The
ATV-Trespass Problem
(The
Other "Invasion" of the Territory of United States)
[with
a post-script commentary by Arizona Sheriff Larry A. Dever]
compiled
by Mark R. Ferran BSEE scl JD mcl
This
essay collects articles about the ATV-Trespass problem occurring in New York
and throughout the United States and Canada, and about the way some
landowners are lawfully resisting intrusions by ATV-trespassers. Typical
situations:
1) [Pittstown, Rensselaer County, NY] "Phil Kelly ...
finds himself constantly chasing off and being threatened by illegal hunters
and all-terrain vehicle riders on his posted property. ... The landowner
said
ATV
riders began cutting through and even stealing gates off of one section of
his property ... They destroyed around $6,000 worth of gates .... "I've
had neighbors and people at the Country Store threaten to burn me out and
put a bullet in me ["and that other (Landowner), Ferran]" Kelly
said. "Little did I know serious they were." [They burned down his
storage barn and attempted to enter his home at midnight] "It's
like something out of 'Deliverance'. ... the State Police ... make me feel
like the criminal instead of the victim." http://www.troyrecord.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=2721020&BRD=1170&PAG=461&dept_id=7022&rfi=8
2) A Farmer stopped a group of riders and told them to leave. He was
beaten up. http://www.tribune-chronicle.com/news/story/03602002_new11.asp
3) "ARSON. A male on Rutland Way, Stephentown [Rensselaer
County, NY], said his vehicle, which was parked along a trail to deter ATV
use, was damaged by fire. Officer: Trooper Steve Kovaleski." Albany
(NY) Times Union, Police Blotter (Wed. July 28, 1999 p. F2)
4)
ATVs are frequently used by Marijuana "Farmers" and other
intentionally-masked criminals. "All the dopers want is a new ...
ATV to drive up to their patch." http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread5944.shtml
"Since 1998, the state line between Kentucky and Virginia has become a
crisscross of trails created by all-terrain vehicles used by growers to get
to their marijuana
plots...." http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1430/a09.html
http://www.nypress.com/15/33/news&columns/feature.cfm
http://www.trcmaine.org/news/02/06/po-drugs.htm
"The cultivators are 'quite frankly, very wealthy: Four-wheel drive
trucks ... ATV's. They usually have expensive toys. [M]arijuana growers
often carry firearms.'" http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread5729.shtml
In Rensselaer County, NY, ATVs appeal to the "cultivators" and all
other sorts of "recreational" criminals who can use them to
trespass, commit acts of violence or arson, and escape arrest
anonymously wearing full-face masks: "Members of the State
Police Community Narcotics Team, the Troy Police, the federal Drug
Enforcement Administration and the Rensselaer County District attorney's
office [arrested] four suspects [ages 22, 24, 25, and 33] thought to be
connected in a mid- to upper level cocaine-dealing operation.
Authorities recovered an AK-47 rifle, a 9mm and a 45 caliber handgun [and] two
ATVs and a snowmobile allegedly purchased with the proceeds from drug
sales." Troy Record, Nov. 28, 2002. (Landowners can't
know the extent of the evil that hides behind the face
mask and helmet of an unknown ATV-trespasser, and landowners should be
prepared to defend themselves during any personal confrontations with them).
This essay collects many similar articles and a discussion of the
New York statutes that authorize citizens to forcibly stop and to perform
citizen's arrests of ATV-offenders in NY. Save, and print copies of the
linked articles in case they cease to be maintained online. Feel free to
forward or post.
In 1988, Time Magazine described how "roaring ATVs are
shattering the peace" and introduced America to a lawless subculture
whose members presume that by buying (or stealing) an "all
terrain" vehicle, they are entitled to intrude upon "all
terrain":
"Villages on Missouri's Black River ... used to be oases of
tranquillity, the destination of weekend canoeists, tube floaters and
fishermen. No longer. All too often the solitude of the Ozarks wilderness is
shattered these days by the whine and rumble of powerful engines. ... Locals
call it "the Invasion." The ... four-wheel vehicles, running up
and down the riverbed with abandon. ... For the ATV crowd, it was all just
good fun. But for conservationists and others interested in keeping the
river pristine, the Invasion is a nightmare ... and the law has failed to
halt the nightmare. "These things destroy the ecology of the
river," says Larry Koeler, a Centerville lawyer, of the ATVs. ...
Horror stories abound. Former River Guide Eric Dunn recalls ... "a
young boy tried to run down me and my wife and son." ... County
Sheriff Gary Barton ... and his two deputies can hardly make a dent in the
rampant ATV challenge. On Memorial Day weekend they wrote scores of tickets
to ATV riders who trespassed on private property or were intoxicated. ...
The sheriff, who owns three ATVs himself, takes no chances. "I
don't equip my patrol car with a regular rifle," he says. "I have
an M-16. I leave it in the patrol car where you can see it. You have to make
a show of force." Although the state conservation commission sent five
agents into Reynolds County to help Barton out, it was not enough of a show
to make much difference. "The ATVs still go anywhere they want."
... Sierra Club Director Hattoy charges that the ATVs permanently scar
the land, kill wildlife and destroy vegetation, as well as cause noise,
safety and pollution problems. Says he: "... no one has the right to
chase jackrabbits until their hearts explode, or roar over desert
turtles." ATV Enthusiast Buddy Bray sees it differently. "I don't
believe riding ATVs destroys the desert," he says. "All you kill
is the bushes."
Time, 6/13/88 (Invaders on The Black River).
"Kids
are out there five evenings a week running over everything including the
cactus. They just don't seem to care." http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/scottsdale/articles/0722sr-offroad22Z8.html
ATVs stir dust, controversy, The Arizona Republic (July 22, 2003) (or try
this link)
On the sand dunes of the Albany (NY) Pine Bush,
trespassing ATVs kill the wild "bushes" called wild Blue Lupine,
and so they ultimately kill the endangered Karner Blue Butterfly that depend
on the bushes. In 1998, the Albany (NY) Times Union described the
"serious" ATV problem in the Albany Pine Bush ecosystem:
"The Karner blue butterfly is slowly losing its fight to survive in the
Albany Pine Bush Preserve, one of the species' last remaining natural
habitats in the United States. The killer: humans. The latest tool of
destruction: the all-terrain vehicle. The azure-winged butterflies,
about the size of a quarter, are being threatened by burly ATVs illegally
churning through the property, Pine Bush officials said Tuesday. As
they pop wheelies and spin doughnut-shaped grooves into the earth, ATV
riders are also mowing down the wild blue lupine, the only plant that Karner
caterpillars eat, said Preserve Steward Joel Hecht. ``If you impact the
plant, you're going to directly impact the Karner blue butterfly,'' he said.
This region was once home to hundreds of thousands of the flying blue
lepidoptera... Now, there are only a few hundred in the Pine Bush. ... The
species is listed by the federal government as ENDANGERED. ATVs aren't
permitted in the 2,400-acre Pine Bush, said ... Ranger Joseph Hess, the lone
DEC officer patrolling the preserve. But ... riders ignore posted signs.
Anyone caught riding a vehicle over Pine Bush land could face a $100 fine
and up to 15 days in jail, Hess said. ... 'Without intervention, they
will be lost.''"
Albany (NY) Times Union, September 2, 1998, by Paul Zielbauer.
(Title/subtitle: "ATVS A MENACE IN KARNER BLUE'S BACK YARD
Vehicles threaten butterfly's food source in Pine Bush, officials say")
See also "GOODBYE KARNER BLUE"
http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/992560769/index_html
("New England's only wild population" of the endangered
Karner blue butterfly "appears to have died out")
The "lone ranger" in the Albany Pine Bush has
not evolved the super-human ability to enforce the law in all parts of his
territory at the same time. But the ATV industry has been busy
flooding the land with ATVs. ATV manufacturers knowingly place ATVs
into the hands of people ready, willing, and able to intrude upon any and
"all" unguarded public or private "terrain".
"Industry-wide ATV retail sales increased during the first quarter [of
2001] in spite of the concerns of a slowing economic environment."
"American Honda's ATV sales also soared in 2000, ending the year at
211,152, an increase of 29.6%. Once again Honda exceeded the ATV industry's
healthy growth rate of 18.8%..." Arctic Cat Dealers advertised in
2002: "New
this year!! A smaller ATV just for kids!!" (And already:
"Boy,
12, killed in ATV crash" ( June 7, 2002) ; "9-year-old
Boy killed in ATV accident" (July 7. 2003); (6-year-old
Boy killed driving ATV into ditch) ( June 6, 2003)
"This
[ATV -Trespass] problem is going to get worse and worse." "A
lot of the time, the problem is that they're usually kids riding them, and
the ATVs are bought for them by their parents, who may or may not know, or
may not care if their kids are riding legally."
ATVs
Becoming Big Problem http://sierraactivist.org/article.php?sid=30637
"
'The problem is that [Police] can't [enforce the Law] on private
property.' 'There's only so much that you can do legislatively, some of it
has to be parental responsibility.' Enacting more laws at
this point is not going to do anything," said Maurice Sargent of Surry,
president of ATV Maine, a statewide interest group. "The responsibility
has got to be put where it belongs," Sargent said. "The laws are
great - let the parents of teenagers stop them from doing this." [M]any
parents don't realize that a decision to let their young child ride an ATV
is 'patently bad' until a tragedy has occurred."
http://www.seacoastonline.com/2002news/3_26maine.htm
ATV-trespassers
will increasingly target (and damage) relatively undefended private
lands in order to selfishly avoid the costs and fees associated with leasing
and renting land to lawfully ride upon. ATV-trespassers
generally seek the "Path of Least Resistance-By-Landowners" (see,
e.g., ATV Riders Hack Way Through Yards: "Last
month, while walking at the rear of his property, Heikel discovered that
people had blazed a [ATV] path through his and his neighbors' wooded
tracts." http://sierraactivist.org/article.php?sid=5836) until
they decide they can get away with running over, beating up, or
killing the landowner who tries to resist them:
"In
Morgan County [West Virginia] last year [2002], a man was viciously
assaulted on his property by four ATV-riding trespassers he had told to stay
off his land. Instead of leaving as they were obligated to do by law,
these trespassing thugs drove an ATV onto the man’s leg, pinned him down
and beat him nearly to death. Then they rode away, leaving him to die.
Fortunately, he survived to identify the attackers." (February 23,
2003) http://sundaygazettemail.com/news/Woods+&+Waters/2003022234
It
is Written: "THOU SHALT NOT COVET THY NEIGHBOR'S HOUSE ... NOR ANYTHING
THAT IS YOUR NEIGHBOR'S" Exodus
20:17 (Deuteronomy 5:21, Romans 7:7, 13:9)
"COVETING
= is when DESIRE becomes INORDINATE or
UNLAWFUL. THIS LEVEL OF DESIRE PLANTS THE SEEDS OF
WILLINGNESS TO: HURT, STEAL, KILL. Coveting is desire run rampant
w/o control. It will injure, hurt, even destroy to get what it wants
[but is not lawfully entitled to]!"
http://www.apostolic.edu/biblestudy/files/10th-com.htm
"Although
many riders use ATVs on their own property, many others don't, and that's
the problem. They think the neighbor's private property is their
own personal turf to cruise over, ignoring fences and "No
Trespassing" signs. Farmers, woodsmen, home owners have become
helplessly enraged over the ATV damages they have undergone. Last year, a
property owner in western Morgan County was badly beaten when he tried to
stop a group of young "macho?" ATV riders who were driving across
his property."
http://www.cacaponriver.org/news/newsletter2003-1.htm ( The
Craze- and Curse- of ATVs)
There are
"growing legions of fans of ATVs and dirt bikes, known collectively as
off-road vehicles. An estimated 45,000 ORVs are sold in New Jersey
each year. But as the number of ORVs has grown, so has the number of
conflicts with land owners, who complain about the noise and damage to dirt
roads caused by ATVs and dirt bikes that trespass on their land.
... ATV and dirt-bike riding is illegal on private property without
the owner's permission. ... Little Egg Harbor resident
Bill Hartley lives in woods along a private dirt road that he says ORV
enthusiasts use constantly. The vehicles chew up the road, creating
deep ruts and making it difficult for him to drive on his own road.
"Look, everyone has to do a hobby. It's fun, it's great," he
said. "It's when they don't respect another person's property, that's
when I have a problem." ... "I guess there was
this general belief (among ORV riders) that if there is vacant land, they
could just use it," Tavarez said. "As more and more houses were
built, they found the land did belong to somebody. But that didn't stop
them from riding on the land. ... "There's still
that small percentage of riders that create most of the problem, and there
is nothing you can do to stop that except enforce the law."
http://www.southjerseynews.com/issues/april/m040702a.htm
"We're
looking at pretty consistently, year-in and year-out, 10 percent increases
in the number of machines."
http://www.seacoastonline.com/2002news/3_26maine.htm
At this rate of population growth (10% per annum), the
ATV-population will double every 8 years or so.
"[Maine] has
suddenly become a magnet for ATVers from all over New England. The
popularity of ATVs, though, has not come to Maine without a cost. Landowners
across the state, outraged over the destruction caused by the machines, have
posted thousands of acres of land, closed long-established snowmobile and
hiking trails, and even set traps to catch trespassing ATVs. Safety
experts gasp at the rapid increase in injuries and deaths among ATV users.
Farmers fear ATVs could become the next vehicle for spreading plant diseases
from one field to the next. And legislators are responding with a raft
of bills aimed at tightening rules, increasing fees, and toughening
enforcement. ... Widespread ATV resentment could even trigger a
resurgence of efforts to require a [statutory] presumption that all private
land is closed [for ALL recreational uses] unless posted as open to the
public.... "It's a very explosive issue," says Roberta
Scruggs, a veteran outdoors writer who recently authored a landmark report
on the deteriorating relations between landowners and ATV owners....
People are angry to a point that I've never seen before," Scruggs adds.
'The
Number One landowner problem is ATVs.'
"
The ATV Menace http://www.easterntrail.org/lib/atvart5.html
As
the ATV-riding population increases, while new land is not being created on
this continent, Landowners who own highly coveted terrain will
be increasingly targeted by ATV-trespassers ranging from peaceful
sneak-thieves to violent fully-masked land-robbers, and even vindictive
arsonists riding in on four wheels. The only solution is to diligently ENFORCE
the LAW in order to maintain RESPECT for PRIVATE PROPERTY, and vice
versa. "For nothing is more destructive of respect for the
government and the law of the land than passing laws which cannot be
enforced." Albert Einstein.
The commandment
forbidding coveting thy neighbor's land, and the commandment that "Thou
Shalt Not Steal" are at "the
foundation of the moral code and legal system of justice for Western
Christian civilization."
http://biblescripture.net/Commandments.html
To openly REBEL against these commandments by disrespecting your
neighbors rights to his private property is to Declare War Against
YOUR NEIGHBOR And War Against GOD (See Part 2 at www.billstclair.com/ferran
)
The
Moral Code and Legal System (in New York State) "makes it lawful for a
man to kill a thief, who [uses] force ... to take away his money,
or what he pleases, from him; because using force, where he has no right, to
get me into his power, let his pretence be what it will, I have no reason to
suppose, that he, who would take away my [property], would not, when he had
me in his power, take away every thing else. And therefore it is
lawful for me to treat him as one who has put himself into a state of war
with me, i.e. kill him if I can; for to that hazard does he justly expose
himself, whoever introduces a state of war, and is aggressor in it."
John Locke, Second Treatise on Government, Ch. III, sec. 18 ( http://www.thisnation.com/library/books/locke/2ndtreatise-c03.html );
Accord, Rights of New York Landowners to Use Force www.billstclair.com/ferran
"ATV
riders have 'started a war.' "I mean, cutting the trail through my
property, that was enough," he said. "But then I come back and I'm
telling these people, 'Look, I don't want you riding through here,' but
they're going to do just what they darn well please." ... "I
caught a few people out there and I lit into them," he said. "One
guy told me I was some sort of nut. Well, I don't care what you think,
you're on my property and you have no right to be here." " http://www.seacoastonline.com/2002news/3_26maine.htm
People
submit to the state to remain free and to have their property protected. “Political
power, then, I take to be a right of making laws […] for the regulating
and preserving of property,
and of employing the force of the community in the execution of such laws
and in the defense of the commonwealth from foreign injury; and all this
only for the public good” (John Locke 4)
"Law
is the collective organization of the individual right to lawful defense.
... Each of us has a natural right--from God--to defend his
person, his liberty, and his property. These are the three basic
requirements of life, and the preservation of any one of them is completely
dependent upon the preservation of the other two. For what are our faculties
but the extension of our individuality? And what is property but an
extension of our faculties? If every person has the right to defend --
even by force -- his person, his liberty, and his property, then it follows
that a group of men have the right to organize and support a common force to
protect these rights constantly. Thus the principle of collective right --
its reason for existing, its lawfulness -- is based on individual right.
And the common force (i.e., Government and Law) that protects this
collective right cannot logically have any other purpose or any other
mission than that for which it acts as a substitute. " The Law,
by Frederic Bastiat (French economist, statesman and Anti-Socialist,
1850) http://jim.com/bastiat.htm
John
Locke believed that man created Government and Law to help him secure
his property. "Man wanted, first, an established and promulgated
Law. He wanted a judge to make determinations according to this Law. And he
wanted an executive to carry out these determinations. He hoped to
gain these three advantages by entering into the social contract. But he did
not give up all
his rights in making this agreement: 'Though men when they enter into
society give up [the absolute] executive power they had in the state of
nature into the hands of society, to be so far disposed of by the
legislative as the good of society shall require, yet it being only with an
intention in everyone the better to preserve for himself, his liberty and
property; (for no rational creature can be supposed to change his condition
with an intention to be worse) the power of the society or legislative can
never be supposed to extend farther than the common good; but
is obliged to secure everyone's property....
' " http://www.gdn.edu/PT_Faculty/j_richards/lectures/Hist1122Locke.PDF
John
Adams stated: "The moment the idea is admitted into society that
property is not as sacred as the laws of God, and that there is not a force
of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence. If
'Thou shalt not covet' and 'Thou shalt not steal' were not commandments of
Heaven, they must be made inviolable precepts in every society before it can
be civilized or made free." (A Defense of the American Constitutions,
1787)http://www.federalobserver.com/archive.php?aid=3481
In the backward places, (like Rensselaer County, New York where
the former DA who resigned was reputedly an ATV-rider http://www.propertyrightsresearch.org/dear_fellow_property.htm ),
the very government officials who are sworn to respect, uphold,
and enforce the Laws securing private property (e.g., land) may
instead combine with and abet the trespassers, creating situations
"like something out of 'Deliverance'" where landowners "can't
get any justice" and are instead treated like "criminals
instead of victims" for simply lawfully defending their property where
the police have failed to protect it. http://www.troyrecord.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=2721020&BRD=1170&PAG=461&dept_id=7022&rfi=8
The appropriate
legal remedies for landowners in such extreme situations may include:
1) the Forcible Defense of Premises (See: The Rights of NY
Landowners to Use Force, at www.billstclair.com/ferran)
including the use of "defensive erections" such as "Severe
Tire Damage" tire-spikes and/or 2) the invocation of the Federal
Ku Klux Klan Act (42 USC sections 1983, 1985 and 1986) against the deviant public
officials (See Part 1 and Postscript at www.billstclair.com/ferran)
and/or 3) quasi-political campaigns to force the resignation, re-education, or
un-election of the deviant public officials (see http://groups.yahoo.com/group/politics/message/9052
and http://www.motorcycle-info.com/atv/four_wheeler_atv/four_wheeler_atv_msg17885/four_wheeler_atv_msg17885.shtml )
Individual
ATV-riders will sometimes exploit the notoriety of local ATV-gangs, and
the ineffeciveness of the local Police, by playing the game of
"Good-ATV/Bad-ATV", for example, by warning a landowner that
if he does not allow the "Good"-ATVs to use (continue using) and
"patroling" his land, the Bad-ATVs will come (back). This is
a subtle form of extortion, which has also been exploited on a
larger scale by major state ATV associations to induce the voting public to
cede public lands and other concessions to the local ATV-Lobby that credibly
warns the public of continuing/increasing criminal conduct (e.g., trespass,
vandalism, vindictiveness, resistance to arrest) on the part of ATV-riders
if their political demands are not complied with.
ATV-riders
counsel each other: "Remember
the Bigger our NUMBERS the louder our VOICE"
http://parishville_atv_club.tripod.com
If
the NUMBERS of ATV-riders who do NOT RESPECT that private LAND
(Terrain) is their neighbors' private "PROPERTY," then The ATV-Trespass
Problem has the potential to escalate into a Civil War on the
scale of the historical conflict between Farmers and Free-Range Cattlemen in
the Old West, except that because private land rights have been settled and
fixed by Law, the conflict would be properly characterized as an
American Socialist Revolution.
The
basic premise of the New York ATV-lobby, and of their politicians in
office, that ATV-crimes should not be resisted and dealt with in the
same manner as crime in general, but should instead be REWARDED by
public funding, and by concessions from private land-owners, is
offensive to many landowners, taxpayers and to many observers. As
Albany, NY, Political Columnist Fred LeBrun stated about the New York
ATV-lobby : "We will not give in to Terrorists." "Too often
in the past, local law enforcement hasn't taken the violations of property
rights committed by ATVs and snowmobiles seriously enough. That's got to change,
and fast. No way should we be blackmailed into providing an ATV trail system
for a crowd that wants to beat us up to do it." Albany Times Union,
January 12, 2003"
http://www.swoam.com/SWOAMForum/0000003f.htm
Land-owners
should form and join associations, and political coalitions, local and
national, and coordinate with existing associations to form a
"common defense" against ATV-terrorists and the Socialist
(Thieving ) Land-Reforms they will demand. Useful Links and
Contacts may include:
Property
Rights Foundation of America http://prfamerica.org
http://www.eco.freedom.org/el/
http://directory.google.com/Top/Society/Issues/Property_Rights/?il=1
http://www.propertyrightsresearch.org
National
Association of Reversionary Property Owners
>>>>>
http://home.earthlink.net/~dick156/)
Lisa
Philipps, grassroots coordinator, Natural Trails and Waters Coalition,
wrote: "I work for a group called the Natural Trails and Waters
Coalition(NTWC). As a part of my job, I work directly with folks that have
private properties that are being trespassed by ATVs and dirtbikes. I
have spoken with people from all across the country that have been
terrorized by these vehicles.
In fact, this last week [March 2003] several of these individuals
accompanied NTWC staff to Washington DC to meet with influential members on
the Hill to address this problem. I would be very interested to hear any
follow up stories or information from your readers/members on this issue.
lisa@naturaltrails.org "
http://www.swoam.com/SWOAMForum/00000020.htm
NTWC
note concerning ATVs: http://www.naturaltrails.org/VroomReport/4-2-02.html
Even
if a landowner chooses to passively surrender his valuable
property to the first invaders to arrive on ATVs (instead of defending his
lawful possession and the value thereof), more ATVs than he can tollerate will
likely follow, and the landowner may still later find himself threatened,
vandalized, or even sued by such trespassers even when the intruders themselves
have created and assumed the risk of injuring themselves on the premises by
defying "No Trespassing" signs and other warnings.
"The problem is ATV abuse of landowner's rights.... [T]he
growing misuse of ATVs ... is the outdoor recreation issue of the
decade."
http://www.theunionleader.com/articles_show.html?article=5937
"The problem
isn't the guy who rides an ATV around his yard and uses it to haul a few
trees or work around the farm, it's the yahoo mentality out there that you
can rip and roar with these things and the more you tear up someone's
property the more fun it is. ... [T]he problem is enforcement."
http://www.canoe.ca/CNEWSLaw0107/15_off-cp.html
New
York's RULES FOR OPERATION OF ATVs are prescribed in the Vehicle and Traffic
Law, including section 2403, which prescribes that "No person shall
operate an ATV on the private
property of another without the consent of the owner or lessee
thereof." http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?cl=128&a=82
The NY Rules (above) and brochures distributed by the NY DOT
state:
"To operate an ATV on private land, you must have permission of
the land owner or lessee. If you receive permission, make sure you know the
boundaries of the property, and respect any special restrictions or requests
of the land owner."
http://www.nydmv.state.ny.us/broch/c29.htm
The laws of New York state, though sufficient on their face, have
failed to curtail ATV trespass, and ATV-riding trespassers are increasing in
numbers, and increasing in defiance and belligerence against
land-owners. Stopping ATV trespassers on private land is generally not
a priority of the police. The People of the state of NY simply could
not afford to pay for the amount of Police time that would be necessary to
control the ATV trespass problem. Not even to protect the endangered
Karner Blue Butterfly has the police presence in the Pine Bush been
increased. Albany's Common Council President, Helen Desfosses,
explained: "In addition to Albanys important efforts to get more police
onto the streets, .... citizen involvement is crucial to crime
prevention." (http://www.albanycouncilpres.com/Articles/albany-future.shtml)
It is obvious to many that if the ATV problem is to be
effectively controlled, citizen-enforcement of the law must be undertaken by
those nearest to the problem (on private property) who recognize their civic
duty, and who are informed of the privileges and risks of citizen's arrest.
The risks of personal confrontations with defiant trespassing offenders are
grave. The risks to pedestrian landowners attempting to stop masked ATV-offenders
is is even greater. Many Police Officers and landowners have been
run-over by ATVs while trying to stop or apprehend ATV offenders. Even
the youngest ATV riders are fully aware that ATVs can be used as Weapons:
"Teen Arrested For Running Over Deputy: A 16-year-old
accused of running over a Davidson County deputy with an all-terrain vehicle
was arrested. Investigators said that Deputy Chris Stillwell was attempting
to stop the teenager when he was struck by the vehicle. The teen was
reportedly the driver of the ATV. There is no word on the condition of the
deputy. The teen is in the Davidson County Jail under a $75,000 bond."
Yahoo News, October 11, 2001 (No longer posted on web)
ThePiedmontChannel.com
VIRGINIA
WARDEN ATTACKED BY JUVENILE ATV
DRIVER (JULY
3, 2003)
"A
15-year-old juvenile will be tried as an adult for charges that stemmed from
an incident in which he struck Lieutenant Ron Henry, a game warden ...
with an ATV."
Charges Made in Case of Game Warden Struck and Injured by ATV (6/27/03)
http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=128-06272003
"On
July 29, police officer Chad Marks was struck by an ATV while on patrol.
[T]here has been damage caused by ATV's to village property, including trees
with shallow root systems and creeks and waterways that the ATV's run
through." http://www.the-daily-record.com/past_issues/08_aug/010820dr1.html
"Man on ATV shot after running over officer" (in
Florida)
http://www.polkonline.com/stories/070600/sta_man-shot.shtml
(AP 7/06/2000)
(Landowner run over by 4-wheeler)
http://www.thesunlink.com/news/2000/april/0405code.html
(A
19-year-old man led security on an ATV chase ...on private property.)
http://www.poconorecord.com/1999/local/exd42284.htm
(Blown engine ends ATV chase)
http://www.pacentral.com/lsentinel/news_01302.htm
"A
lengthy pursuit was necessary before the subject finally stopped. He only
did so because his ATV became hung up while crossing a log. The rifle, which
started out in a sling, was in the ATV operator's lap at the time of the
stop." http://dnr.state.il.us/Law3/report/2002/Jan2002.htm
The
fact that ATV-trespassers often wear masks (on helmets) concealing their
faces can embolden many of them to behave as very brazen
criminals when confronted by landowners.
Audubon Magazine reported:
"The 500 combat missions flown by Colonel George Buchner over
Vietnam didn't prepare him .... Buchner found trespassing ATV
operators popping wheelies in his private trout stream. When he demanded
their names, one rider dismounted and attacked him, breaking his nose. When
he fenced his posted stream and property, ORV operators cut the wire and
pulled the stakes. When he reinforced the stakes with cement, they knocked
them down. [H]e received death threats, his streetlights were shot out, his
mailbox smashed, his driveway seeded with broken glass, the eight-strand
fence on his Christmas tree farm cut in 88 places, and his wife run over.
"Robin was screaming," he said, "and the guy calmly cranked
up his machine and finished running over her. He had come through
multiple barriers, multiple posted signs, three fences, and a gate. She had
a hematoma extending the length of her leg." In July 1996 Buchner
confronted two trespassing ATV operators, one of whom knocked him down.
"Basically, [ATV]s ran me out of Michigan," Buchner told me from
his Arizona home."
http://magazine.audubon.org/incite/incite0003.html
On
Dec. 26, 2002, the Albany, NY Times Union, in at article titled,
"Putting the brakes on ATVs" reported:
"ATV
operators are riding rampant through privately-owned fields and yards
[and forestland in Rensselaer County, New York]. "More and more
residents are upset because of disruptions
or damage to their property,"
Swartz said. "It's clear something needs to be done to protect property
owners." Some reports have indicated that more than 50
riders at a time,
in some instances, have come from out of town to take advantage of the wide,
open spaces, he said. Few, if any, have permission to traverse the routes
that they do. The frustration is shared by residents and police as the
number of ATVs has increased in recent years, he said. ... And
while most vehicles are registered, the inherent problem occurs when they
are ridden on private property, Merola added: "You're not going to
catch them unless you're chasing them on an ATV yourself."
Incoming legislator Keith Hammond said ATV riders ... "These
people ride your property like they own it." ...
"ATVs are great for recreational purposes when properly and safely
used," he said. "And the vast majority of riders are respectful
and courteous. However, there is a small minority of riders that have
little respect for other people's property."
The
full-face masks (e.g., helmets and visors) which ATV-riders wear, and which
they often refuse to remove when confronted by landowners, tend to embolden
them to disrespect landowner's rights, and even to threaten and harm
landowners and to commit crimes against landowners in retaliation. As
the Georgia Supreme Court observed:
"We
know that '[p]ublic disguise is a particularly effective means of committing
crimes of violence and intimidation. From the beginning of time the
mask or hood has been the criminal's dress. It conceals evidence, hinders
apprehension and calms the criminal's inward cowardly fear.' M. Abram &
A. Miller, "How to Stop Violence! Intimidation! In Your Community"
(August 15, 1949). A nameless, faceless figure strikes terror in the human
heart. But, remove the mask, and the nightmarish form is reduced to
its true dimensions. The face betrays not only identity, but also human
frailty.
State
v. Miller,
398 S.E.2d 547, 550 (Ga. 1990). http://www.state.wv.us/wvsca/docs%5Cspring96%5C23050.htm
New
York state statutes provide ample power to landowners to exclude, stop, and
remove ATV trespassers, and to volunteers to defend public and private
property from damage, and to make arrests:
"6. A person may, pursuant to the ensuing
provisions of this article, use physical force upon another person in
defense of himself or a third person, or in defense of
premises, or in order to prevent larceny of
or criminal mischief to property, or in order to
effect an arrest or prevent an escape from custody. Whenever
a person is authorized by any such provision to use deadly physical force in
any given circumstance, nothing contained in any other such provision
may be deemed to negate or qualify such authorization." NY Penal
Law s 35.10(6)
http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?cl=82&a=12
On
January 3, 2003, Albany Times Union political columnist Fred LaBrun
stated that in Rensselaer County, New York, "these instruments
from hell" are running amok and "cops make an all-too-infrequent
stop of some yahoo churning up the landscape on somebody else's private
property. ... There have been a number of testy
confrontations recently in the rural parts of the county between ATV riders
operating illegally and property owners. Something very bad is going
to happen if this persists. Private property is, after all, private
property. Owners get edgy about that." http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=88794&category=REGION&newsdate=1/3/2003
"It's
the yahoos among them that make life difficult for all of us. Those people
should lose their right to continue terrorizing us. ... Riders
need to show they've got the maturity to deserve something other than the
yahoo label. Or they need to turn in the keys to their toys."
http://www.easterntrail.org/lib/atvart2.html
It
would be ideal to have an Olde-Fashioned Forfeit-to-Landowner (or,
Forfeit-to-Capturer) statute on the books in each state.
This would deter ATV-trespass and encourage law-enforcement.
BARRIERS
TO PREVENT OR TERMINATE ATV-TRESPASS
Fortunately,
NY Common Law provides alternatives to personal confrontations. The
highest Court of New York has declared that landowners have a common law
privilege (a "property right") to "destroy" the
"instrument of trespass" (e.g., vehicle) used by "defiant
trespassers." People v. Kane, 142 N.Y. 366, 37 N.E. 104 and 131 N.Y.
111 ("The ownership and possession of property confer a certain right
to defend that possession, [including] a defense of it which results in an
assault and battery, and that which results in the destruction of the means
used to invade and interfere with that possession.") In Reed v.
Esplanade Gardens. Inc., 91 Misc.2d 991, 993 (1977), the court noted the
general principle that when dealing with the chattel (e.g., vehicle
tires) of a trespasser on the true owner's land the law is that "[I]n
such circumstances THE LANDOWNER IS PRIVILEGED TO deal with the personal
[property of another] in a manner which would otherwise be a trespass [to
chattels, including DETENTION or DAMAGE] or a conversion [e.g., the complete
destruction, distress, or disposal] IF THE ACT IS reasonably NECESSARY TO
PROTECT THE ACTOR'S INTEREST [e.g., necessary to "prevent or
terminate" a trespass upon his premises]. However, "the
actor may be liable if he uses unreasonable [i.e., un-necessary] force which
causes harm to the chattel [unnecessarily]." Reed. Accordingly, a
NY land-owner is privileged to damage an ATV as "necessary" to
terminate a trespass, or to effect an arrest.
Further,
once an ATV is discovered, and is captured trespassing on private property
in defiance of conspicuous "No Trespassing" signs, the New York land-owner may be privileged
to impound and detain the vehicle until his damages are paid, pursuant to
the common-law remedy of "trespass damage feasant" (also
known as "distress damage feasant"). http://www.cs.tcd.ie/Proinnsias.OCillin/lawcourse/tort/trespass.htm
http://69.1911encyclopedia.org/T/TR/TRESPASS.htm
; Sindle v. NYCTA, 33 N.Y.2d 293, 307 N.E.2d 245 (1973).
The New York landowner may also condition the release of the ATV upon
payment of an additional fixed "Reasonable Redemption Fee" (e.g.,
$100, plus per diem) to compensate the landowner for the trouble
or expense of impounding, safeguarding, storing and/or releasing,
the vehicle, if Notice of the fixed Redemption Fee has been Conspicuously
Posted along the roadway (e.g. driveway or other ATV "trail").
Fieldston Prop. Owners Assn. v. City of New York, 16 NY2d 267, 269; Forest
Hills Corp v. Kowler, 80 AD2d 630; Forrest Hills Corp. v. Baroth, 147 Misc.
2d 404.
Accordingly,
NY Penal Law Sec. 35.05 provides: "Unless otherwise limited by the
ensuing provisions of this article defining justifiable use of physical
force, conduct which would otherwise constitute an offense is justifiable
and not criminal when:1. Such
conduct is ... authorized by law...."
NY
statutes specifically authorize the use of non-deadly "force ... in
defense of premises" (i.e., land). It is lawful for landowners in NY
(and other common law states) to defend their land from trespass-by-vehicles
by deploying roadspikes, nails-in-boards, caltrops, etc. as is customarily
done at private parking lots in New York and many other states. Road
spikes, caltrops, spiked fences, etc. deployed at a perimeter are generally
considered to be "non-lethal" force:
http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/policy/UseOfForceWeaponsDir.htm
http://www.zarc.com/english/non-lethal_weapons/nlt-usaf.html
www.geocities.com/SoHo/Gallery/3452/nonleth.htm
(After
"Yet another death", farmers/landowners deploy nails-in-boards to
fight ATV trespass) http://hv.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=004B4h
As noted, peaceful landowners in the US are stopping trespassing
ATVs in the basically the same way that Police, parking lot owners, and
drive-in movie theaters stop other types of vehicles, by lawfully placing
NAILS (road spikes) in their paths. In this manner, the risks inherent
in personal confrontations (between landowners and violent
ATV-trespassers) can be reduced.
Farmers seemingly have perfected the technique:
"I would start by posting the property 'Danger!!-- Private
Property -- Keep Out!!' (big red letters are nice...) for a week or two, and
then I would proceed to sink some nice holes in the ground on either side of
the roads & drive. Fill 'em with concrete and set a hasp into it. Get a
nice big board, like a 2x12 cut to span between the two hasps. Drive some
nice ten-pennies into them thickly, and then put screw eyes at either end.
Chain the boards to the hasps with padlocks. After they've lost a few tires,
they may rethink their route. You can easily unlock one end and drag it at a
right angle out of the way when you want to get thru for field work, then
lock it back up at night. -- Julie Froelich, December 06, 2000."
http://hv.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=004B4h
Commercially manufactured Road Spikes like Antech Co's Guardian (http://www.antech.com/Guardian/TC/IG%20CB.html)
or DeltaScientific's SabreTooth and Doorking's Model 1610 traffic spikes
(which can do much more tire damage than simple round nails) are currently
employed at gates of the Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge
campgounds and at the Great Swamp Watershed in NJ (http://www.greatswamp.org/gsmappg1.htm),
and at numerous parking lots, airports, and drive-in theaters and numerous
other private properties around the country.
See: DeltaScientific's SabreTooth http://www.deltascientific.com/gallery13A1_2.htm
("The Sabre Tooth will puncture all pneumatic tires including steel
belted radial and large truck tires.")
"Provides
extremely effective one-direction unmanned traffic control by puncturing the
tires of errant vehicles." (http://www.antech.com/Guardian/TC/IG%20CB.html)
Doorking's Model 1610 traffic spikes: http://www.agwaccess.com/doorking2.html
PMG's "roadspike" product is marketed for "perimeter
control" for security purposes:
http://www.law-enforcement.com/buyersguide/SubcategoryPage.cfm?MajCatCodeParam=18&MinCatCodeParam=050
"The Traffic Controller ... can be used as a free entrance or
exit in your parking facility ... and includes 20 steel cut blade
teeth." http://www.texassecuritygates.com/traffic.htm
Comercially manufactured caltrops (called "PORTABLE
ROADBLOCKS") are recommended for "use with extreme caution and
discretion" to "protect private property." http://www.spymall.com/catalog/gadgets-index.htm
Good & Cheap "NAILS IN THE PATH WORK GREAT."
"The 4-wheelers are trespassing and causing damage and death to
pets. Here in NC the police are slow to respond (often 2 hours later) they
say its a low priority issue. I asked about the boards with nails. On your
"privately" owned and "posted" land you can lay boards
down and if they have nails in them well it is on your land. (officially).
Unofficially if the trespassers get hurt most will sue. And with our
"liberal" courts the landowner is about 75% sure to loose. Wish
the odds were better."
http://hv.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=004B4h
Spiked fences are common in NY cities: "Mechanical
devices and animals may be used for the protection of property.... Barbed
wire, fence spikes, and broken glass are reasonable since they serve to
exclude.... Spring guns and traps on the other hand are dangerous
weapons.... Vicious dogs, with protensities to kill or seriously injure, are
generally treated like mechanical devices except that a posted warning in
such cases has [in New York state] served as a defense." Rights
Incident to Possession of Land, sec. 28.18 Forcible Resistance Against
Intruders (KF575 M367).
Pursant
to New York's Recreational Use Statute, an owner of premises, even if not
"posted", "owes NO DUTY to keep the premises SAFE for entry
or use by others" pursuing listed activies. The statute also
states that an owner has "NO DUTY to give warning of any hazardous
condition or use of or structure or activity on such premises." GOL s
9-103
"Under
a Recreational Use Statute, recreational users are treated in the same
manner as trespassers and thus the landowner owes them no duty of
care."
http://www.americanwhitewater.org/archive/article/124/
"Landowners
are not bound to issue warnings, inspect their property or repair dangerous
conditions for trespassers. However, landowners do not have the right to
intentionally injure trespassers, except
to protect themselves or their
property."
http://cnrit.tamu.edu/cgrm/whatzhot/liabel.htm
A
California court construing language in a landowner immunity statute similar
to language in NY GOL s 9-103, concluded that a justified use of physical
force against a trespasser was a lawful intentional "use of" land
and therefore not a "willful" act depriving the landowner of
statutory immunity. Similarly, the NY High Court declared that the
placement of a cable stretched across a road to stop trespassing vehicles is
a lawful condition or use of land, even if the landowner's effort to give
notice of the hazard later proved insufficient to prevent a decapitation
injury. But a wilful or malicious failure to give notice of the
hazardous condition or use of property could give rise to liability.
Sega v State, 60 NY2d 183.
"A Youngsville
[NC] father believes his son's death was the result of another man's attempt
to keep four-wheel drivers off his property.
Joshua Woodruff, 22, 203 William Pearce Way, died Sunday at
WakeMed in Raleigh from internal injuries he suffered after driving a
four-wheeler into a steel cable. ... Woodruff's father, James
Woodruff, said that when his son and a few other of his friends driving
four-wheelers entered the path, there was no cable on the road. "When
they were on their way back home, the cable was up and 'Josh' didn't see
it." Lt. Nelson Ross of the sheriff's department said Woodruff
must have been going pretty fast, but he could not give an exact speed he
was traveling. The cable was about two-and-one-half feet off the ground. ...
Woodruff was not supposed to be driving a four-wheeler on the property,
according to Ross. ... Arnold
had put up no-trespassing signs at two entrances on the property.
Arnold told deputies that he put a steel cable along the road to stop trucks
from coming in and dumping trash on his land. Ross said Arnold has a
long history of problems with people dumping trash and riding all terrain
vehicles on his land without his permission. He put up signs, fences,
and a eventually the cable to prevent their activity, but was still
unsuccessful. Ross said Arnold has reported several trespassing
incidents to the sheriff's department in the past three years. "They
even tore one of his fences down," Ross said. Roy Frazier, owner
of Frazier's Store at the N.C. 96 and 98 intersection, said many of his
farming friends have complained about people riding four-wheelers across
their property and dumping trash. "That's what is happening all around
here," he said. Frazier said there are cables up everywhere,
leaving few places for children to ride their three- and four-wheelers.
North Carolina law prohibits driving vehicles on private property without
permission from the property owner. Ross
said Arnold did not do anything illegal by placing the steel cable in the
road to protect his property. Ross also said no one will probably be charged
in the case. "It appears to be just an unfortunate accident," he
said. ...
James Woodruff said he hopes the incident
will protect someone else's child in the future. "But my son is
gone." " http://www.wakeweekly.com/archives/2002/Mar21-1.html
(March 21, 2002)
In
some states an unpainted (e.g., gray) cable could be regarded as a
"trap" imposing civil and criminal liability upon a landowner
unless augmented by bright ribbons etc. "A
trap is a hazard that is known to the landowner or person in charge, but
concealed to others. If
a trespasser is injured by a trap, the landowner is open to liability for
the injury, even though the trespasser violated he law by trespassing.
The following have been held unlawful traps for which the landowner can be
held responsible: (1) setting a spring gun, (2) creating obstacles on a
public roadway, (3) installing a cable gate across a private road known to
be used by he public. To reduce he liability risks for #3, the road should
be posted as private access. If a cable or chain is used to close a road, it
should be flagged with brightly colored flags or other materials." http://www.cwmuutahwildlife.org/trespass.htm
and http://www.wakeweekly.com/archives/2002/Mar21-1.html
The
NY High Court has also held that: "where landowners fence or post
"No Trespassing" signs on their private property or, by some other
means, indicate unmistakably that entry is not permitted, the
expectation that their privacy rights will be respected and that
they will be free from unwanted intrusions is
reasonable."
http://www.law.cornell.edu/ny/ctap/079_0474.htm
Responsible
landowners will post conspicuous "NO TRESPASSING" or
"POSTED" signs, and/or signs specifically warning trespassers of
hazards, risks of property damage, and/or that physical force (i.e.,
the infliction of some physical injury and pain) may be used to exclude,
expel or to arrest them. In Palumbo v. State, 487 So.2d (Fla.App.
1986), the plaintiff was injured when he entered a lake containing
alligators. He alleged that he did not see the alligators and did not read
the posted warning signs. In the opinion of the court, it was
irrelevant whether plaintiff had actually read the signs. As long as he was
given a reasonable opportunity under the circumstances to read the warning
message, he would be charged with the knowledge that "would be obvious
to him upon the ordinary use of his senses."
The National Forest Service has been constructing "tank
traps" to exclude trespassing motorized vehicles (e.g., ATVs) from the
lands at Targhee. "[E]arth berms..., backed by pits." "The
traps were [installed] to restrict [vehicular] access to public lands in the
national forests." "The dangers posed by the traps were made
clear [when a man] testified ... he was at the front of a small group of
snowmobiles when his vehicle was violently thrust up into the air. He came
to rest in a pit with a broken back." http://www.heartland.org/environment/may99/traps.htm
The berms were installed after "gates" proved ineffective
to prevent ATV "trespass."
http://66.109.128.22/wildrock/wd4116/wd162/Gate-Crashing-Report.pdf
http://www.fs.fed.us/r4/curlew/Targhee/travel_plan/code15.html
"Private
property owners are finding off-road vehicle damage to be an escalating
problem financially, ecologically and emotionally. On March 24, 2002
the Portland Press Herald documented the story of Harlan Brown whose
experience parallels the problems other landowners are having with off-road
vehicle trespass. Brown has been posting signs, and has gone as far as
installing heat and motion sensors on his property to aid him in preventing
further damage to his property from off-road vehicle abuse. Corporate
landowners like International Paper and Portland Natural Gas Transmission
System are trying to mitigate ATV and other off-road vehicle damage and
trespass on their corporate properties as well. Some of steps these
corporations have taken to mitigate damage including hiring security
officials, installing large boulders and putting up barricades."
http://www.naturaltrails.org/VroomReport/4-2-02.html (Off-Road
Vehicle Trespass - a National Issue)
"Harlan
Brown has installed heat- and motion-sensor cameras in the woods to catch
ATV riders on his property so he can press criminal trespass charges. He'd
already put up "No ATV" signs and blocked paths that ATV riders
had cut through his woods. He even stretched a steel cable with ribbons
between two sturdy oaks, but somebody cut down one of the trees."
http://www.seacoastonline.com/2002news/3_26maine.htm
Motion-Activated
Film Cameras can now be purchased for under $100 dollars. In New York,
deploying "motion-activated cameras" to identify and prosecute
unknown ATV-trespassers is generally a waste of time and money unless you
can get pictures of the unmasked FACES of the ATV-offenders. This is
because ATV-offenders in New York generally do not display readable
registration "plates" required by Law to be displayed and will
swap helmets, clothing, and even ATVs with relatives or
members of their ATV-gang from time to time for the specific
purpose of avoiding being easily identified and prosecuted based
upon the external appearance of their equipment. New York
State Police generally treat even close-up pictures of masked
ATV-offenders and their ATVs as being "useless" for prosecution purposes.
But, ATV-offenders will sometimes remove their helmets and face-masks
when they have to stop to destroy and remove substantial barricades or
barriers placed to impede their trespass, such as many small trees,
boulders, or brush placed across the trail. Be careful to
disable or cover the "flash" on such cameras, or the ATV-offenders
will easily find them and steal or damage them.
Landowners
who rely upon cables or chains to prevent vehicular trespass can
"armor" their anchor trees by pounding dozens of steel common
nails into each tree (later cutting the nail-heads off to prevent
their extraction and to minimize bark damage as the tree grows) to
deter chain-saw damage. This will not kill the trees, but will
prevent them from being cut-down. Alternatively, the tree-owner can nail
(with barn nails or lag bolts) several heavy steel 6-foot tall 2inch-wide
pipe-hanger type straps vertically over the bark of the trees down to
their roots. This is a more visible deterrent to
chain-saw attacks upon the trees, but as the tree grows, the vertical straps
may cause scarring of the bark many years down the road (but this is still
better than having strangers cut down the whole tree).
"Wayne
Harper, of the Portland Natural Gas Transmission System, says his company is
spending $100,000 a year and more to repair ATV damage along its pipeline
right-of-way in southern Maine. He has put up fences and signs. "They
usually last less than two days," he says with a touch of bitterness.
"Wooden gates are chainsawed. Metal gates are torched. We've hired
private security firms. We brought in heavy equipment to build boulder
barricades. Without exception ATVers have gone over, around, or through
them." " http://www.easterntrail.org/lib/atvart5.html
"The
company repaired the damage, put up signs and hired a retired policeman to
provide security. It imported dump truck loads of large boulders and built
substantial barricades to protect Branch Brook. In December 2000, the
company added riprap and completely rebuilt the streambanks. Six months
later, Harper said, "it looked like we never did anything." http://www.seacoastonline.com/2002news/3_26maine.htm (Landowners
take aim at irresponsible ATV riders )
The ATV Trespass problem is serious and pervasive throughout the US:
In
March of 2003, Maine's Governor acknowledged "That ATV trespass and
property damage are out of control and costing fishermen, hunters,
snowmobile, and other outdoorsmen loss of access to private land"
http://www.easterntrail.org/lib/ATVconf.pdf
(Lawsuit
alleges neighbors cut an ATV trail)
http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/Main.asp?SectionID=25&SubSectionID=354&ArticleID=55309
Off-roader's Observation:
"I wish [ATV riders] would realize that they are the reason so
many of the trails and private lands are being closed. [A] large majority of
the ATV crowd has no respect for the land that they ride." http://www.psychowheeling.com/custom4.html
A
responsible ATV-rider advises other ATV-riders that: "You're
protecting yourself by turning in the bad guy. If you don't, then people
think we're all bad guys. [T]he few bad apples need to be
educated, made to join clubs where they'll be taught how to ride
responsibly." http://www.easterntrail.org/lib/atvart3.html
"Riders
like Roger Roy, of ATV Maine, are welcome on the trails they ride because
the club has obtained permission. He said responsible ATV riders ride only
on marked trails and keep an eye out for riders abusing the land.
Other solutions that came out at the meeting were to raise fines for
violators, require riders to use bigger license plates and provide more
money for enforcement. But the sentiment voiced over and over again was that
ATV riders need to unite with other recreational riders, create clubs and
prove to landowners that they can respect the [boundaries of land-owner
designated] trails." http://www.easterntrail.org/lib/atvart4.html
"Today,
the largest constituency organized to open up parks and wilderness areas to
roads and development is no longer Wise Use loggers and resource industry
employees but suburban owners of motorized dirt bikes, ATVs, snowmobiles,
and personal watercraft. While millions of Americans are having a love
affair with fast, loud off-road vehicles, their owners are creating major
user conflicts with tens of millions of other outdoor recreationists who
enter wilderness areas believing they've left the noise and pollution of the
freeway behind." http://www.progressive.org/june03/helv0603.html
"And
a [Arizona] State Land Department official is promising to close the
property if ATV (all-terrain vehicle) and dirt bike owners don't act more
responsibly. ... "The noise and dust are really
bad," said Steve Bidwell, a resident of Carefree Shadows. "Kids
are out there five evenings a week running over everything including the
cactus. They just don't seem to care." "In some places it's
just heartbreaking." Off-roaders have gone off state trust land onto
Scottsdale property and destroyed native tree seedlings that had been
nurtured for two years for transplant into the preserve."
"It's not only illegal, but they're destroying the very thing they're
supposed to be out there enjoying," Carla said. "We have asked the
State Land Department to start closing these areas to motorized
vehicles." Off-road operators need a recreational permit to be on
state trust land and are required to stay on established paths. Geeck
said only about one in 10 have the permit, and many mistakenly think cutting
new trails is part of the off-road experience." ... The
problem, Geeck said, is there are many more violators than law enforcement
personnel available to catch them. " http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/scottsdale/articles/0722sr-offroad22Z8.html
ATVs stir dust, controversy, The Arizona Republic (July 22, 2003) (or try
this link)
"This
(http://sierraactivist.org/article.php?sid=5836 )
is a perfect example of the myth that legal places to ride will prevent
illegal riding. [M]any riders still choose to hack, trample and damage
property they do not own, without permission, instead of going up the road
to the legal place. They just don't want to pay their fair share for their
own enjoyment! And if it is impossible or impractical to enforce the laws,
than the sales of dirt bikes and quads [to landless people] should be banned
in the state. " http://sierraactivist.org/article.php?sid=5836
"If
they were generally responsible, ATV riders would have wider access to
trails .... There would be fewer barriers and "no-trespassing"
signs. But that's a big "if" at this point." http://www.easterntrail.org/lib/atvart2.html
ATV
rider bragged to friends about setting farmer's barn on fire.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A29962-2002Feb5.html
Strawberry crop is burned by retaliating ATV trespassers:
"'Over 99.9 percent of the snowmobile people are great. They
generally police themselves. ATV users -that's a different story.' ...
'I've called several wardens in the past to report ATV-abuse problems
and the response time was at least five hours.'"
outdoors.mainetoday.com/hunting/011128underwoo.shtml
(Snowmobilers
say ATVs are tearing up and closing trails)
http://outdoors.mainetoday.com/snowmobiling/011206atv.shtml
"A
120-member snowmobile club that is losing trail access [said]: "We'd
like to see them form their own organization so they can get their own trail
system and stay off our trails," Don Roux, trailmaster for Sno-Goers,
said of ATV users. "And," he said, "we'd like to see
more enforcement." http://www.easterntrail.org/lib/atvart4.html
"The
Harrisons didn't want ATVs on their land, but agreed to allow snowmobiles.
'ATVs have a tendency to dig and I think they do more damage.'" http://outdoors.mainetoday.com/snowmobiling/030209sledclubs.shtml
"Also
the idiots with the ATVs who think 'hey the trails are closed to
snowmobiles, but I can get through with my ATV though.' These people too are
causing landowner conflicts. You could have 10,000 snowmobiles go across a
farmer's field in the winter and you can't even tell in the summer, but all
it takes is one ATV or a 4wd truck to damage the property in muddy
conditions and the farmer gets pissed, refuses to allow use of his land for
the trail and the club is scrambling for alternates."
http://www.snowmobilefanatics.com/snofan/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=4232&whichpage=2
http://webusers.warwick.net/~u1001223/Articale1/Article1.htm
(ATVs INVADING)
http://www.courier-tribune.com/nws/atv22.html
(ATV rodeo wrecked lawn. "They've got no respect for people's
property now.")
http://www.pocahontastimes.com/news0426.html#7thstory
(Town overrun by ATVs)
(ATVs turning town into 'war zone')
http://www.timesleaderonline.com/local/archives4/loc_apr00.html
(EFFECTS of ATV'S on hiking TRAILS)
http://www.go.ednet.ns.ca/~larry/ATVs/atvrally.htm
(Nature pays the price as ATVs hit Minnesota's woods)
http://www.startribune.com/stories/531/1633242.html
(ATV Trespass damage in VT municipal forest)
http://www.cybertopia.net/reporter/headlines/2851atv.html
(Hunting Lands closed and spoiled because "a deer can
figure out that an ATV means danger" and landowners reject ATV-use
by hunters.)
Peterson's
Hunting Mag, (www.huntingmag.com)
Mar./Apr. 2002. p18.
(trails ruined by disrespectful ATV riders)
http://www.easterntrail.org/news/atvart.html
Vandal
on ATV smashes new citrus groves (January
28, 2003)
http://www.polkonline.com/stories/012803/loc_ATVvandal.shtml