Off-road vehicle use fuels tension, violence across U.S.
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"We see a growing amount of aggressive and lawless behavior taking place on off-road vehicles," says Harrison Schmitt, executive director of Responsible Trails America, a national group that calls for off-road vehicles to use designated trails. "We're starting to see people tired of the abuse and beginning to take the law into their own hands."
…In 2007, 4.7 million off-highway vehicle users visited public lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), compared with 3.8 million in 2004, the agency reports.
At the same time, the U.S. government has stepped up efforts to restrict ATVs to assigned routes rather than allow them to ride cross-country. Development of rural areas has also gobbled up private land formerly used by off-roaders.
"We have more off-highway vehicle users and less lands. It's simple math. … It creates tensions," says Bob Ratcliffe, chief of the BLM's national recreation and visitor services program.
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Sam Goldman
Sam has been with The Wilderness Society since Fall 2007. He came most recently from M+R Strategic Services in Washington, DC where he worked with national environmental groups to improve their online campaign work and field organizing capacity. Before that, Sam was the Assistant National Field Director for U.S. PIRG where he covered a variety of issues including the fight to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
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