ATVs prohibited at Center Hill Lake

Written by Herald-Citizen

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Megan Trotter

LANCASTER -- Off-road vehicles, such as four-wheelers, are wreaking havoc on the public lands surrounding Center Hill Lake. These vehicles are primarily used by hunters, recreationalists and trail riders to travel into backcountry where no roads exist, or to aid with farm work. However, at Center Hill Lake these machines are destroying fragile vegetation and causing erosion and silt runoff into the lake. The noise they produce also disturbs wildlife and other visitors to the lake.

"Owners and operators of ATVs (All-Terrain Vehicles) need to be aware that there are no authorized ATV trails at Center Hill lake and the use of these vehicles is prohibited on all public lands surrounding the lake," said Tim Dunn, resource manager of Center Hill Lake.

Dunn has seen an increase in visitors with these vehicles lately and believes it is due to the low water levels at the lake. Keeping the lake low because of seepage problems at the dam has exposed a great deal of shoreline that appears suitable for off-road vehicle use. However when vehicles travel over this land, the result is significant environmental damage.

New signs have been put up around the lake, reminding visitors of the prohibition, and rangers have tried to barricade off certain tracts of land that might tempt off-road vehicle users.

According to Dunn, those found with off-road vehicles on public Center Hill Lake property could be punished with fines up to $5,000 or even six months imprisonment. He and the park rangers have started giving written warnings to those in violation this summer, but will eventually progress to issuing fines.

"Although we've issued a few citations, we've mainly focused on education so far," said Dunn. "Hopefully that will be effective."

The staff at Center Hill Lake hopes that the public will pass on this information to family, friends and other off-road vehicle users to both keep them from being fined and to help insure the preservation of our natural resources.

Source: http://www.herald-citizen.com/index.cfm?event=news.view&id=A56F8456-19B9-E2E2-6760DC75CAD8698D

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“Farmers as a group rarely tend to want more government regulation. But the growing problem of trespassing caused by illegal riders spurred our membership into action to pass common-sense visible identification and ORV enforcement measures. We are proud that we were able to work with rider groups to find a solution that all sides could agree to.”

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