Home > Governor Douglas and the ATV Working Collaborative

Governor Douglas Appoints ATV Task Force

In 2004 Governor Jim Douglas appointed a task force to facilitate discussions on the use of ATVs in Vermont, and the related social and environmental effects thereof. The group also reviewed and proposed changes to the regulations governing recreational vehicles. The Vermont ATV Sportsman's Association (VASA) continues to press for access for ATVs on public lands (rail trails, state parks, wilderness and wildlife management areas). Other issues included whether ATVs should be registered with the Department of Motor Vehicles, who is responsible for enforcement and how it will be funded, and whether or not trail construction should fall under Act 250 jurisdiction. Members of the task force included ATV riders, environmental groups, the Vermont Agency of Transportation, and law enforcement. Mike Bernhardt was the chair. A summary in the form of a recommendation was made to the Governor in December 2004, and to the State Legislature the following January.

View the ATV Collaborative Final Report (75KB PDF)

PRT's Response to the Governor's Initiative

PRT circulated a petition asking the Governor, state legislators, and the Governor's Working Collaborative on ATVs to prohibit recreational ATV use on our public lands, roads, and trails. Signatures from more than 1,600 registered voters were gathered from across the state in a relatively short time, demonstrating that a large proportion of Vermonters care deeply about this issue. Thanks to everyone who circulated and sent us petitions!

How were the petitions used?

First, we presented the signatures to the Collaborative as it conducted public hearings on ATV issues in the fall of 2004. In addition to the many citizens at those meetings who described the problems caused by ATVs and opposed their use on public land, more than 200 people sent written comments critiquing the Collaborative's Draft Report. An overwhelming majority (80 percent) of the public comments strongly opposed opening Vermont's public land to ATV recreation, but the Collaborative's Final Report still calls for the opening of ATV corridors on public land to connect existing trails on private land.

We also delivered copies of the petitions to key members of the Vermont legislature, and to Governor Jim Douglas. Despite the Governor's assertions that he would resist any move to allow ATVs on public land, his administration continues to lay the groundwork for increased access to trails on public lands.

PRT's Response to ATV Collaborative's Draft Report

The following is the response of Peaceful Roads and Trails (PRT) to the ATV Collaborative's Draft Report.

1) PRT supports the Collaborative's recommendation to strengthen the enforcement of ATV laws. The lax enforcement of existing ATV rules and regulations has contributed to a climate of lawlessness, in which renegade and irresponsible ATV riders repeatedly break the law with seeming impunity. We therefore support:

  • stronger enforcement of existing laws;
  • requirements for registration, safety inspections, and liability insurance;
  • adding points to driver's licenses for violation of ATV laws;
  • assessing points and fines on parents or guardians for violations by minors; and
  • tapping fines, registration fees and club membership dues for additional enforcement personnel and for a trespass repair fund.

We believe the trespass repair fund should be available to any landowner whose land is damaged by ATV trespass, not just those who permit VASA trails on their land. We strongly object to devoting any public revenue to this fund.

In addition, we urged the Collaborative to recommend a "three strikes and you're out" rule that calls for confiscating the vehicles of repeat offenders. This rule is not yet in place.

2) ATV riding should be prohibited on public lands.

We reject the argument that "since ATV riders are members of the public, they are entitled to pursue their sport on public land." Public lands are, in fact, open to all members of the public, but that does not mean all uses are appropriate. Just as the Long Trail is closed to hikers during mud season and portions of Vermont lakes are off-limits to canoeists and kayakers when loons are nesting, public lands should not have to support activities that would seriously degrade their natural resources. Even if all ATV riders were law-abiding, the noise, air and water pollution, wildlife disruption and incompatibility with less-intrusive uses of the land are sufficient reasons to ban them from public land.

Unfortunately, a sizeable minority of ATV riders are not law-abiding. The argument that illegal activity will continue unless ATVers are provided a statewide trail system amounts to extortion. From raising children to dealing with terrorists, it is generally accepted that 'bad behavior' should not be rewarded. Given the serious ATV damage that has already been documented on virtually every parcel of public land in Vermont, it would be wholly inappropriate to reward this behavior by acceding to the ATV community's demands. The question of opening public land to ATV use should not even be considered until ATV riders have demonstrated that their illegal, irresponsible, reckless and intimidating behavior has ceased.

3) We support the Collaborative's recommendation that trails on private land should be subject to regulatory oversight, including Act 250 review.

Even on private lands, ATV trails can have serious impacts on wetlands, riparian ecosystems and wildlife; they cause air, water and noise pollution, and can be a nuisance to abutting property owners. All of these have repercussions far beyond any landowner's property line, and must be considered when siting trails.

4) Town roads should not be open to ATV use.

The Collaborative's Draft Report fails to take a position on ATV use of town roads, leaving it instead in the hands of local Selectboards. We believe this is a serious mistake. Since the ATV community has done little to earn the respect and confidence of landowners - quite the opposite, in fact - VASA and its local clubs will find it very difficult to construct an extensive trail system solely on private land. In order to connect a scattered patchwork of short trails on private land, VASA will likely want to site numerous trails on Class 3 and 4 roads.

However, these are roads that people live on, and where their children walk and ride their bikes; these are roads that people use to get to work, and that are traveled by public safety vehicles responding to emergencies; these are roads where many people have chosen to live precisely because they seek peace and quiet. We believe it is wholly inappropriate to turn these roads into year-round recreational trails for off-road vehicles.

Rather than reducing enforcement problems, an ATV trail system that relies on town roads will make those problems worse: ATV traffic will increase, and opportunities for illegal trespass will multiply. Vermont's rural towns simply do not have the resources for "creating and implementing monitoring and enforcement systems to address problems caused by ATV use," as suggested in the Report. As it is, many towns are already overrun by ATVs whose illegal activities are difficult or impossible to control. Adding to that burden makes no sense.

The Collaborative's reluctance to interfere in the prerogatives of local Selectboards is misplaced. Even though towns bear much of the responsibility for Class 3 and 4 roads, their control is not absolute: no town can authorize unlicensed, unregistered or uninspected vehicles to drive on these roads, for example, nor can they allow drunk driving on them. For good reason, Vermont law currently bans ATV traffic on all state roads. Why should Class 3 and 4 roads be any different?

Even if the Collaborative is unwilling to recommend banning ATV traffic from town roads, it should at least insist that Selectboards open sections of town roads only with the express consent of those whose land or residences abut those stretches. After all, it is they who will shoulder the biggest burden of noise, pollution, nuisance and traffic from law-abiding ATV riders, and the threat of trespass, reckless driving, litter and intimidating behavior from those who are not law-abiding. There is no reason why landowners and residents should - against their will - suffer the consequences of decisions that benefit only a special interest group.

For more information on why ATVs should not be allowed on town roads click here. (link to "ATVs on Town Roads" section.)

What can you do?

Well-paid lobbyists from the motorized recreation industry are hard at work in Montpelier. Legislators, who have a very full plate of issues to address and no paid staff, often rely on lobbyists to do their "research" for them. In a small state like Vermont, we can counteract the impact of those lobbyists by calling or writing our legislators to let them hear our side of the story. Please use YOUR voice to make a difference.