Let me fill you in on a dirtly little secret MudBug. Trails are not being closed because they cost a lot to build and maintain etc. They are being closed because of riders who make a pain in the butt of themselves. The cost to mow or groom a trail is minimal... but if you have to pay a crew to come out every week to pick up truck loads of trash, or the local law enforcement is getting complaints every day from local citizens that are having "THEIR" rights violated every day, that is how trails get closed.

The challenge is to turn that around. You and I go out and organize a group of people that spend a weekend marking trials, grooming them, picking up garbage etc. AND we self police those that are acting out.. and I can almost guarantee that the trails will remain open for a very long time. But it takes involvement and education.

I want to believe that most people, if you explain it to them in non threatening terms will do the right thing. In most cases that is. Those that refuse to fall in line are asked to leave. We don't need them around in this sport. It is that simple.

P!$$ them off to the point where they go and do something else. Let them become someone elses problem. You are not going to reach them all. But I can bet that if you do that.. that if you give just one day of your season to the local authority and commit to them.. they are going to stick with you.

We live in a world where whole generations are what I call takers. They take it for granted that they have rights to do what ever they want, and don't care what that does to everyone else. They think trails just grow up out of the ground like grass. They wouldn't think of lifting a finger to make the trail better, or help with the million of little things that always do not get done because there is too little time or money.

They wreck things for everyone else but don't care because chances are they are not coming back anyway. Those people we can do without.

We have to grow a new generation of Giver's. People willing to spend a little time to pass things on a in a little better shape than what it was like when they found it. Those are the real winners here. They are the credable people.

I challenge you, and me to take that simple step. It starts with finding out who is in charge, and asking them what they need done and how can you help. It goes from there. If you have kids, put them to work. Show them the benefit of volunteering your time for a good cause. Not that you expect a reward.. but because it needed to be done, and you were there at that moment in time to do it. THAT is what our generation learned from our fathers, but has forgotten in this instant gratification world we created.

Some may call all this old fashioned values... well ,yeah. It worked for the people in the past, and it is what laid the groundwork so we can do what do now. Without that, there would not be a sport called ATV'ing.

Is there a cost.. sure there is. But if you and I don't get involved.. what is it going to cost us in the long run? It is easy for you and me to complain about it, it is much more to act on it....

 

I agree completely with what you said.. I'm from the "old school values" too.

We were unloading the 4wheelers and i guess a bunch of kids had a party out there the night before, cans and trash everywhere so i had gotten out 3 garbage bags from my truck, put my gloves on and just started picking up crap. when I looked up there sits the sherriffs car and both doors open, out comes the head man with the dept. of enviromental services and one really pissed off sherriff..

They made me stop picking up then they started going thru everything. Found a few letters with names on them, then the three of us finished picking up and threw it all in the police car trunk. boy was he pissed because he also rides out there.
--some body got a really big fine-- yea

 

I suspect you may have made a friend that day in the sherriff. That is a good thing and may come in handy some day. And here I thought I was the only guy on Earth that would do that.... Way to Go

 

Yes, in Utah if you even transport an ATV without a registration, they will ticket/impound.

 

I think people who use trails should get together, even if it's 10 of them and agree to pitch in 10 bucks a week to pay for clean up and maintenance. That'd be about $400 a month and probably more than enough to clean, with beer money to spare--of course after the ride not before or during.

As for transporting an unregistered ATV, what if it's been bought? Would you have to register it before taking it home?

My friend had his Yamaha Wolverine impounded because he had the wrong tag on it. He and his brother has identical Wolverines and the tags were flip flopped on accident. He had to pay $898 because the cop was being unfriendly. My friend even said "I live 2 miles away, I will show you"... but no avail.

It's getting worse and worse here.

 

It really isn't about the money. It is all about personal responsibility and personal commitment. If you really believe in what you say, then the personal action of picking up the trash and disposing of it properly should come naturally. Pulling dollars out of the pocket so someone else can pick up trash is not personal commitment. That would fall in the category of support. I hope you understand the difference.

I like the idea of getting a group together to attack the problem... only in this case, all of you go out and pick trash , mark trails, do some maintenence etc as a group. This will have a much bigger impact. You might even call the local newspaper or politicians and invite them to participate in the group efforts. It is POSITIVE reporting that will get others involved and shed a positive light on our sport. Politicians who know that there are ATV enthusiasts that are doing good things in the community and VOTE may be more symathetic to ATV issues the next time they sit down to discuss issues that involve us.

 

That's true, but if other a-holes make a huge mess that will take a lot of dough to clean that becomes a problem to people like me who want to clean, but also has mortgages and needs all the extra money he can get. The main problem with out trails is stolen cars, broken glass from the cars, burnt tires from the cars, engine parts strewn everywhere and we can not remove the cars because we can't salvage them without registrations, and can not be caught transporting stolen proerty... so we just move them out of the trail

Here's what we have to clean from out trails here:

 

Wow... that looks like a law enforecement problem to me.... Much more than your average beer bottle and burger wrapper... I hope the local law enforcement is getting plenty of encouragement to put some focus to this issue.

 

so i want to ride in the dunes and on missouri trails. what tags do i need

 

Now you are entering a very murky area that we that have been around for a lifetime have been complaining about for a long time. First off, there is no standard structure that all states follow. In my case, VA doesn't require any paperwork. But if I want to ride in Wisconsin, the machine needs to be registered. AND, if not, they will gladly register it for you, however when they do that, unless you can prove the taxes you paid on it, better be prepared to pay the sales tax all over again if you take them up on their offer. So, I could register it in PA for $25. The state will gladly take your money. Then go to WI and ride without the hassle. I wish I had known that before I purchased a large piece of land in WI just for riding. I figure driving 1200 miles to spend my liesure time in WI should be good enough, but with 5 machines on the trailer, that would have been a grand to shell out. Needless to say, I have chosen ot ride locally instead of being treated like a criminal.

My advice is to determine where you will be riding and check each state's requirements BEFORE committing to hotels etc. The burden is on you. Check out the Blue ribbon coalition, they have a lot of this data already put together. You may have to dig a little. But going to the various state government's websites will also put you on the right path too.