department of Game and Fish and increased user, registration and penalty fees that will go towards increased law enforcement and education.

But we can't do it alone. Given the vast amounts of federal land in New Mexico, a lasting solution will only come when we get leadership from Washington.

By working with ranchers, property owners, sportsmen, conservationists and responsible riders, our federal representatives can craft a bill that doesn't step on our rights to ride while protecting the rights of private property owners and preserving America's public lands for future generations.

It is imperative that all concerned citizens immediately contact their congressional delegates to encourage them to influence the U.S. Forest Service's final Travel Management decisions.

We have a moral obligation to honor the legacy of the conservationist visionaries that created, protected and enhanced our precious public forests and grasslands. Even more importantly, as stewards of these resources we are morally obligated to pass on these resources to future generations in a condition that is superior to its current state.

Garrett Veneklasen is a Taos outdoorsman.

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