Jefferson County's ATV trail system is expanding

Written by Watertown Daily Times

Wednesday, September 09, 2009

Nancy Madsen

Expansion of an all-terrain vehicle trail system in the southern part of Jefferson County and creation of a similar system in the northern part of the county are in the works.

By June, necessary sections of private land and county and town roads in Rodman, Lorraine and Worth opened to connect county forest lots and public trails for ATV traffic. The original 42-mile system connects to systems in Oswego and Lewis counties.

Now, ATV enthusiasts in the northern part of the county are looking to duplicate the effort, county trails coordinator Scott M. Burto told county legislators at Tuesday's Planning and Development Committee meeting.

Lodge ATV Club, Depauville, and Black River Valley Riders, Carthage, have insurance to cover private landowners who open their land to ATVers.

"We're looking for opportunities in the northern section of the county now that they have picked up insurance," Mr. Burto said. "There are a number of landowners out there willing to do it who just needed their insurance policy."

In the southern part of the county, Mr. Burto said, he's still waiting for word back from the state Department of Environmental Conservation to open Gruntley Road in the town of Rodman.

Legislator Michael W. Beh-ling, R-Adams Center, asked whether the village of Adams could be connected with the system.

He said the trail system now did not connect with the fuel and food options in the village, which would be beneficial for riders and business owners.

"We've looked for some private landowners," said Mr. Burto, but that search has proved unsuccessful so far.

As part of the county's pilot program in the southern part of the county, it created standardized signage for the trail system. And Mr. Burto and the county Planning Department produced maps of all county, town and village roads open to ATVs, which were given to the sheriff's department.

Mr. Burto is working on a year's-end environmental survey, which will be compared with the baseline survey from the beginning of the year to show the effects of ATV traffic. He also is completing a master plan for recreational opportunities in the county.

Mr. Burto secured two grants this year for the county's Soil and Water Conservation District for work on ATV trails.

The state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation gave the program $133,000 to repair six miles of trails in two county forest lots. The Sandy Creeks Ecosystem-based Management program, funded by the state Environmental Protection Fund, promised $8,000 to close access by ATVs to streambeds in the Sandy Creeks watershed by creating fences or other barriers.

The contract for an earlier grant will be signed soon and work on the Felts Mills Day Use Area will be completed by the end of October, Mr. Burto said.

He said safety education programs for children and Web site improvements are ongoing.

The county's Web site for trails, www.trailjeffersoncounty.com, has added an interactive calendar and more maps of multiuse, walking, snowmobile and ATV trails.

Source: http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/article/20090909/NEWS03/309099983

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State by State Momentum

Community Voices

“We’ve had success bringing illegal riders to justice by snapping photos of their ID stickers. The problem in California is that they’re too darn small to see from far away or at high speeds. While I’m normally not in favor of the government getting involved in things, requiring all ORVs to have a visible ID with a minimum size and standard location would make them an even better tool for property owners to identify trespassing riders. We should also look to Wyoming’s lead and make trespassing penalties clear so riders think twice before they head off designated trails and onto my land.”

- Mesonika Piecuch, private property owner, Kern County, CA