Small Cabin

Myths about Off Highway Vehicle Use

Science offers counterpoint to the OHV controversy | lethbridgenewsNOW


“...
"Just to give you an example," said Fitch, "there was a time when our watersheds were less impacted and even though it rained, streams ran clear - now, every time it rains, they turn muddy, and we now take it as normal that when it rains, they turn muddy - it is not normal - this is a shifting benchmark."
...

Fitch noted that there have been several groups in the Oldman Watershed that have been busy trying to restore stream banks by planting willows along the stream banks, to get the vegetative root mass back, to thwart erosion.

"However, in virtually every case that I have seen, off-highway vehicle operators have driven over and destroyed all, or part, of that planting effort."

The destruction doesn't end there. Bridges have been built over streams and rivers, to keep OHV riders from crossing directly through the water. However, during the group's presentation, it was shown that the bridges were frequently unused, as OHV riders would tear through the streams within feet of function bridges. When boulders were placed in the path to keep OHVers out of the river, they would go to great lengths to remove the boulders from the path - again, right beside a bridge.

Fitch also explains that each one of the OHV roads or trails is bare soil waiting for some invasive plant species to become established and those invasive species complete with native plants and reduce biodiversity.

"I don't want to make this into some culture war between the off-highway vehicle community and the environmental community but I think the off-highway community has to get over their perceptual blindness about the damage that occurs with their recreational activity - I think they have to display a stewardship ethic and one of the ways of developing the stewardship ethic would be to accept restrictions on their use, to acknowledge that they shouldn't drive on trails that are wet, to avoid streams and rivers, and to be self-policing, as the hunting community has done for years, very successfully."

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https://lethbridgenewsnow.com/article/547733/science-offers-counterpoint-ohv-controve rsy

https://lethbridgenewsnow.com/article/547733/science-offers-counterpoint-ohv-controve rsy

Stoney Creek farmer struggles with ATV trespassers | CBC News



Shaw is scheduled to make a presentation to Hamilton city councillors next month asking them to help him control the numerous ATV riders he says are causing havoc on his property.

They leave beer cans, he told CBC Hamilton. Last year, they appeared to cut down wood and build a bonfire. Someone else started a bonfire on his farm earlier this year.

"They go through our fields," he said. "They destroy everything. What we were hoping to use as a horse trail has been all but destroyed."

Shaw's problem isn't a new one in Hamilton's rural areas, but to him, it's particularly intense. Police have come out to his property "hundreds of times," he said. But the problem just keeps getting worse. ...”

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/atv-problems-1.4141675

"Just to give you an example," said Fitch, "there was a time when our watersheds were less impacted and even though it rained, streams ran clear - now, every time it rains, they turn muddy, and we now take it as normal that when it rains, they turn muddy - it is not normal - this is a shifting benchmark."

I do not know what the equitable answer is.. I would like to turn the earth's population back to what it was in the 1960's. It was about 3 billion then; now approaching 8 billion IIRC.

Additionally, I suspect that if a spot then turns into a mud filled mess, riders then move on to an untouched pristine clear water pool or creek to avoid getting completely stuck and drenched in mud themselves.

That happens quite often. Also in places ohv trails become 'braided'. That is where irresponsible users leave the established trail and weave in n out of the tress, brush, whatever. Soon there is a braid of intertwined paths that kills grass and leads to more erosion. Several places in the four corners area of the southwest usa have had that happen.