SOUNDING (the silent sports) ALARM

SOUNDING (the silent sports) ALARM

capitol hill Hearings Address ORV Damage

Earlier this spring, the off-road vehicle (ORV) problem moved into the national spotlight when a U.S. House of Represent-atives committee held oversight hearings on the issue.

Several speakers illustrated the widespread damage being done and urged lawmakers to protect special places, adopt and implement tough rules for motorized recreation on public lands and swiftly and consistently enforce those rules.

The Senate followed suit on June 5 with its own hearing on off-road vehicle damage to public lands. For the first time in perhaps a decade, members of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee grilled leaders of the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) about why off-road vehicle use is being allowed to damage America's national treasures.

Taking center stage in the discussion was the"travel planning process" a complex analysis and decision-making procedure with the aim of designating appropriate roads and trails.

"The BLM has identified travel management on its lands as"one of the greatest management challenge's it faces," stated committee chairman Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M. “Likewise, the Forest Service has identified unmanaged recreation- including ORV use- as one of the top four threats to the management and health of the National Forest System. Despite these statements, it seems to me that neither agency (the Forest Service or BLM) has been able to successfully manage off-road use."

"Existing rules for managing off-road vehicles are not being enforced" Bingaman added, and the agencies are ignoring unregulated use “with significant consequences for the health of our public lands and communities, and adverse effects on other authorized public land uses"

Forest Service Deputy Chief Joel Holtrop acknowledged that even a few off-road vehicles can have a severe impact.

"The first motor vehicle driving across a particular meadow may not harm the land, but by the time 50 motor vehicles have crossed the same path, a user-created trail will likely be left behind that causes lasting environmental impacts on soil, water quality and wildlife habitat" he said, adding that many user-created routes are inappropriate and may need to be closed.

"Additionally, some visitors report that their ability to enjoy quiet recreation experiences is affected by the noise from motor vehicles"Holtrop said.

Holtrop said the number of people"participating in OHV recreation"{ has grown dramatically. However, he did not cite the 2004 National Visitor Use Monitoring Four Year Report which revealed that even with the explosion in off-roading, visits by thrillcraft users still constitute less than 6 percent of all visits to the national forests. Consequently, a tiny percentage of visitors are using and damaging a grossly disproportionate percentage of the public lands.

CYCLIST killed in Suspect drunken driving crash

Less than a month after completing the Race Across America (RAAM) as a member of Team Badger Bikers, endurance athlete Nancy Sellars, 48, was bicycling near her home in rural Race County, Wisconsin, on June 9 when she was struck and killed by a suspected drunken driver. Fellow cyclist Tom Chopp was also seriously injured in the crash.

The driver, Janell Gehrke of the town of Norway, was arrested shortly after the crash at 6:27 p.m., according to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. She is charged with homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle, hit and run resulting in death, hit and run causing great bodily harm and operating while intoxicated causing injury.

Sellars, a Franklin resident, was a veteran of four Ironman triathlons, 20 marathons and ultramarathons, five American Birkebeiners and at least 25 century rides.

Sellars and seven other cyclists formed a RAAM relay team that set out on June 11 from Oceanside, California, and less than eight days later ended their 3,014-mile trek in Annapolis, Maryland.

Chopp and Sellars' husband, Jimi, were crew members for the team, which raised some $68,650 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, according to the Badger Bikers'website (http://teambadgerbik ers.ning.com).

Teammate Philip Nelson of Green Bay got to know Sellars and Chopp during RAAM. "She was tough as nails as an athlete, both quick to emotion and quick to laugh with her iconic smile,"he wrote in an e-mail to Silent Sports."(Chopp) taught me more about biking during this trip than I had learned in all my previous years. I am sure he is hurting from the loss of Nancy as much or more than he is from his injuries."

Less than 12 hours before the crash the killed Sellars, another bicyclist was struck by a semi. David Brandenburg, 63, of Beaver Dam, later died from his injuries.

Although these deaths are tragic, few bicyclists are killed in crashes with motor vehicles in Wisconsin or nationwide, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reporter and Off The Couch blogger Tom Held pointed out.

In 2007, there were nearly 1,250 vehicle crashes involving bicyclists but only 11 bicyclists died, according to a check of Wisconsin Department of Transportation records by Held. Three of the fatalities resulted from accidents involving drivers under the influence and/or in possession of illegal drugs.

"Nationally, 773 bicyclists were killed in crashes in 2006, down slightly from 786 in 2005"Held wrote, citing the League of American Cyclists.

Smokey Bear ad targeting ATVers pulled under pressure

Earlier this week, the motorized recreation industry successfully pressured the U.S. Forest Service into dropping a public service announcement. The ad featured Smokey Bear warning ATVers not to start their machines in national forests.

"ATVs give off sparks. You could start a wildfire," Smokey tells them. As the young men apologize and push their vehicles away, a narrator warns that nine out of 10 wildfires are caused by humans.

Calling the ad"misleading and unfair"the BlueRibbon Coalition, an Idaho-based group that advocates for ever more motorized access to public lands, demanded that the USFS pull the ad and apologize for its release.

"Smokey Bear is inappropriately telling members of the motorized trail community that the best way for them to prevent wildfires is to just stay home," BRC representative Don Amador said, according to news reports.

The BRC's complaints were widely reported on Tuesday. By today, the 30-second spot, produced by the Ad Council, was no longer available for viewing on the U.S. Forest Service website or YouTube.

In an e-mail to Silent Sports, USFS spokeswoman Allison Steward wrote,"It appears that the Ad Council's 'ATV' PSA has not resonated with a target audience of key recreational users of the National Forest System and the Ad Council has requested that media companies discontinue airing the PSA"

The campaign against the PSA included videos critical of it, including one that melodramatically depicts a mountain biker confronting ATVers before the biker lights up a cigarette and carelessly discards her lit match.

That video and the BRC argue that ATVs equipped with USFS-approved spark arresters do not start fires.

AMERY-DRESSER TRAIL TO OPEN TO FOOT TRAFFIC

After years of legal wrangling over whether ATVers would be allowed on the Amery to Dresser rail-trail in northwest Wisconsin, the DNR was poised this month to contract with Polk County to open the trail to foot traffic only.

Brook Waalen, leader of Friends of the Lincoln-Osceola-Garfield Greenway (LOGG), told supporters in a recent e-mail, "I believe that the DNR fully accepts the future of this trail as a nonmotorized greenway and is making a good-faith effort to get this trail open as soon as bureaucratically possible"

Waalen said he hopes bicyclists will also be allowed on the 13-mile trail soon.

Waalen has expressed doubt, however, that Polk County is the DNR's best partner for overseeing development and maintenance of the nonmotorized trail. Last month he informed the Wisconsin Natural Resources Board that a committee of the county board had voted not to support the use of county money or staff time on the trail.

Waalen contends that the committee's recalcitrance and the current prohibition on bicycles stems from disappointment, on the part of some county officials, that ATVs won't be allowed on the trail.

The 13-mile trail was the subject of two lawsuits filed by LOGG against the DNR. The first was settled in 2006 when the DNR reversed a decision not to study the environmental impact of ATVs on the trail.

The second lawsuit resulted in a Polk County judge ruling last January, that the DNR is precluded from allowing ATVs (or, for that matter, snowmobiles) on the state trail.

State law directs the DNR to "designate a system of state trails as part of the state park system for use by equestrians, bicyclists, riders of electric personal assistive mobility devices, cross-country skiers or hikers"

The ruling has not been appealed by the DNR. But department officials are expected to ask lawmakers to add ATVs and snowmobiles to that list of permitted uses of state trails.

U.S. Mayors ADOPT Bicycling Resolution

In late June, the U.S. Conference of Mayors adopted a resolution to more fully integrate bicycling into the nation's transportation, climate, energy and health policy initiatives.

The resolution was submitted by Normal, Illinois, Mayor Chris Koos and co-sponsored by mayors R.T. Rybak of Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Al Larson of Schaumberg, Illinois, among others from around the country. It is similar to a resolution recently passed by the U.S. House of Representatives.

The mayors' resolution notes that"more than 200 cities throughout the U.S., representing more than 35 million people, have committed to implementing bicycle friendly action plans"

The U.S. could save 462 million gallons of gasoline a year if Americans increased by just half a percentage point the number of trips they make by bicycle, according to the resolution.

Individual bicycle commuters save an average of $1,825 in auto-related costs annually. Nationwide, $77 billion in yearly medical costs could be saved if all physically inactive Americans became active, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates.

The mayors' resolution urges Congress"in the next federal transportation reauthorization, to establish policies and funding mechanisms that will aim to reduce the number of motor vehicle miles traveled."

Read the entire resolution at www.us mayors.org.

Ill. bike advocates press for transportation HELP

Illinois bicycling advocates urged their state legislators on July 8 to invest in transportation options that give Illinois residents relief from record high gas prices.

Representatives of the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation, the Transit Riders' Alliance and the Illinois Public Interest Research Group sought greater emphasis in the state capital bill on reducing congestion by reducing overall vehicle miles traveled in cars and increasing travel by walking, biking and mass transit.

The advocates criticized the $25 billion capital bill proposed by the governor for falling to cover the cost of current services and facilities and not expanding transit service and bicycle and pedestrian facilities"If this type of dismal transit funding continues, we can expect nothing less than severe decrease in air quality, choked roadways and more Illinois residents trapped in their cars, spending a frightening amount of money on transportation," said Rob Sadowsky, executive director of the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation.

The groups argued that"active transportation options"-transit, biking and walking -offer a solution to many of the crises Illinois residents face: increased spending on gas, high rates of obesity, low air quality and clogged roadways.

GANDY DANCER STUDY LOOKS AT USER CONFLICTS

Understanding conflict between motorized and nonmotorized trail users is the thrust of a just released economic impact study of the Gandy Dancer State Trail through western Wisconsin's Polk and Burnett counties. The report, titled Trails and their Local Community Context, examines user compatibility on the southern half of the trail.

The report is the work of University of Wisconsin-Madison Extension resear-chers and Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources personnel.

The southern 47 miles of the Gandy Dancer trail was selected as a case study because it is open to nonmotorized use as well as winter snowmobiling, which can be said of 70 percent of the Wisconsin State Trail System. The northern 51 miles of the trail, on which ATVs are allowed, was not a focus of the study.

While the Gandy Dancer Trail Commission supports opening the southern portion of the trail to winter ATV use, the report says expanded ATV use "was a primary concern of all" silent sports users.

The report summarizes feedback from hundreds of trail user interviews, mailed surveys and a handful of focus group discussions between October 2006 and November 2007 - a period during which 46,460 people were estimated to have used the trail. The majority of users were biking, hiking, camping, fishing and swimming in the area, the report states.

The average Gandy Dancer trail user reported spending $117.54 at local businesses per trip, mostly on  recreational equipment, food and gas. The report characterizes the $3.3 million economic impact of the Gandy Dancer trail -" and the more than 100 jobs created by the trail's presence - as "relatively modest."

Many users expressed disappointment that the communities along the trail "have not embraced it" with development, amenities, marketing and enforcement of trail rules.

Ninety percent of Wisconsin's 1,800 miles of state-owned trails are open to both motorized and nonmotorized use. the authors point out.

"To be sure, much trail mileage is segregated seasonally. Given sufficient snow, snowobile use is allowed on about 70 percent," the report states. "Importantly, just over 3 percent of state trail mileage is designated as strictly nonmotorized. These figures are important because of an increasing interest in recreational use interaction and the potential for competitive and antagonistic use interactions between motorized and nonmotorized users."

NPS SETTLES SUIT, AGREES TO POLICE ORVS BETTER

The National Park Service (NPS) has setttled a lawsuit brought by the Bluewater Network, a coalition of conservation groups, by agreeing to better address damage caused by off-road vehicles (ORVs) at 10 national parks.

The parks in the pilot project include Wisconsin's St. Croix National Scenic Riverway and Michigan's Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.

Although the settlement of the 2005 lawsuit doesn't provide NPS with more money or staffing to do the job, it mandates more public outreach, education, and enforcement over the next three years. The agreement also calls for the NPS to work with the courts to increase fines and penalties for illegal ORV use.

Over the past seven years, 363 incidents of illegal ORV use were documented at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, chief ranger Larry Johnson told The Grand Rapids Press.

"Sometimes it's just a pair of tire tracks in a field, but we have had (ORV riders) rip up boat launch areas, steps, trees and posts," Johnson said.

Although 19 other national parks reported more ORV damage, Sleeping Bear was selected as one of the 10 pilot parks.

Tom Ulrich, assistant superintendent of Sleeping Bear Dunes, said people who are caught driving off-road are issued a $250 ticket, payable through a federal magistrate in Grand Rapids, according to The Leelanau Enterprise.

"We're still waiting to hear exactly how this court settlement will be implemented," Ulrich told the newspaper. "But we're expecting it will include a requirement for us to do some visitor education and public outreach on the subject and, perhaps, step up our enforcement efforts."

BLACK RIVER STATE FOREST CLOSES ATV TRAIL SECTIONS

Due to excessive standing water, heavy rutting and off-trail damage to wetlands, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources in late May temporarily closed 14 miles of the Black River State Forest ATV trail system in west central Wisconsin.

A wet spring and heavy use of the trails by ATVs produced deeply rutted areas filled with water. (This occurred weeks before significant rainfall led to flooding across the Midwest in early June.)

A significant number of ATV riders drove off trail and damaged wetlands within the Black River State Forest. Because repairs will require permits  from the Army Corps of Engineers, the work isn't expected to be done this year, forest superintendent Peter Bakken said in a letter to Black River Area Chamber of Commerce members, according to The Jackson County Chronicle.

The ATV trails in the Black River State Forest were under scrutiny before the partial closure. Since ATV traffic has eroded trails and degraded water quality, the DNR proposed in March to reroute and abandon several sections of motorized trail. A draft plan suggested rerouting some of the trail onto county and town roads, which Jackson County opposes.

The DNR will further detail its proposals in a new 15-year management plan currently being drafted.

SUPERIOR NAT'L FOREST PLAN FAVORS ORVS

More ORV riding through Superior National Forest in northeast Minnesota would result from the preferred plan Forest Service officials released in June.

Accepting public comments on the plan until early this month, the Forest Service expected to finalize ORV route regulations late this summer.

The preferred plan would increase  ORV trails and routes from 1,573 miles to 1,603 miles in part by opening  174 miles of forest roads to ORVs that currently are closed and building 2.5 miles of new trail. The plan would also add 300 miles of loops for ORV riding on existing routes that connect with state or county roads.

Under the proposal, according to The Duluth News Tribune, the total number of ORV trails longer than 10 miles would double to a total of 1,154 miles.

The plan also would close 71 miles of forest roads currently open to ORV travel and decommission another 157 miles of temporary roads.

Matt Norton, forestry advocate for the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy, told the newspaper the Forest Service did a good job laying out the plan but that some specific routes will conflict with environmentally sensitive areas and with other people recreating in the forest.

Maps of the preferred plan can be viewed at  www.fs.fed .us/r9/superior.

MINN. ATV PARADE FALLS SHORTS OF RECORD

The number of ATVers gathered in Silver Bay, Minnesota, on June 14 fell 55 ATVs short of breaking the record for longest ATV parade (1,138 ATVs).

Amount of fuel and time wasted in the attempt? Lots.