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Off road trails vs Land protection in MA

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Off road trails vs Land protection in MA

Postby JayZR2 » Wed Oct 11, 2006 12:03 am

One of our users found this article in the Worcester T&G:

Here's the link.

Off-road trails vs. land protection

State considers access for ATVs

By Bradford L. Miner TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
bminer@telegram.com





Pennsylvania took 6,000 acres of a closed strip coal mine and turned it into a premier destination for the region’s off-road vehicle enthusiasts.

In Massachusetts, the state Department of Conservation and Recreation is looking at all of its properties, measuring the appropriateness of each for creating trails for dirt bikes and all-terrain vehicles.

Whether what comes to pass will measure up to the Rock Run Recreation Area in Patton, Pa., will in part be determined by Gary Briere, the state’s chief of recreation for DCR, who recently visited Rock Run, as well as riders across the state interested in having additional public property for riding.


Currently there are state forests and parks in the Berkshires and in the northeastern and southeastern parts of the state that allow either dirt bikes only, or dirt bikes and ATVs when trail conditions permit.

A very wet spring left all off-road vehicle public trails closed for several weeks to prevent erosion and further deterioration of trails, according to Mr. Briere.

Last winter and spring, state officials and an off-road-vehicle working group held public hearings to obtain comments from those for and against additional use of public land for riding.

Currently, there are no parks in Central Massachusetts with trails open to off-road vehicles.

In March 2004, the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources announced a $2 million grant from the state’s ATV/snowmobile fund to buy 6,000 acres of former strip mine and create a multiuse motorized recreation area.

Rock Run was scheduled to open for the first time this fall, with 50 miles of designed trails.

Mr. Briere said the DCR received 130 responses during the comment period — during and after the public hearings.

“About two-thirds of the comments were not supportive of expanding off-road vehicle use and about a third supportive. Among all the comments we received, only about a third focused on the specific criteria by which a tract of public land should be judged for appropriateness for off-road vehicle use,” he said.

Understandably, he added, many of the comments written, as well as those voiced at the hearing, were emotional and represented opposing opinions.

Mr. Briere said a team has been assembled within the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs to review the comments and re-evaluate the process as it moves forward.

“Even before we finalize the criteria by which each of our forests and parks will be judged for trail suitability, we have to do additional work on the recreational opportunity policies and standards. While that is the first criteria, it was pointed out that it is lacking in detail,” he said.

“It’s very important that we flesh out criteria, because it articulates off-road vehicle use as well as what other trail uses might look like across the state,” he added.

The next step will be to flesh out the recreational opportunity policies and standards so that by early winter the criteria will be applied well in advance of the next riding season, he said.

“We don’t expect to be making judgments such as “this park passes, this park fails to meet criteria or every trail is open or closed in a particular park. I think what we’ll be working with is a multiyear process to get from where we are today, to where we’d like to be five years from now.”

Mr. Briere said the goal of any sustainable off-road vehicle trail program that the DCR and ORV enthusiasts cooperatively put in place is one that would provide greater protection against erosion of new trails.

“We would be looking at a more robust design for new trails. Better materials, coupled with better designs, hopefully can avoid the problems that plague trails that exist now more by happenstance than any plan,” he said.

“This was a classic year, in terms of measuring the impact that adverse weather could and does have on motorized trails. And certainly we’ll be taking this into consideration as we move forward,” he added.

Frank A. Frey Jr., president of the New England Trail Riders Association and a member of the ORV working group, said he’s pleased with the progress that’s been made to date and is optimistic that the DCR will select one of its Central Massachusetts forests for a pilot sustainable off-road vehicle trails project.

Mr. Briere said regardless of what areas may pass the criteria for potential off-road vehicle use, a designed trail is a must, and because of the inherent cost of building a trail that will last from year to year, the cost of developing and maintaining trails will have to be shared with trail users.

He said user fees and trail passes were a certainty.
hyp·o·crite   [hip-uh-krit]
noun
1. A person who pretends to have virtues, moral or religious beliefs, principles, etc., that he or she does not actually possess, especially a person whose actions belie stated beliefs.
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Re: Off road trails vs Land protection in MA

Postby rblank » Wed Oct 11, 2006 9:25 am

Last winter and spring, state officials and an off-road-vehicle working group held public hearings to obtain comments from those for and against additional use of public land for riding.


Mr. Briere said the DCR received 130 responses during the comment period — during and after the public hearings.

“About two-thirds of the comments were not supportive of expanding off-road vehicle use and about a third supportive. Among all the comments we received, only about a third focused on the specific criteria by which a tract of public land should be judged for appropriateness for off-road vehicle use,” he said.



I don't remember hearing anything about this comment session. :shock:
*DISCLAIMER* - The views expressed herein are the personal views of the author and do not in any way represent, nor imply to represent, the views of the North East Association of 4 Wheel Drive Clubs, it's officers, members, or affiliates.
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Postby Paul » Wed Oct 11, 2006 9:30 am

I think we need to let Mr. Briere know (again) that we are here and available for assistance in the project.

Lets get our club numbers together and drop him a line. On a family matrix I would assume we have about ~3,000 members now.
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Postby Paul » Wed Oct 11, 2006 9:32 am

oh, and.....


it's nice to even see the DCR coming to the plate and talking about this type of thing.

(we best get it done before the state goes 100% democratic and we loose any chance of getting anything)

not that I am dem or repub, but we fare better usually with republicans.
:wink:
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Postby Scott Hatch » Wed Oct 11, 2006 8:56 pm

Where is Ryan?

This would be a good item for the MA Land Access Committee to work on as well as the private land we have.

Any way we can start having a MA team meeting>? Any thoughts on time, location, and day?
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Postby Ryan » Thu Oct 12, 2006 6:20 am

I am here!! Been working on compiling info for obtaining tax maps and such.

Meeting?? I am game. My schedule is somewhat flexible, what works for the rest of you??

Anyone who can speak well want to draft a statement for the Ma DCR pertaining to this subject?
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Postby Paul » Thu Oct 12, 2006 8:52 am

[Michael Jackson]"Sorry I'm a [s]lover[/s] writer not a [s]fighter[/s] speaker. [/Michael Jackson]

:paul:
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Postby Scott Hatch » Thu Oct 12, 2006 8:13 pm

Set the date Ryan, whatever works for you :up:
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Re: Off road trails vs Land protection in MA

Postby Wagz » Thu Nov 16, 2006 2:44 pm

rblank wrote:
Last winter and spring, state officials and an off-road-vehicle working group held public hearings to obtain comments from those for and against additional use of public land for riding.


Mr. Briere said the DCR received 130 responses during the comment period — during and after the public hearings.

“About two-thirds of the comments were not supportive of expanding off-road vehicle use and about a third supportive. Among all the comments we received, only about a third focused on the specific criteria by which a tract of public land should be judged for appropriateness for off-road vehicle use,” he said.



I don't remember hearing anything about this comment session. :shock:


In my opinion, the larger issue is that the DCR is "counting" votes for and against simply based on the raw number of responses they received. This is an inaccurate and unrepresentative method of determining public views. Sadly, it is extremely representative of the typical Massachusetts bureaucrat policy. With nothing but cynacism to base my opinion on, I'd be willing to bet that if the tally had gone the other direction, they'd select a different approach to "counting" the vote.
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