ATV access to state lands debated

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) -- Vermont's Agency of Natural Resources has drafted new rules that would allow all-terrain vehicle users limited access to trails on state lands, and some environmentalists are upset about it.

A public hearing on the proposed rule has been set for 7 p.m. June 15 at the Pavilion Auditorium in Montpelier.

Warren Coleman, the agency's top lawyer, said Friday the process was kicked off when the Vermont All-Terrain Vehicle Sportsman's Association, or VASA, asked for permission to use ATVs on an existing trail through a state wildlife management area in Essex County.

"We determined that we needed to develop a rule which lays out the process for the secretary to consider designating a connector trail on state land," Coleman said.

But environmental groups including the Conservation Law Foundation and the Center for Biodiversity object to opening state lands to ATVs - even on a limited basis.

"They're loud, they're stinky. If you're hiking, walking along, they interfere, and they're scary," said Mollie Matteson, conservation advocate with the Center For Biological Diversity's Northeast office in Richmond. "For all those reasons we felt the public lands were not an appropriate place" for ATVs, she said.

She and Anthony Iarrapino, an attorney with the Conservation Law Foundation, said they worry about erosion caused by the machines, destruction of wildlife habitat, air quality and other issues.

Iarrapino said natural areas around Hancock Lake in Woodford had been severely damaged after ATVs were allowed on town roads and riders ventured from there onto Green Mountain National Forest property.

Coleman said the change would be limited in scope. He said ATVs would be allowed to use trails through state lands only in places where they connect existing trail networks on private lands. The rules would allow the agency secretary to study each request for a trail section individually, he said.

Danny Hale, executive director of VASA, agreed the impact would be small but added that there are plenty of examples of places where the state might open connecting trails for ATVs.

Hale said he sensed an unwillingness to compromise by the green groups. He supports hiking, bird-watching and other activities favored by environmentalists; they should reciprocate a bit, he said.

"If you ask me how much state land these folks should have access to, I'm going to say 100 percent," Hale said. "If you ask them how much we should have the answer is zero."

Coleman also said the draft rule contains provisions saying the secretary will need to consider impacts on wildlife, sensitive wetland areas and other issues before designating a trail.

Environmentalists and some lawmakers also are complaining about the process under which the rule has been drafted. Both Sen. Virginia Lyons, chairwoman of the Senate Natural Resources and Energy Committee, and Rep. David Deen, chairman of the House Fish, Wildlife and Water Resources Committee, said they had only found out about the rule late this week.

Deen said the rules coming out in draft form meant they had to be in the works during the legislative session, which ended May 9.

"It's not like I haven't seen the secretary or the commissioner (of Forests and Parks) and Warren Coleman a lot," Deen said. "And nobody said anything to me."

Iarrapino complained that, according to the draft rules, VASA was the only group consulted by the department as the rules were being prepared. Both Coleman and Hale said there was no formal contact and said the public would have a chance to weigh in at the public hearing and during a comment period that ends June 22.

Source: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/V/VT_ATV_RULES_VTOL-?SITE=RIPRJ&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

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