State Representative Nicholas Gorham / Photo by Richard McCaffrey

Carbuncle Pond is getting trashed by all-terrain vehicles (ATVs). Known as a pristine haven of solitude in western Coventry near the Connecticut border, the state wildlife management area has been overrun by dirt bikes and four-wheel off-road vehicles.

Just across the parking area from the boat launch used by trout fishermen, ATVs climb a 45-degree slope to invade the management area surrounding the pond. The damage is considerable. Some plants are ripped out of the ground by spinning wheels, while others are killed by compacted soil. Once the plants are gone, the soil quickly erodes, exposing rocks and poor quality sub-surface dirt, creating a gash in the hillside. Restoration, even if the state had the money, would require extensive work.

Nearby, at Spencer's Rock, the Mossup River gently slides several feet over smooth black rock into a calm pool. It's a beautiful picnic spot, but within a few feet is a Little League baseball diamond-sized gravel area devoid of trees or plants, thanks to illegal ATV riders spinning in circles, "making donuts." Similar problems regularly occur at other undeveloped areas throughout the state.

"We have so few areas left in Rhode Island you can enjoy for hikes and hunting and fishing, it's worth fighting for those areas," says state Representative Nicholas Gorham (R-Coventry). "They are evaporating into the hands of the ATV industry." The damage to Carbuncle Pond is particularly upsetting, Gorham says during a recent tour of the land, because his family donated the pond to the state in 1970 and he still lives within a short walk of Spencer's Rock.

Gorham currently heads a legislative commission grappling with ways to stop ATV damage to Rhode Island's natural areas. All off-road vehicle use on public lands was banned earlier this year after a permitted motorcycle event in June 2001 did major damage in Arcadia Management Area. ATV events are now allowed on 19-mile dirt road loop in Arcadia only twice a year. Motorcyclists and ATV users bitterly opposed the new DEM policy at public hearings, arguing that they had as much right to use public lands as hikers and bird watchers.

Bill Derby of West Greenwich, who represents the New England Trail Riders Association (NETRA) and serves on the Gorham commission, thinks the controversy over ATVs is overblown. Noting that many hiking trails also have erosion problems, he contends, "Our erosion problems are miniscule." Even if the land is damaged, it's worth it, he adds, explaining, "If five miles of trail are equal to three or four acres of land and there's 2000 people recreating on it, I don't think that's a bad trade-off for using that amount of land."

But as a visit to Carbuncle Pond illustrates, the damage is not confined. ATV users can literally go anywhere and they do. Gorham says illegal use in other management areas is also rampant, making deep ruts and invading the quiet of forests that the state has spent millions of dollars to preserve.

To solve the problem, Gorham proposes tougher penalties for illegal riders, saying the current $100 fine is not a deterrent. State officials don't track how often the fine is imposed, and enforcement is seen as difficult because of the challenge of adequately policing all of the state's natural areas. "They [illegal riders] do the equation and every time it's a go," Gorham says. Last year, Gorham proposed higher fines for repeat offenders: $500 for a second offense, and $750 plus forfeiture of the vehicle for a third offense. But the Joint Committee on Environment and Energy balked.

"The committee feels fines are not the answer," says the panel's chairman, state Representative Peter Ginaitt (D-Warwick). "Enforcement and education is the issue," he says, adding, "If we can't get them [the illegal riders], it doesn't matter if we fine them $500 or $100." The committee wants Gorham's commission to produce a different solution. Experience in other states also suggests that higher fines, especially if enforcement is not increased, will not solve the problem alone.

The heavily populated Northeast is struggling with ATV use, as off-road vehicle sales have tripled since 1993, according to the All-Terrain Vehicle Association, while sprawl and population growth concentrate riders in smaller and smaller areas. In October, the State of New Jersey banned ATVs from all public lands, increased fines up to $1000, and established regulations permitting the state to fine illegal users up to three times the value of damaged natural resources. The Garden State also established a committee to establish two sites for off-road vehicle use by 2005.

In New York, environmentalists defeated a proposed 100-mile ATV trail through state forests in the center of the state, calling the proposal a recipe for air and noise pollution. Neighboring Connecticut is considering setting land aside for ATV use, while also requiring all riders to complete a safety education course. Much to NETRA's dismay, the state's draft policy also proposes requiring ATV groups to act as concessionaires and submit environmental impact statements for trails on public lands.

Derby proposes that Rhode Island imitate Massachusetts and establish public areas for ATV riding. "You give people a quality experience," he argues, and "and they'll stay on the trails and work to maintain them. That's what's happening in Massachusetts." The Bay State allows ATV use on 152 miles of trails, primarily in five state forests in the western part of the state. In addition, motorcycle riding, but not four-wheel "quad" riding, is allowed on 33 miles of trails at Freetown-Fall River State Forest in Fall River and F. Gilbert Hills State Forest in Foxboro.

If Rhode Island set aside an area for ATV use, Derby says, NETRA would not object to higher fines on illegal use. The compromise appeals to Gorham, who comments, "Having seen the environmental carnage first-hand that is caused by these things, I'd be willing to look at any type of plan that would remove these things from management areas."

Derby proposes that a Rhode Island off-road club operate a system of trails on 120 acres of land south of Interstate 95 and north of Division Street in West Greenwich, which is owned by the Rhode Island Water Resources Board. But Malcolm Grant, the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management's associate director for natural resources, is skeptical. Rhode Island tried a similar arrangement in 1987 on land once intended for a drinking water reservoir, he recalls, and, "It didn't work." At first, Rhode Island Off Road Association members enthusiastically monitored the area, which includes large gravel pits, Grant says, but then the volunteers started to thin and the cooperative venture with DEM fell apart. Riders failed to register their vehicles, the Providence Journal reported at the time, strayed off marked trails, and broke safety rules, so DEM closed the area after less than six months.

Derby also remembers the failed experiment, but he faults an absence of training, inadequate trails, and a failure by DEM to prevent monster trucks from entering the property. "It was a free for all," he recalls. The area could succeed, he argues, if properly designed. "You give people a quality experience, they'll stay on the trails," he says, "and work to maintain them. That's what's happening in Massachusetts."

Elaine Maguire, property manager for the Water Resources Board, however, says no one has spoken with her about reopening the land to ATVs. She notes that 30 acres of old gravel pit that would be a prime ATV riding area are currently part of a land restoration project partially funded by the US Department of Agriculture. Illegal dirt bikers drove right across newly seeded areas, she reports, but they stopped after fencing was installed.

Massachusetts' experience with its ATV riding areas is also far from perfect. In return for access, dirt bike and ATV groups must perform 400 hours of maintenance at each state forest riding site and run classes on safe riding, explains Gary Briere, recreation bureau chief for the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Management. ATV riders build bridges, repair erosion, and reroute trails that are damaging the environment. The arrangement started in the mid-'90s after environmental damage and conflicts between hikers and bikers led Massachusetts to discontinue ATV use at 10 state properties.

The eight state forests with ATV trails have helped reduce illegal off-road riders "to a limited degree," says Briere. Safety classes, additional enforcement, and heightened public awareness about the need to ride on trails also helped moderate the negative effects of ATV riding, he says. But Lieutenant Edward Houde, spokesman for the Massachusetts Environmental Police, says there is still a lot of illegal use. "We have a major, major problem," he says, even though illegal use draws a $250 fine.

Dirt bikers may be easy to hear, but they can also be difficult to track down, stop and ticket. The biggest problem, according to Heather Clish, director of trails and riverways stewardship for the Boston-based Appalachian Mountain Club, "is an extreme lack of enforcement." Enforcement is also a problem in Rhode Island. With 47,000 acres of wildlife management areas to patrol, short-staffed DEM law enforcement officers cannot hope to catch many illegal users, says Grant.

ATV users also grumble about Massachusetts' 400-hour trail maintenance requirement. Gordie Coyle, treasurer of the Pilgrim Sands Trail Riders, the club responsible for trail work in the Freetown-Fall River State Forest, notes that horseback riders, hikers, mountain bicyclists, and even sled dog teams use the trails built by dirt bikers. "They have no work requirements," Coyle complains. "We're like the illegitimate step child. We have to work for our supper."

Issue Date: December 20 - 26, 2002