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Sounding (the silent sports) Alarm [7.07] CAUGHT ON CAMERA BY DNR, ROGUE ATV'ER FINED A district judge recently found a man guilty of illegally operating an ATV in a state wildlife management area (WMA) in northwestern Minnesota. With cameras installed where illegal cross-county ATV travel was occurring in three WMAs in Kittson and Marshall counties, DNR officials filmed Richard M. Bailey, 66, of Mound, Minnesota, on two separate occasions illegally operating an ATV in the Beaches Lake Wildlife Manage-ment Area near Karlstad. "Last summer, DNR used a number of cameras in various wildlife management areas to detect illegal ATV activity," state conservation officer Pat Znajda of Karlstad said. "The deployed cameras were checked on a regular basis, pictures downloaded and digital evidence was gathered." One of the individuals participating in the illegal ATV travel showed up a couple on film. After Znajda went through a lengthy process to identify the individual, Bailey was charged last November with two counts of illegal ATV use in a WMA in June and August 2006. Bailey pled not guilty, citing entrapment, invasion of privacy and use of the camera unconstitutional. On April 20, Kittson County District Court Judge Donna Dixon ruled otherwise, finding Bailey guilty on both counts. Bailey was ordered to pay $364 in fines and fees. "While the court decision does not make case law, it will definitely allow us to use one more tool to detect illegal activity in a wildlife management area," Znajda said. REPORT OFFERS 6 WAYS TO DEAL WITH OFF-ROAD ABUSE Motorized vehicle abuse has been called one of the biggest problems facing public lands but many solutions are within reach, a new report says. In late May, public interest groups released the report to promote successful strategies for enforcing the law on public lands to stop off-road vehicle abuse. Five case studies illustrate how authorities have combined six strategies to protect safety, recreation opportunities, wildlife habitat, water quality, and private property. "Everyone has a right to access our public lands, but no one has the right to abuse these lands or ruin the experience of others enjoying America's great outdoors," said Jason Kiely of Wildlands CPR, the Montana-based group which commissioned the report. "Fair and effective law enforcement helps everyone who values public land, whether you ride a machine, mount a horse or rely on your own two feet." The U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management have struggled to prevent environmental damage, conflicts, and even violence sometimes associated with ATVs, dirt bikes, and other powerful off-road vehicles. Former Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth called unmanaged motorized recreation one of the greatest threats to public land. The report, "Six Strategies for Success: Effective Enforcement of Off-Road Vehicle Use on Public Lands," explores what can be done to solve this problem in these times of limited resources and tight budgets. The six strategies include increasing law enforcement, creating enforceable off-road vehicle routes and regulations, involving the public in reporting abuse, encouraging responsible off-road riding, using technology (electronic monitoring and decibel level recorders), and increasing the penalties for law breakers. Read the full report and related materials at www.wildlandscpr.org/Re ports/EnforcementReport.html. The report is based on more than 50 interviews with public land managers, law enforcement officials, and community leaders, landowners and volunteers. Joe Gallagher, Acting OHV Program Manager for the Forest Service called the report "thoughtful and insightful" and is concerned that funding is not adequately prioritized to enable the use of many of the strategies detailed in the report. In most cases, public lands agencies are overwhelmed by enforcement challenges. Lawbreakers too often scar the land, muddy streams and wetlands, damage habitat and create conflicts with law-abiding forest visitors. In the worst cases, these conflicts have erupted into violence and injury. Wildlands CPR is a Missoula-based conservation group that protects and revives clean water and wildlife habitat threatened by abusive motorized recreation. MIDWEST OHV GROUPS ORGANIZING COALITIONS Growing opposition to unchecked ATV riding on public lands in Minnesota and Wisconsin has prompted the ATV associations of both states to join forces and try to organize a national ATV alliance with other state groups. Members of the ATV Association of Minnesota (ATVAM) and the Wisconsin ATV Association held a joint summit last January "to discuss the opportunities regarding an alliance due to anti-access (sic) involvement in both states," according to the April/May issue of Minnesota Offroad, ATVAM's newsletter. Subsequently, the members of the two groups met again in early May in Sauk Center, Minnesota, to discuss the formation of a national network of ATV organizations with the goal of "significantly improving the climate of the ATV community and generating increased ATV opportunities." Although the newsletter reports that the ATV groups want to avoid "reinventing the wheel," already in existence is the Blue Ribbon Coalition and the National Off Highway Vehicle Conservation Council (NOHVCC), which has been organizing "route designation workshops" across the country. The workshops emphasize support for "designating sustainable route systems." But according to Wildlands CPR (staff of which attended a NOHVCC workshop Missoula, Montana, in late April), those in attendance expressed "minimal consideration for protecting wildlife, natural resources and other users' rights to enjoy public lands." NOHVCC is involved at the state level, too. NOHVCC co-sponsored a one-day "unity meeting" on May 19 in Portage, Wisconsin, which brought together the Wisconsin Four-Wheel-Drive Association, Wisconsin Off-Highway Vehicle Assoc-iation, Wisconsin Observed Trials Assoc-iation and American Motorcyclist Assoc-iation. That meeting followed a Wisconsin OHV Organizational Development Work-shop conducted on April 14, also in Portage. High on the agenda of these groups is the establishment of a state-owned OHV Park in northeast Forest County, possibly in the Crandon area, at the expense of taxpayers and the environment. JOINT FINANCE VOTES TO RENEW STEWARDSHIP FUND With the support of many silent sports enthusiasts, Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle's proposal to renew and strengthen the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Fund made it through the Joint Finance Committee on June 8. Since 1989, the Stewardship Fund has helped save more than 475,000 acres of the state's most beautiful scenery and pristine lands and waters for public enjoyment. Now the fund is a step closer to reauthorization – much needed due to rising land values and timber companies looking to sell large tracts of land. The committee defeated proposals to freeze the Stewardship Fund at $60 million a year and allow the program to sunset in 2010. Doyle's plan would increase the size of the program to $105 million a year, starting in 2011. With principal and interest, the program would cost $1.6 billion over 10 years, according to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. To join the campaign to reauthorize the Stewardship Fund, go to www.gatheringwaters.org.
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