Ohio: Off-Road Vehicles Damage Ecology
12/20/99
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Title: Off-road vehicles damage ecology
Source: The Associated Press
Status: Copyright 1999, contact source for permission to reprint
Date: December 20, 1999
LOGAN: Off-road vehicles in restricted areas of national forests,
including Wayne National Forest in southeast Ohio, are damaging the
ecology, environmental advocates say.
Citing Wayne as a national case study in off-road vehicle use, the
Wilderness Society and a coalition of other environmental groups
petitioned the U.S. Forest Service last week to ban or further
restrict off-road vehicles in the national forests.
The groups say the vehicles kill plants, harass visitors and animals,
pollute the air, and tear up the forest floor, causing erosion in
steep terrain.
The Forest Service has set aside about 36,000 acres scattered through
12 Ohio counties for motorized recreation. But environmental
advocates say drivers don't stick to trails designated for off-
roading.
Last year, Forest Service officers ticketed 51 people for riding
without a permit and issued 76 warnings. About 150 were cited for
riding off the trails. Off-road trails at Wayne closed for the winter
last Wednesday.
``People use the trails as a springboard to the rest of the back
country,'' said Bob Ekey, a spokesman for the Wilderness Society.
``User-created trails are a serious problem throughout the West and
the Midwest.''
Off-roader Tom Cowher says he wants the Forest Service to live up to
its promise to establish more trails for motorized recreation.
``Nobody in the ORV community expects us to be allowed everywhere.
All we're asking for is that it be recognized as a legitimate
activity and give it its fair due,'' he said.
``You come down here on any holiday weekend, and the trails are
bumper-to-bumper,'' Cowher said.
The Forest Service approved a plan in 1989 to restrict vehicles in
specific areas threatened by erosion.
It called for construction of 250 miles of trails within the first 10
years and 300 more miles in the second decade. But 10 years later,
about 120 miles of approved trail are complete. Environmentalists say
there are at least that many miles of illegal trails.
Many Forest Service employees, including some at Wayne, are critical
of allowing the vehicles in parks.
``Off-road vehicle use is inappropriate for Ohio,'' Marsh Lee Wikle,
a watershed specialist at Wayne told The Columbus Dispatch for a
story Sunday. ``They go many places they are not supposed to go. They
do it year-round, regardless of the winter closure.''