An Open Letter to the Minnesota DNR "Planners"

As a proud member of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, and a concerned citizen who lives near the areas of concern, I believe these comments, which are written very eloquently, need to be considered as testament to closing the OHV/ATV trails in the Mississippi Headwaters and Smoky Hills State Forests. *** Former Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth called off-road vehicle (ORV) abuse one of the “four threats” to the health of public lands.· Poorly managed OHV use damages hunter, angler, and other quiet-user experiences, adversely affects wildlife habitat and behavior (including big-game and fisheries), and impacts water quality.· OHV-caused soil compaction triggers a cascade of negative effects ranging from impacts on water quality to a shift in plant and animal communities. After vehicle tires compact loose soil, rain or snowmelt can no longer percolate fully, and the subsequent surface runoff generates hillside erosion. This is of particular concern in the MHSF and the Smoky Hills.· Steep hills and sandy soils make the MHSF/Smoky Hills area vulnerable to off-road driving damage and significant erosion already has occurred from illegal driving near and through the river and wetlands and on hillsides by lakes.· Closing OHV trails on state land in the forest is reasonable because hundreds of miles of OHV trails are already available on nearby county lands and in other state forests.· According to a 2000 Minnesota DNR “Awareness and Satisfaction Survey,” the statement that survey respondents disagreed with most was: “The DNR should establish more sites on public land for motorized off-road vehicle recreation.”· According to a 2002 “Minnesota Deer Hunters’ Opinions and Attitudes Toward Deer Management” survey, the typical Minnesota firearms hunter hunted with a group, used a tree stand at least some of the time, and did not use an ATV. Most hunted for the sport and to be with friends and family.· Multiple studies and surveys have shown that OHVs scare away big game and do not improve hunters’ success.· Former Forest Service and Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation biologist Alan Christensen, states flatly: “Roads are the single biggest problem on the landscape…It’s well documented and everything else pales in comparison.” · The approach of sharing public land sounds reasonable, but in practice it has often failed. What usually happens is that those who prefer quiet recreation are driven from areas where off-road driving becomes popular. So where’s the multiple use?· Data shows that the people of Minnesota who do not use OHVs vastly outnumber those who do (even among deer hunters in the north central and northeast part of the state). Those who recreate in non-motorized ways on public lands outnumber those who ride OHVs in terms of both the number of people and number of recreational days, and Minnesotans react negatively to suggestions that the DNR should supply more OHV trails in public satisfaction surveys when questioned about how DNR should cater to recreation tastes.· When hunting skill and effort is reduced to twisting a throttle, hunting and habitat disappear. Motorized hunters have to continually reach further. And thus it spreads. Like cancer cells, if the use of ATVs continues to grow unabated they’ll eventually kill the host. In this case, the host is hunting. *** It's absurd in this nation's time of crisis with global warming, dependence on foreign oil, and obesity/health problems...not to mention budget constraints and debt...that we are even considering wasting money and fuel and our environment by allowing increased use of ATV/OHVs...walking is probably the single best approach to some of our nation's health problems. I'm astonished and appalled...at the gratuitous pandering to the lobbyists who represent wasteful industries...and to people who wish to destroy our natural resources for their own chills and thrills. I invite you to come and witness the environmental degradation. I invite you to come and listen to the noise pollution.