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F&G tables more ATV restrictions for this year
Split public opinion doesn't warrant action, official says
Roger Phillips
The Idaho Statesman | Edition Date: 03-04-2006
All-terrain vehicle users will see no new restrictions in the Southwest Region this year, but the issue is not dead.
Fish and Game Commissioner John Watts of Boise led a unanimous vote Friday to postpone additional restrictions and to allow hunters, land management agencies, ATV groups and others to come up with solutions that answer complaints the Idaho Department of Fish and Game has received about ATVs.
"There's no doubt we put a shot across the bow and it got people's attention," Watts said. "Now I want all the groups that said they're willing to help to come together and find a win/win solution."
ATVs have soared in popularity. There were about 100,000 ATVs and off-road motorcycles registered in Idaho last year, which is nearly the double the number from five years ago. Most of that growth is in four-wheel ATVs.
Many of those vehicles are used during hunting seasons, and F&G has received numerous complaints about people illegally hunting from the vehicles, using them to travel cross country off established roads and trails and interfering with other hunters.
"It's one of the most common complaints made by hunters in southern Idaho," F&G big game manager Brad Compton said. "It ranks right up there with wolves."
The Blue Ribbon Coalition, a Pocatello-based advocacy group for motorized recreationists, is already working on an action plan to address ATVs and hunting, BRC public lands director Brian Hawthorne said.
"It's a legitimate issue," he said.
Only two of the 18 hunting units in the region currently restrict ATVs to established roads.
In February, F&G surveyed hunters about restricting off-road vehicles in the entire Southwest Region by limiting them to open roads capable of carrying a full-sized vehicle. In the random survey of 704 hunters, 55 percent said they favored expanding the restrictions, and 42 percent opposed it. The rest were undecided.
In another Web-based poll the agency conducted, 1,154 people responded, 53 percent opposed restrictions and 45 percent favored them.
Another 105 people commented at open houses, with 61 percent opposing and 35 percent supporting the restrictions.
After the random survey, F&G recommended four new units for ATV restrictions: units 22, 31, 39 and 40.
Watts, who made the motion to postpone any additional restriction for a year, said the surveys did not show strong support for the restrictions.
"I'm not going to put this kind of imposition on a 50/50 split," he said.
F&G biologists said use of ATVs is affecting deer and elk herds in units 22 and 31, because hunters have an easier time getting to bucks and bulls. Watts said that needs to be addressed.
"If I was going purely with the biology, I would" restrict ATVs, Watts said. "I am confident one year isn't going to tip any herd over."
Hawthorne said the Blue Ribbon Coalition is not satisfied with F&G's current ATV restrictions, which he said discriminates between hunters and people who don't hunt because the restrictions apply only to hunters.
He wants to see multiple approaches to resolving the problems with ATVs and hunters, including more education, enforcement and better interaction between agencies.
Bob Bond, a hunter from Eagle who uses an ATV, said he opposed F&G's restrictions because land management agencies such as the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management should be regulating ATVs, not F&G.
He agrees that "irresponsible use of those vehicles is a problem." He supports more enforcement of existing rules, and stiffer penalties for violators, especially those who go off roads and designated trails. But he said enforcing existing laws will continue to be a challenge.
"If you go off-trail, you should be held accountable, but how you get there is another story," Bond said.
Copyright 2005 Knight Ridder
http://www.idahostatesman.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2006603040347
Split public opinion doesn't warrant action, official says
Roger Phillips
The Idaho Statesman | Edition Date: 03-04-2006
All-terrain vehicle users will see no new restrictions in the Southwest Region this year, but the issue is not dead.
Fish and Game Commissioner John Watts of Boise led a unanimous vote Friday to postpone additional restrictions and to allow hunters, land management agencies, ATV groups and others to come up with solutions that answer complaints the Idaho Department of Fish and Game has received about ATVs.
"There's no doubt we put a shot across the bow and it got people's attention," Watts said. "Now I want all the groups that said they're willing to help to come together and find a win/win solution."
ATVs have soared in popularity. There were about 100,000 ATVs and off-road motorcycles registered in Idaho last year, which is nearly the double the number from five years ago. Most of that growth is in four-wheel ATVs.
Many of those vehicles are used during hunting seasons, and F&G has received numerous complaints about people illegally hunting from the vehicles, using them to travel cross country off established roads and trails and interfering with other hunters.
"It's one of the most common complaints made by hunters in southern Idaho," F&G big game manager Brad Compton said. "It ranks right up there with wolves."
The Blue Ribbon Coalition, a Pocatello-based advocacy group for motorized recreationists, is already working on an action plan to address ATVs and hunting, BRC public lands director Brian Hawthorne said.
"It's a legitimate issue," he said.
Only two of the 18 hunting units in the region currently restrict ATVs to established roads.
In February, F&G surveyed hunters about restricting off-road vehicles in the entire Southwest Region by limiting them to open roads capable of carrying a full-sized vehicle. In the random survey of 704 hunters, 55 percent said they favored expanding the restrictions, and 42 percent opposed it. The rest were undecided.
In another Web-based poll the agency conducted, 1,154 people responded, 53 percent opposed restrictions and 45 percent favored them.
Another 105 people commented at open houses, with 61 percent opposing and 35 percent supporting the restrictions.
After the random survey, F&G recommended four new units for ATV restrictions: units 22, 31, 39 and 40.
Watts, who made the motion to postpone any additional restriction for a year, said the surveys did not show strong support for the restrictions.
"I'm not going to put this kind of imposition on a 50/50 split," he said.
F&G biologists said use of ATVs is affecting deer and elk herds in units 22 and 31, because hunters have an easier time getting to bucks and bulls. Watts said that needs to be addressed.
"If I was going purely with the biology, I would" restrict ATVs, Watts said. "I am confident one year isn't going to tip any herd over."
Hawthorne said the Blue Ribbon Coalition is not satisfied with F&G's current ATV restrictions, which he said discriminates between hunters and people who don't hunt because the restrictions apply only to hunters.
He wants to see multiple approaches to resolving the problems with ATVs and hunters, including more education, enforcement and better interaction between agencies.
Bob Bond, a hunter from Eagle who uses an ATV, said he opposed F&G's restrictions because land management agencies such as the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management should be regulating ATVs, not F&G.
He agrees that "irresponsible use of those vehicles is a problem." He supports more enforcement of existing rules, and stiffer penalties for violators, especially those who go off roads and designated trails. But he said enforcing existing laws will continue to be a challenge.
"If you go off-trail, you should be held accountable, but how you get there is another story," Bond said.
Copyright 2005 Knight Ridder
http://www.idahostatesman.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2006603040347
