Education campaigns, increased enforcement cited as reasons why fewer ATVs are cutting up backcountry

It’s no secret Tooele County is a playground for off-highway vehicle enthusiasts. But with that recreational opportunity comes the potential for problems: irresponsible riders tearing up pristine areas and creating unauthorized trails in the backcountry.

Despite a widespread perception that the proliferation of OHV use is scarring public lands, federal land management officials say they are actually making progress in efforts to manage this uniquely Western form of recreation locally. Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service officials say they have stepped up enforcement of reckless off-road practices, protected areas using fencing to keep out motorized vehicles, and created a system for defining OHV use areas and designations.

The Forest Service has made substantial progress in its efforts to manage OHV use in Tooele County in the last five years, according to Steve Scheid, recreation manager for the Salt Lake Ranger District of the Forest Service. He said partnerships formed in that time period, like those with the Utah Off-Highway Vehicle Trails Program, have helped.

“In the last five years, there was a fair amount of concern because whenever historically used areas get closed down, people get frustrated,” Scheid said. “I think we’ve moved beyond that and now people are altering their habits to go on areas that are open.”

For example, an old pass in East Hickman Canyon was closed when it became heavily eroded by ATVs, with gullies 4 to 5 feet deep.

“That was probably the most substantial closure people may have had issues with,” Scheid said.

Many states have considered proposals to regulate OHVs as they have become increasingly popular and impactful. Some relate to enforcement, and others to safety, private property, or habitat protection. In the case of local regulations that have closed off areas to off-road traffic, most were the indirect result of the actions of a few riders, officials say.

“Probably 80 to 85 percent of the OHV riders are responsible and try to stay on existing routes,” said Mike Nelson, assistant field manager of the Salt Lake Field Office of the BLM. “The 10 to 15 percent that are not responsible riders cause the problem and can hurt the opportunities for the rest by causing resource damage that might result in the closure or restriction of riding in some areas.”

Scheid said much of the battle to fight destructive riding is being fought with campaigns designed to educate riders about where they can and cannot go. Travel plans and recreation material on the Forest Service’s Web site, and signage, helps accomplish this.

In addition, over a two-year period starting in about 2006, the Forest Service pooled resources with other federal and state agencies for high-intensity patrols on big weekends — mainly to maintain a visible presence in problem areas.

“It’s important to be seen out there so people know if they do behave inappropriately or ride inappropriately there’s a consequence,” Scheid said. “I think for a long time it was the Wild West out there. People didn’t see us and didn’t see the need to follow the rules. So for two or three weekends a summer there was a law enforcement presence from our public land agencies.”

“Generally our goal out there is education, and we try to do that through better signing,” Scheid said, adding unfortunately a challenge with signs is they disappear or get shot at.

Thus far he’s seen relatively good compliance.

“There are a few areas where we’re still seeing some people pushing illegal trails further up into the hills,” he said. “There are some new user-created trails out at Davenport [in the Stansbury Range], and we’re going to be working with our folks out there to close those areas and put in signage.”

He said the Stansbury Front Trail, which basically serves as the boundary for the Deseret Peak Wilderness Area, is also a frontier in the battle to keep OHVs on proper trails.

“There was a history of recreating in places that were closed, but we hadn’t done a good job of letting people know, so when we closed them people thought we were taking away those things.” Scheid said. “Over time people have come to terms with where they can go and where trails are being maintained, and we’re trying to keep those open.”

Nelson said managing OHV use is a continual battle.

“We don’t have enough staff to cover everywhere, so we try to prioritize those areas that are the most important,” he said. “Resource values that usually trigger OHV restrictions are critical wildlife habitat areas, important watershed lands, and areas with high visual resource quality.”

Scheid said the Forest Service tries to have a pair of officers out every weekend patrolling generally the Stansburys.

“The real enforcement is education, talking about safety, wearing helmets, protecting the privilege, riding responsibly, and the majority of our encounters are friendly — telling them to have a good day, asking if they have any feedback — and checking the gates and fencing,” he said.

There are many weekends when rangers don’t write tickets, Scheid said, although they are law enforcement certified and can issue citations to riders for infractions — typically for riding off-trail. Scheid said generally the citations are for $250, but fines can go up to $5,000, depending on the violation and resource damage, and can also include a mandatory appearance in front of a federal magistrate and restitution. The BLM offers a reward of up to $250 for information leading to the arrest or conviction of anyone violating off-road vehicle use regulations.

Designating Five-Mile Pass and Knolls Special Recreation Management Area as areas that are open to OHVs has helped because it gives riders an open area, Nelson added.

“This takes some of the pressure off of more sensitive areas that are less suitable for OHV riding,” he said.

However, Bruce Steadman, co-owner of Steadman’s Recreation in Tooele, doesn’t believe closures are always warranted, and actually can cause more damage.

“It makes the numbers pile in all one area,” he said. “If you’ve got 1,000 acres, then go to 100 acres, there will be more damage to the dirt.”

He added it doesn’t make a lot of sense to him to close established roads.

“I understand the concept, but here you have a road that is an established road,” he said. “You’re not going to do any damage to the road, they just don’t want them in there. That I understand. I guess we’ll just have to agree to disagree.”

Scheid said the Forest Service is working on completing a set of maps for OHV users.

“We are creating maps that are basically just travel maps that show what’s open, and that map itself will become a legal document,” he said.

The Salt Lake Ranger District, which includes Forest Service land in the Stansbury Mountains, is in its final printing reviews for its map, which should be available via the Forest Service Web site this fall, Scheid said.

“Our big focus is education so people know where the legal routes are and then how to tread lightly and respect the privilege,” he said. “The more riders can do to ride responsibly, the less closing of routes we do, and less of our resources are required to manage impacts of illegal riding or user-created trails.”

Scheid added in general the efforts done have maintained a balance between having areas open for recreation, but protecting valuable resources at the same time.

“We’re serious about recreation areas, but also protecting watersheds, nonmotorized recreation, protecting the grazing lands, wildlife, and wilderness and wilderness values,” he said. “We’re trying to find that balance in providing that recreation opportunity [OHV riding] but also not allowing that to infringe on other resource values that we need to manage for.”

Sarah Miley: swest@tooeletranscript.com