Trails Group Troubled By Off-Roaders

Russell Drumm

On a Sunday last month, a couple were trotting along a section of the Paumanok Path in the Jacob’s Farm section of Amagansett when a number of motorized all-terrain vehicles, A.T.V.s, came roaring up behind them. The horses were spooked, and so were the riders.

Richard Lupoletti, chairman of the East Hampton Trails Preservation Society’s trails protection project committee, attended the East Hampton Town Board’s work session in Montauk on Tuesday to urge the board to enforce existing laws that prohibit the use of motorized vehicles — dirt bikes, quads, and the like — on land meant for hikers, equestrians, and mountain bikers.

“They are tearing up trails. It’s gotten out of hand. There is a law on the books that’s not being enforced. It’s a danger to horseback riders, bikers, and hikers, but also a danger to the operators. Many are kids. We have a concern for them, and it’s a liability if the town has not shown that it’s tried to keep them out,” Mr. Lupoletti said.

He noted that the trails preservation society had brought the issue before the board last July. As a result, the fine for illegal use of the trails was doubled to $500. However, Mr. Lupoletti said nothing had been done with the list of 32 “hot spots” the society had provided the board, and $2,000 to pay for keep-out signs had not been added to the town budget.

“It’s gotten worse. People are almost in a panic mode in Northwest. They have taken over large chunks of preserved open space,” Mr. Lupoletti said of the motorized drivers.

Acknowledging that the town police were stretched thin with their many other duties, Mr. Lupoletti suggested the town follow strategies devised by the Central Pine Barrens Commission’s law enforcement arm. He said that 102 “stings” in the barrens over the past three years had resulted in the impounding of over 700 motorized vehicles.

“The town has spent millions of dollars preserving land,” he said. “This investment is going down the drain if you allow this to continue.” Mr. Lupoletti said the trail society hosted 150 hikes per year that brought 3,000 people “to this great community,” which the trail blazer went on to describe as “a model of how to protect land. You have done a great job, but the trails are becoming a stepchild.”

Supervisor Bill McGintee bridled at the suggestion that the police department was not responding to complaints about motorized vehicles in the woods. “It is a priority, but a priority among many. Short of creating another agency, the police are stretched.”

This was not a new problem, Mr. McGintee, a policeman for 25 years, said. “Once they see you they turn and run. We’ve never chased them. If you’re looking for a lawsuit, that’s the way. Parents condone what they’re doing. They buy them the A.T.V.s. Most are kids. The law is completely different for people under 16. . . We can only respond with the resources we have,” Mr. McGintee said.

Councilwoman Julia Prince, liaison to the trails preservation society, agreed with the supervisor that the town did not have the resources to patrol the 200 miles of trails within the town’s borders in the way the Pine Barrens were patrolled.

“You are justifying not doing anything. You have to find the will,” said Gene Makl, vice president of trails planning for the society. “You need two patrolmen one Sunday per month.” Mr. Lupoletti suggested that making an example of a few lawbreakers would go a long way toward discouraging the practice.

Andrew Walsh, representing the mountain biking group, Spokes People, said he had made a “private study” and had come upon a solution. “I’ve talked to these people. They’re not bad people. They feel they have the right.”

Mr. Walsh said that by intercepting the drivers of the motorized vehicles when they enter the trails they’re banned from, “you can reduce the problem without sending police on A.T.V.s into the woods.”

Board members agreed to meet with representatives of the Pine Barrens task force and others to devise a strategy.

Source: http://www.easthamptonstar.com/dnn/Home/News/TrailsGroup/tabid/8780/Default.aspx

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