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All-terrain vehicles (ATVs) have made headlines over the past year. The city of Providence has taken action to crack down on use, seizing 30 ATVs in the last two weeks of August, up from 50 seized each year in the past four years. Outside of the Rhode Island capital, ATVs and other all-terrain vehicles remain a constant problem on conservation lands.
Earlier this year, all-terrain vehicle operators drilled through two historic stone walls in Cumberland so their ATVs could enter the property.
“It was actually a neighbor [to the land trust], we could see the tracks leading to his garage, ”said Randy Tuomisto, chairman of the Cumberland Land Trust. “All over our property there is evidence of ATV use.
The Cumberland Land Trust owns and maintains approximately 640 acres. Signs are installed to inform visitors of what is allowed and what is prohibited. Mountain bikes are prohibited.
Tuomisto said ATVs are a constant problem, to the point that if the land trust is considering purchasing new property, they are seriously considering the likelihood of current or future ATV use in the field.
“We’ve turned down properties where ATV use is so bad that we know we can’t control it, because of its huge jumps and everything,” he said.
The land trust repaired the wall and filed a police report. Tuomisto said the resident responsible for the damage apologized and even helped with repairs.
The damage to another stone wall was too large to repair, so the trust set up a gate. There have been no further serious forays into the land, according to Tuomisto.
When it comes to conserved land, neighbors often think they have the right to go to the land even if it is private property. At Wolf Hill Preserve, run by the Smithfield Land Trust, ATVs and sometimes motorcycles enter illegally.
Paul Harrison, chairman of the Smithfield Land Trust, said the trust properties had seen a sharp increase in ATV use and complaints last year. Harrison posted signs along all entrances to Wolf Hill prohibiting motor vehicles. More importantly, he said, just talking to ATV riders has helped curb a lot of behavior.
“I’m trying to stop them and explain to them in a reasonable way why they can’t come in,” Harrison said.
Violations of the ban result in fines of up to $ 500. But Harrison said even with the surge in ATV activity last year, the properties had not suffered significant damage.
Last winter, all-terrain vehicles tore up a trail through Knight Farm off Burlingame Road in Cranston. West Bay Land Trust chairman Douglas Doe said the vehicles damaged wetlands, undergrowth and trees. ATVs and other motorized vehicles are prohibited on the property.
The Cumberland Land Trust believes that encouraging hiking is the best way to deter the illegal use of motor vehicles on conserved land. The Land Trust recently completed an eight-year project to install new trail systems for hikers. Hiking on the Cumberland Land Trust property increased by 70% over the course of the project, according to Toumisto.
ATVs damage historic monuments, disrupt habitats, destroy stream crossings, shred vegetation and cause soil erosion. As ATVs traverse pristine land, their weight – from 400 to 1,000 pounds – pulls air out of the healthy soil, compacting it. When rain falls on compacted soil, the soil cannot absorb water, causing runoff.
These carried away feelings will disrupt the aquatic habitats of fish, amphibians and other wildlife. Sediment introduced into water bodies can block light for photosynthesis, alter a water body’s ability to provide oxygen, and wetlands can lose their function as natural filters to purify water. Compacted soil also interferes with the growth of plant roots, including those that wildlife can feed on. Soil erosion exposes roots, damages trees and destroys trails for hikers.
As on real estate, ATVs have also been an issue on Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) land. DEM reported 41 citations of ATVs operating illegally on state land last year, 35 in 2019 and 33 in 2018. So far this year, 25 citations have been issued.
DEM regularly sees the use of ATVs and other motorized vehicles in all management areas. DEM’s Fish and Wildlife Division regularly receives calls complaining that ATV riders are ruining hunts.
Last year, in the Nicholas Farm Management Area in Coventry, DEM responded to complaints from ATV drivers ruining the farm’s harvest hay crops. Workers erected barricades off the bike path near Carbuncle Pond, but the off-road motorcycles simply rolled between the rocks in the management area, according to DEM.
“All you need to do is take a walk down Nicholas Farm or the Big River gravel bank and it probably won’t be long before an ATV or rider comes by,” said Michael Healey, director of operations. DEM public affairs.
ATV riders are also injured, which is of further concern to the state, as many of the land managed by DEM is – by Rhode Island standards anyway – remote. Runners broke their bones in two incidents in 2019 and this year, and one runner in 2020 was left with a puncture injury.
“Usually DEM will try to cordon off all access points, usually by putting up some sort of barrier such as logs or rocks, but it is easy for someone riding an off-road motorcycle to bypass any obstacle we have. have installed, ”Healey said.
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