OHVs raise ire of outdoorsmen
Vehicles hurt habitats, scare game away
By Charlie Meyers
Denver Post Staff Writer
Among the hundreds of grumbles Dick Myers hears each year, this one stuck in his mind and, perhaps, his gut.
"I remember it was the season when we had the record elk harvest and this guy from Pennsylvania called in to complain about the hunting," said Myers, communication center manager for the Colorado Division of Wildlife.
"He said we'd lied to him about all the elk we had. In the course of chatting with him, I asked about his hunting process. He said he'd hunted hard for six days.
"Every morning he got up and drove his all-terrain vehicle into a meadow where he waited. After driving back to camp for lunch, he repeated the process, but never saw an animal.
"I also talked to people who hunted a few miles away and they all filled their tags," Myers continued. "I think they really loved this guy, because he chased all the elk over to them."
This anecdote highlights a problem that grows more severe with each passing year. Of all the gripes from concerned outdoorsmen, one theme stands out - off-highway vehicles, or, if you prefer, all-terrain vehicles.
"We easily field a couple hundred complaints each hunting season, and the number is rising," Myers said.
Outdoor enthusiasts - and this runs the gamut of anglers, campers and animal watchers - hold no middle ground when it comes to OHVs. They either love them or hate them, mostly the latter. Few nonowners have anything good to say.
Each autumn, the convoy of trucks and trailers - most from out of state - ferrying OHVs to the Colorado mountains seems to grow longer. Certainly that's the case for the log of protests. The mere mention of the noisy vehicles invokes a flurry of spitting and cursing usually reserved for political campaigns.
Which is precisely what the debate over OHVs turns out to be. The argument took another twist at a recent meeting of the Colorado Wildlife Commission, where the policy-making panel issued a policy statement aimed at greater cooperation with other federal and state agencies to reduce adverse effects on wildlife populations and hunting opportunity.
In addition to conflicts among hunters and assorted habitat damage, wildlife managers express concern rampant OHV use adversely impacts efforts to achieve the degree of harvest essential to keeping elk herds in balance.
This directive comes on the heels of a more concrete regulation three years ago placing severe restrictions on the way firearms could be transported on OHVs, essentially making it impossible to actively hunt from the vehicles.
But that hasn't slowed the key concern, which is the way users buzz around - sometimes illegally on trails posted closed by the U.S. Forest Service or Bureau of Land Management - in a way that frightens game.
The result is to push deer and elk far away from roadways and nearby places where many hunters choose to wait. Animals retreat into distant hideaways where most hunters never go.
"We have people running up and down on OHVs starting with bow season. Animals know that's not a good sound. They learn what's to follow," said commissioner Rick Enstrom, who seeks some middle ground in regulating hunting vehicles.
"I know a regular guy has to have a way to get animals out of the field. Hunting isn't a sport just for the rich, young and beautiful."
Phil James, commission chairman, also emphasized this search for a common-sense approach to this growing public concern.
"I'd like to encourage a plan that reflects an element of reasonableness on OHV use on public land," James said. "We have this increasing public complaint about the noise. It spoils people's enjoyment."
While the new decree - which calls for greater enforcement authority by DOW officers on public land - signals a healthy awareness of the problem, it lacks any real mechanism for solution. But it does offer the prospect of seeking legislative authority to place certain restrictions on OHV use, such as limiting the operating hours as a way to reduce disturbance of game animals.
The greatest limiting factor in dealing with disruptive OHV use is the lack of sufficient enforcement personnel, either from DOW or federal agencies.
All this leaves game managers scratching through the regulatory toolbox for effective instruments to deal with the problem. Lacking enforcement, the discussion quickly turns to compliance.
"I believe the answer lies more in education," Enstrom said. "Why make a regulation you can't enforce? We have to educate OHV owners on the proper way to use them."
How to make this connection is not yet clear. But you can bet there'll be a lot more elk chased over the hill before the message sinks in.
Vehicles hurt habitats, scare game away
By Charlie Meyers
Denver Post Staff Writer
Among the hundreds of grumbles Dick Myers hears each year, this one stuck in his mind and, perhaps, his gut.
"I remember it was the season when we had the record elk harvest and this guy from Pennsylvania called in to complain about the hunting," said Myers, communication center manager for the Colorado Division of Wildlife.
"He said we'd lied to him about all the elk we had. In the course of chatting with him, I asked about his hunting process. He said he'd hunted hard for six days.
"Every morning he got up and drove his all-terrain vehicle into a meadow where he waited. After driving back to camp for lunch, he repeated the process, but never saw an animal.
"I also talked to people who hunted a few miles away and they all filled their tags," Myers continued. "I think they really loved this guy, because he chased all the elk over to them."
This anecdote highlights a problem that grows more severe with each passing year. Of all the gripes from concerned outdoorsmen, one theme stands out - off-highway vehicles, or, if you prefer, all-terrain vehicles.
"We easily field a couple hundred complaints each hunting season, and the number is rising," Myers said.
Outdoor enthusiasts - and this runs the gamut of anglers, campers and animal watchers - hold no middle ground when it comes to OHVs. They either love them or hate them, mostly the latter. Few nonowners have anything good to say.
Each autumn, the convoy of trucks and trailers - most from out of state - ferrying OHVs to the Colorado mountains seems to grow longer. Certainly that's the case for the log of protests. The mere mention of the noisy vehicles invokes a flurry of spitting and cursing usually reserved for political campaigns.
Which is precisely what the debate over OHVs turns out to be. The argument took another twist at a recent meeting of the Colorado Wildlife Commission, where the policy-making panel issued a policy statement aimed at greater cooperation with other federal and state agencies to reduce adverse effects on wildlife populations and hunting opportunity.
In addition to conflicts among hunters and assorted habitat damage, wildlife managers express concern rampant OHV use adversely impacts efforts to achieve the degree of harvest essential to keeping elk herds in balance.
This directive comes on the heels of a more concrete regulation three years ago placing severe restrictions on the way firearms could be transported on OHVs, essentially making it impossible to actively hunt from the vehicles.
But that hasn't slowed the key concern, which is the way users buzz around - sometimes illegally on trails posted closed by the U.S. Forest Service or Bureau of Land Management - in a way that frightens game.
The result is to push deer and elk far away from roadways and nearby places where many hunters choose to wait. Animals retreat into distant hideaways where most hunters never go.
"We have people running up and down on OHVs starting with bow season. Animals know that's not a good sound. They learn what's to follow," said commissioner Rick Enstrom, who seeks some middle ground in regulating hunting vehicles.
"I know a regular guy has to have a way to get animals out of the field. Hunting isn't a sport just for the rich, young and beautiful."
Phil James, commission chairman, also emphasized this search for a common-sense approach to this growing public concern.
"I'd like to encourage a plan that reflects an element of reasonableness on OHV use on public land," James said. "We have this increasing public complaint about the noise. It spoils people's enjoyment."
While the new decree - which calls for greater enforcement authority by DOW officers on public land - signals a healthy awareness of the problem, it lacks any real mechanism for solution. But it does offer the prospect of seeking legislative authority to place certain restrictions on OHV use, such as limiting the operating hours as a way to reduce disturbance of game animals.
The greatest limiting factor in dealing with disruptive OHV use is the lack of sufficient enforcement personnel, either from DOW or federal agencies.
All this leaves game managers scratching through the regulatory toolbox for effective instruments to deal with the problem. Lacking enforcement, the discussion quickly turns to compliance.
"I believe the answer lies more in education," Enstrom said. "Why make a regulation you can't enforce? We have to educate OHV owners on the proper way to use them."
How to make this connection is not yet clear. But you can bet there'll be a lot more elk chased over the hill before the message sinks in.
