How and Why
a Northwoods community blocked its paths to ATVs by Sue Drum 
| ATV riding has caused deep rutting and hastened erosion on public land in the Harrison Hills area of Lincoln County, Wisconsin. ATV riding continues there despite signage
indicating the area is off-limits to off-road vehicles.
|
|
The small town of Presque Isle, population 544, sits on the northwest border of Vilas County with its back to the Upper Peninsula and calls itself "Wisconsin's Last Wilderness."
In July 2003, Presque Isle held an unprecedented referendum for the area. At a special town board meeting, Presque Isle put to a vote of its
residents whether to open town lands and roads to ATV trails. A record number voted 10 to 1 to retain and further restrict an ordinance preventing ATV trails and routes.
 Behind the effort to keep ATVs out was a small group of concerned citizens united in the belief that the natural beauty and ambience of Presque Isle should be conserved for future generations. Flush with
success, they named themselves Northwoods Citizens for Responsible Stewardship (NCRS) with the mission to save the entire county from an ATV invasion.
They held regular strategy meetings, gathered members from other towns by word of mouth and sought advice from experienced scientists at Ecologically Concerned Citizens of the Lakeland Area (ECCOLA), another northwoods conservation group.
Vilas County is the only northwoods county without ATV trails on
public lands. ATV clubs and alliances along with ATV insurance carriers and ATV manufacturers were using their combined influence, money and power to establish corridors connecting Vilas County to neighboring counties and the U.P.
NCRS membership grew and residents became more vocal, making telephone calls to Vilas County board supervisors, and writing letters to them, the governor, superintendents of local forests, state legislators, the
DNR secretary and the state tourism office. Letter to the editor columns in the two local papers were filled with arguments pro and con.
The controversy prompted packed county board meetings calling for ça countywide referendum on ATVs, which was drafted for the February 17, 2003, primary election. The ballot issued read, "Do you favor allowing the operation of all-terrain vehicles on county-owned and county forest lands in Vilas County?" It was a nonbinding referendum,
giving the county supervisors the final decision. Thus began the battle to protect Vilas County lands.
Mary Jo Berner, CEO for Eagle River radio stations WRJO FM and WERL AM, arranged a monthly series of one-hour radio debates between pro-ATV and anti-ATV trail advocates. Each guest was allowed to open with a brief statement of their views, then took questions from call-in listeners.
After an hour of lively discussion, a lull suddenly occurred. What was
left to say? What hadn't been said?
Clash of life concepts
Gathered in one room, around one issue, two time-worn concepts had once again clashed: anthropocentrism, a concept which assumes that the land belongs to us and exists solely for huuman use and economic gain, versus biocentrism, which suggests we belong to the land and all living organisms have a right to exist even if they are not useful to humans.
Many of those who feel humans are in charge of the land take the
utilitarian view that a resource, such as a forest, should be used for the greatest good for the greatest number of people for the longest time. Responsible stewardship, on the other hand, implies that man is a part of nature and must work within her ecological limits to ensure the orderly preservation of both.
Allowing an unlimited number of ATV riders on public lands is not good stewardship or even good utilitarian practice. The multiple-use doctrine
that underlies state and national forest management plans acknowledges that resources should be saved for future generations. ATV recreation accelerates the loss of resources for future generations.
The ATV machine is a technological marvel. Up to 900 pounds, four large knoúbby tires and a noisy four-stroke engine can propel a rider 70 mph. It is an artificial thing that belongs on an artificial racetrack, not in a living forest especially in those seasons spring, summer and fall when
plants and animals are awakening, reproducing and rearing their young.
Even when responsible riders stay on sanctioned trails, ATVs damage the ecosystem. When riders cut their own trails through delicate forest understory, across streams and along lakeshores, they slice apart the integrity of the entire biocommunity.
To ride a machine that can go anywhere is the ultimate thrill and offers the ultimate sense of freedom. ATV riders pour into the northwoods to
escape the rules and regulations of crowded cities and suburbs. They come to take back a feeling of control. Away from critical eyes, they assault the land. As people straddle these powerful machines, unrestricted access seems not only possible but a right.
Saving the commons
Wisconsin's northwoods has lonùg been a popular tourist destination. Every year 2 million people are drawn to the Northern Highland American Legion State Forest, which alone covers 150,220 acres in
Vilas County. Many more people, be they local residents or tourists, use county and town parks as well as the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest. They come to Vilas County without ATVs since these machines are not allowed.
They come to breathe in the scent of forests and lakes, to get glimpses of wild animals, to watch sunsets, to taste wild berries and fresh-caught fish, to cool themselves in clean lakes and listen for loons. Some come
to feel the wind twirl their hair on a bicycle trail or to explore some of the 1,300 lakes or 73 rivers in Vilas County that offer wilderness paddling and camping. They come in large numbers to relax and reconnect to the land.
Public lands are a "commons" that everyone is entitled to use. Forty-five percent of Vilas County is public land that's 248,389 acres but a finite number with a growing number of users. To save the commons we must
give top priority to the needs of its biotic community. To maximize the number of people who can absorb its beauty and serenity we must minimize destructive use. Exceed the ecological limits of the land and lose the core values that attract people to settle and vacation in Vilas County. Limits and rules are necessary to avoid destruction of the commons.
The Vilas County economy and quality of life for its residents are intertwined with the land. Small business shops are built at the forest
edge. Families run them, for the most part, and many have been handed down through several generations. There is a large colony of artists that sell fine weaving, pottery, woodcarvings and rustic furniture. Talented writers, photographers, painters and musicians passionately record their love for the land. It is difficult to live here and not form a land ethic.
E.O. Wilson calls it "biophilia." In our minds, ouïr imagination, our dreams and our genes, we are drawn to nature.
Spending vs. costs
The northwoods is not a place to get rich. But some Vilas County residents argue that ATV riding tourists outspend cross-country skiers, bicyclists, hikers and campers the so-called "granola group."
Offering evidence to the contrary, Rutabaga, a large canoe and kayak dealer in Madison, Wisconsin, sponsors Canoecopia. Over 20,000 people attended the three-day event last March, spending tens of thousands of dollars on outdoor gear.
Lectures by outdoor experts were scheduled daily. It was there that John Bates, a well-known author and biologist from Manitowish, gave two talks on paddling undeveloped lakes in Wisconsin's northwoods. Both talks drew standing room only crowds of more than 300 people. John outdrew five other speakers talking at the same time about paddling exotic, distant places like Belize or the Swedish Fjords. Rather than to his magnetic personality, Bates said he ífeels Midwesterners are
strongly attracted to quiet northern lakes.
There's no doubt that ATV owners spend significant amounts on their chosen activity, too. The cost to the public is even higher. The demands on law enforcement to keep these machines on legal trails cost more than any police force or DNR budget can afford.
After all, ATV riders who leave sanctioned trails are impossible to catch. The registration numbers on the machines are too small to read as
they fly by, and the goggles and helmets worn by their drivers make identification impossible. Self-regulation in the form of trail ambassadors has also failed to prevent severe off-road damage.
Astronomical is the cost of trail maintenance and repair of town and county road right of ways and ditches. Then there's the cost of damage to private property and the cost of ambulance and EMT service for emergency backwoods rescues.
But the greatest cost comes in losing one's sense of community and regard for the ô land as anything but just another commodity. What is bad for the land cannot be good for the economy.
On a day boasting the largest voter turnout in Vilas County history (8,657 out of 15,000 registered voters), the people on February 17, 2004, voted 63 percent to 37 percent to ban ATVs on county land. On March 18, 2004, the Vilas County board unanimously passed a
resolution to uphold their current ordinance banning ATVs on county land.
This leaves 150,220 acres of state land, 53,585 acres of national forest and 3,394 acres of town land still vulnerable.
Charles Rayala, chairman of the Vilas County board, says the development of ATV trails is inevitable. Rayala feels the county can't say "no" to 37 percent of the voters.
But this leaves a large and growing number of people who do not need a
motor to enjoy public land. And their way of life is under attack. A man's home, his cabin retreat, his special fishing hole, his choice hunting land are no longer sacred.
Technololgy spawns ever more powerful machines so rapidly that wild ecosystems are uprooted before conservationists can collect their wits and regain control. Exploring the landscape at super-human speed, we don't have time to contemplate our place in the world. At high speed
there is no future, let alone the American Indian concept of saving the land for seven generations.
For many reasons the people of Vilas County love their land and are fighting to save it from ATVs. But the threat never ends. Even 5,555 miles of trail in Wisconsin does not satisfy ATV riders.
Come visit Vilas County while it is still a stronghold for the enjoyment of silent sports. If you can help us, write Wisconsin legislators and ask
them to save one northwoods county for the silent sport user the county with the most wilderness to lose.
Sue Drum and her husband, Alan, moved to Presque Isle in February 2003 from Berlin, Wisconsin. A veterinarian, Drum joined the group organized to stop ATV clubs from mapping corridors through Vilas County land and later became secretary for Northwoods Citizens for Responsible Stewardship.
For more information, e-mail her at drumsa@centurytel.net. Also, check out the Web sites for Northwoods Citizens for Responsible Stewardship (www.ncrs.info) and Ecologically Concerned Citizens of
the Lakeland Area (www.eccola.org).
| |
