With all due respect Old River, I think it's fair to say that you may have chosen the wrong forum to stick up for ATV use in the Adirondacks.
I understand where you're coming from, but I disagree.
Last edited by Justin; 03-13-2013, 07:46 PM.
Reason: correction
ATV's don't kill the environment;People kill the environment.
Old Lakota Proverb:
"It takes people longer to kill the environment without an ATV"
"If future generations are to remember us with gratitude rather than contempt, we must leave them more than the miracles of technology. We must leave them a glimpse of the world as it was in the beginning, not just after we got through with it." Lyndon B. Johnson
In planning some trips down south, I found this interesting tidbit in a hiking guidebook for the Monongahela National Forest:
A 1990 survey by the Michigan Association of Conservation Districts estimated that the cost of restoring Michigan land damaged by off-road vehicles would be $1.2 billion.
I did some searching, but unfortunately, I wasn't able to find a copy of this study. What would be especially interesting would be comparing this number to the estimated cost of repairing damage from hikers.
In planning some trips down south, I found this interesting tidbit in a hiking guidebook for the Monongahela National Forest:
I did some searching, but unfortunately, I wasn't able to find a copy of this study. What would be especially interesting would be comparing this number to the estimated cost of repairing damage from hikers.
I believe Michigan also has many miles of designated ORV trails
So much for if you build ORV trails they will stay on them and not ride where they are not supposed to
I believe Michigan also has many miles of designated ORV trails
So much for if you build ORV trails they will stay on them and not ride where they are not supposed to
One of the ironies about the environmental debate concerning ATV use vs. hiker use is that there are some things from an impact standpoint that ATV users are much better at doing than hikers are. For example, when a hiking trail passes through a muddy area, hikers instinctively tend to move to the edge of the trail, to hike on drier land. As a result, wear and tear on the trail surface causes the muddy spot to expand outwards over time (this is why hikers are encouraged to stick to the center of the trail, no matter how wet and muddy it gets).
In contrast, on an ATV trail, you generally don't see the same thing happening where the trail passes through muddy spots. ATV users don't instinctively spread out like hikers do, so ATV trails often tend to remain the same width, regardless of how bad the mud and water gets.
Of course, the impact from a single ATV is likely to be a heck of a lot higher than the impact from a single hiker- so even without spreading out, ATV trails are likely going to be a lot more impacted than hiking trails.
In contrast, on an ATV trail, you generally don't see the same thing happening where the trail passes through muddy spots. ATV users don't instinctively spread out like hikers do, so ATV trails often tend to remain the same width, regardless of how bad the mud and water gets.
This has not been my observation. There are plenty of sites throughout the western Adirondacks where ATV riders have created new detours to bypass the sections they have rendered impassable.
This has not been my observation. There are plenty of sites throughout the western Adirondacks where ATV riders have created new detours to bypass the sections they have rendered impassible.
I concur, why get off and move a tree limb when it is so much easier to ride around it? It is only natural.
"A culture is no better than its woods." W.H. Auden
Seems to me that some people have difficulty in comprehending why the first four letters in wilderness spells "WILD".
I seriously think that people who use motorized means to explore the wilderness have no idea of the satisfaction that comes from reaching a remote area by the use of ones own labor. And for those of us that do, we don't deserve to have those moments interrupted by the roar or the whine of a motorized vehicle nor the pungent smell of gasoline fumes.
"If future generations are to remember us with gratitude rather than contempt, we must leave them more than the miracles of technology. We must leave them a glimpse of the world as it was in the beginning, not just after we got through with it." Lyndon B. Johnson
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