Tearing up NH: Off-roaders anger many landowners
By PAT HAMMOND
Sunday News Staff
Link
Dunbarton land owner Jerry Winer looks over the damage to a trail along the powerlines done by tresspassing 4-wheelers and ATVs. (BOB LAPREE/UNION LEADER)
The damage inflicted by irresponsible drivers of off-highway recreational vehicles on woodlands, farms and other private property may be threatening the New Hampshire tradition of keeping private lands open to the public for recreational use.
Some landowners, frustrated over what they say is a growing incidence of vandalism and destruction of woods, farmland and wetlands by trespassing OHRVs, are considering posting their lands.
Such an action is a tough call for New Hampshire landowners, who have traditionally respected the freedom of visitors to hunt, fish and hike across their land.
Penalizing the destructive few would also penalize the majority of recreationists, who have done nothing wrong. And limiting tourists’ access to some of the state’s most pristine lands could reduce the revenues the tourist industry generates for the Granite State.
With fewer attractive private properties to visit, tourists might scale down their visits, thus reducing tourism revenue. On the other hand, when lands in current or recreational use leave that status, the landowners lose the property tax reduction that went with that status.
“Historically,” State Police Lt. John K. Scarinza, commander of State Police Troop F in Twin Mountain, and himself a woodland owner, said, “the benefit we have here is the unspoken rule that if they are responsible and the land is not posted, the public is allowed to use that land. But out West a lot of the land is posted and gated and you pay a fee to utilize those lands.
“The Northeast has not encountered a fee system, to date. But if somehow these problems are not solved, I can see that more land is going to be posted and more restrictions are going to be put on the public use,” Scarinza said.
Seeking answers
“We are kind of at the end of our rope,” said Canaan forester Rick Evans of the harm OHRVs are doing, to woodlands in particular.
“I am sure this kind of damage is not high on the priority lists of the police or Fish and Game. There is no enforcement. But I hope that somewhere there is an answer that is agreeable with all of us.”
Maj. Timothy J. Acerno of the Law Enforcement Division of the Department of Fish and Game is putting together a workshop with the prosecutors of the state of New Hampshire to, in his words, “get word across (to the prosecutors) that this is serious.”
Acerno has nothing but praise for members of the Northeast Four-Wheel-Drive Association, based in New Hampshire. The association coordinates with Fish and Game to run patrols in various areas identified as having high four-wheeler traffic.
The club members, in their pickups, stop four-wheelers that may be on someone’s land illegally and explain the relevant laws to them and pass out brochures.
Fish and Game patrol cars are standing by but don’t conduct the patrols, Acerno said.
“The state of New Hampshire relies on private landowners to keep their property open,” Acerno said, “so we have to protect their rights.”
The broad brush
Anyone who lays blanket blame on all ATVs for the damage done by all mechanized vehicles to private property will likely hear from Richard Goudarzi, executive director of the Granite State ATV Association.
“I am disappointed in the way everybody portrays us,” said Goudarzi, whose association represents 23 clubs comprising around 3,000 members. There are 30,000 registered ATVs in the state, he said.
“We have trail patrol training that’s available to all the clubs, for training ATV riders to go out on trails and be ambassadors for safe driving,” Goudarzi said. “We fully endorse the New Hampshire Trails Bureau policy of ‘stay on the trails or stay home.’”
Rhonda Henault is the state liaison for the Northeast Four-Wheel-Drive Association, composed of eight clubs with anything from 10 to 100 members per club.
“I am really appalled,” said Henault of the four-wheel-drive trucker’s destruction to the Thomson Family Tree Farm land. “It was not anyone who is a responsible four-wheeler.”
Henault, who is also the motorized vehicles representative on the Statewide Trails Advisory Committee, said the association has obtained some private landowner permission (for four-wheeling) and has several trails systems for members only.
“We want to develop more public areas,” but incidents such as the Thomson property damage have made private landowners leery of allowing four-wheelers access, she said.
Snowmobiles and ATVs are required to register and receive a sticker from the state before they use their vehicles recreationally. The proceeds from the registrations are returned to the snowmobile and ATV associations to use in maintaining the trails.
But, Henault said, probably fewer than 20 percent of four-wheel-drive owners use their vehicles for “four-wheeling,” making it unlikely that such an arrangement would be adopted for them.
“We would like to move toward the sticker program as well so we can get a better handle on it,” Henault said. “We want people prosecuted. We want people to be aware this isn’t legal. We don’t want those few individuals who do this to ruin it for everyone else.”
Drawing the line
John Harrigan — a North Country publisher in Colebrook and a Sunday News columnist — has watched the steady increase in numbers of OHRVs coming up from “below the Notches.” He and his wife Nancy have 450 acres of land on two farms and three woodlots and it’s all open, he said, for picnicking and berrypicking and bird watching.
“We keep our land open for snowmobiles, too,” Harrigan said, “but we are not willing to do that for ATVs and four-wheelers. The snowmobiles are here when the land is frozen and not much damage can be done. But ATVs can do a tremendous amount of damage.
“The snowmobile clubs, who are really tenacious about safeguarding what they have built for 40 years, are not willing to let the ATV bunch erode that,” Harrigan said. “We see SUVs and pickup trucks going down a road on a Sunday afternoon just as we see people trailing ATVs, and they are covered with mud, like a badge of honor,” Harrigan said.
“Our question is, whose dirt is this: Is it ours? And who presumed to drive through our dirt and soil and take it south?” Harrigan asked.
By PAT HAMMOND
Sunday News Staff
Link
Dunbarton land owner Jerry Winer looks over the damage to a trail along the powerlines done by tresspassing 4-wheelers and ATVs. (BOB LAPREE/UNION LEADER)
The damage inflicted by irresponsible drivers of off-highway recreational vehicles on woodlands, farms and other private property may be threatening the New Hampshire tradition of keeping private lands open to the public for recreational use.
Some landowners, frustrated over what they say is a growing incidence of vandalism and destruction of woods, farmland and wetlands by trespassing OHRVs, are considering posting their lands.
Such an action is a tough call for New Hampshire landowners, who have traditionally respected the freedom of visitors to hunt, fish and hike across their land.
Penalizing the destructive few would also penalize the majority of recreationists, who have done nothing wrong. And limiting tourists’ access to some of the state’s most pristine lands could reduce the revenues the tourist industry generates for the Granite State.
With fewer attractive private properties to visit, tourists might scale down their visits, thus reducing tourism revenue. On the other hand, when lands in current or recreational use leave that status, the landowners lose the property tax reduction that went with that status.
“Historically,” State Police Lt. John K. Scarinza, commander of State Police Troop F in Twin Mountain, and himself a woodland owner, said, “the benefit we have here is the unspoken rule that if they are responsible and the land is not posted, the public is allowed to use that land. But out West a lot of the land is posted and gated and you pay a fee to utilize those lands.
“The Northeast has not encountered a fee system, to date. But if somehow these problems are not solved, I can see that more land is going to be posted and more restrictions are going to be put on the public use,” Scarinza said.
Seeking answers
“We are kind of at the end of our rope,” said Canaan forester Rick Evans of the harm OHRVs are doing, to woodlands in particular.
“I am sure this kind of damage is not high on the priority lists of the police or Fish and Game. There is no enforcement. But I hope that somewhere there is an answer that is agreeable with all of us.”
Maj. Timothy J. Acerno of the Law Enforcement Division of the Department of Fish and Game is putting together a workshop with the prosecutors of the state of New Hampshire to, in his words, “get word across (to the prosecutors) that this is serious.”
Acerno has nothing but praise for members of the Northeast Four-Wheel-Drive Association, based in New Hampshire. The association coordinates with Fish and Game to run patrols in various areas identified as having high four-wheeler traffic.
The club members, in their pickups, stop four-wheelers that may be on someone’s land illegally and explain the relevant laws to them and pass out brochures.
Fish and Game patrol cars are standing by but don’t conduct the patrols, Acerno said.
“The state of New Hampshire relies on private landowners to keep their property open,” Acerno said, “so we have to protect their rights.”
The broad brush
Anyone who lays blanket blame on all ATVs for the damage done by all mechanized vehicles to private property will likely hear from Richard Goudarzi, executive director of the Granite State ATV Association.
“I am disappointed in the way everybody portrays us,” said Goudarzi, whose association represents 23 clubs comprising around 3,000 members. There are 30,000 registered ATVs in the state, he said.
“We have trail patrol training that’s available to all the clubs, for training ATV riders to go out on trails and be ambassadors for safe driving,” Goudarzi said. “We fully endorse the New Hampshire Trails Bureau policy of ‘stay on the trails or stay home.’”
Rhonda Henault is the state liaison for the Northeast Four-Wheel-Drive Association, composed of eight clubs with anything from 10 to 100 members per club.
“I am really appalled,” said Henault of the four-wheel-drive trucker’s destruction to the Thomson Family Tree Farm land. “It was not anyone who is a responsible four-wheeler.”
Henault, who is also the motorized vehicles representative on the Statewide Trails Advisory Committee, said the association has obtained some private landowner permission (for four-wheeling) and has several trails systems for members only.
“We want to develop more public areas,” but incidents such as the Thomson property damage have made private landowners leery of allowing four-wheelers access, she said.
Snowmobiles and ATVs are required to register and receive a sticker from the state before they use their vehicles recreationally. The proceeds from the registrations are returned to the snowmobile and ATV associations to use in maintaining the trails.
But, Henault said, probably fewer than 20 percent of four-wheel-drive owners use their vehicles for “four-wheeling,” making it unlikely that such an arrangement would be adopted for them.
“We would like to move toward the sticker program as well so we can get a better handle on it,” Henault said. “We want people prosecuted. We want people to be aware this isn’t legal. We don’t want those few individuals who do this to ruin it for everyone else.”
Drawing the line
John Harrigan — a North Country publisher in Colebrook and a Sunday News columnist — has watched the steady increase in numbers of OHRVs coming up from “below the Notches.” He and his wife Nancy have 450 acres of land on two farms and three woodlots and it’s all open, he said, for picnicking and berrypicking and bird watching.
“We keep our land open for snowmobiles, too,” Harrigan said, “but we are not willing to do that for ATVs and four-wheelers. The snowmobiles are here when the land is frozen and not much damage can be done. But ATVs can do a tremendous amount of damage.
“The snowmobile clubs, who are really tenacious about safeguarding what they have built for 40 years, are not willing to let the ATV bunch erode that,” Harrigan said. “We see SUVs and pickup trucks going down a road on a Sunday afternoon just as we see people trailing ATVs, and they are covered with mud, like a badge of honor,” Harrigan said.
“Our question is, whose dirt is this: Is it ours? And who presumed to drive through our dirt and soil and take it south?” Harrigan asked.
