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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.