| Thursday, May 31, 2007 | Volume 18, Issue 21 |
Late amendment opens more public land to ATVs
Supporters of limits on off-highway vehicle travel on state forests were dealt an unexpected blow in the waning days of this year’s legislative session, as a provision that would have limited ATVs and other off-highway vehicles (OHVs) to mapped trails in northern Minnesota was weakened in a last minute political maneuver. But the senator who helped craft a political compromise on the issue this session said progress was still made in the effort to rein in OHV use on state lands.
Sen. Satveer Chaudhary, DFL-New Brighton, the new chair of the Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee, said he came into the 2007 session intent on fixing the loopholes in the state’s OHV laws that currently allow riders to travel virtually anywhere on state forest lands in northern Minnesota. Chaudhary wanted to limit OHV use to trails that are included on official OHV maps, which are being produced by the Department of Natural Resources.
And that was the result of legislation that he crafted earlier in the session, legislation that passed both the House and Senate and was signed by Gov. Tim Pawlenty earlier this month. But that just-signed law was altered days later in a conference committee maneuver by some members of the House who wanted to give OHV riders more latitude in northern Minnesota. The maneuver amended the new law to give OHV riders in state forests in northern Minnesota (defined as north of U.S. Hwy. 2) the right to use undesignated trails in addition to the mapped routes being developed by the DNR.
David Dill, DFL-Crane Lake, who spearheaded the last minute amendment, said the new bill put too many trails, especially old logging roads, off limits to OHVs.
The state’s biggest ATV group, the All-Terrain Vehicle Association of Minnesota (ATVAM), appeared less worried about that than Dill however. Ray Bohn, a lobbyist for ATVAM said the group was pretty pleased overall with Chaudhary’s legislation, which he said had adopted a number of his group’s suggestions for funding initiatives, including a provision to provide up to $250,000 a year to help ATV clubs coordinate volunteer educators. Bohn also credited Chaudhary with promoting a more civil debate on the issue. “We were pretty pleased we could carry on a dialogue with some of those people on the other side of the issue. That’s something new,” said Bohn.
And supporters of more OHV limits felt the measure offered them some items from their wish list as well. Matt Norton, a lobbyist with the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy, said his group was willing to swallow some provisions it didn’t favor, particularly state funding of OHV clubs, to get the one concession they really wanted— limiting OHVs to designated routes on state forests.
ATVAM’s Bohn said the two sides were never that far apart on that particular issue. “We want designated trails, too,” said Bohn. “And we want people on those trails.” Bohn said most OHV groups envision a trail system similar to that developed for snowmobilers, which allows riders to visit an area and spend a weekend riding the trails.
But Dill said he worried that local riders would lose out on their right to use some logging roads and other trails that won’t appear on DNR maps. “We took a look at Beltrami State Forest,” said Dill, citing an example. “There are about 400 miles of mapped trails that would appear on the map and 400 miles of access routes (such as old logging roads) that the DNR doesn’t want to put on the map. I absolutely insisted that we keep access to those routes,” he said.
The legislation also allows ATV riders to continue to go off trail on state forest lands to retrieve big game. Dill’s proposal would take effect June 1, 2009, when the DNR expects to have maps showing ATV routes ready.
Dill said it eliminates the need for signs posting ATV routes. “You will be responsible as a rider” to know where routes are on the DNR maps, he said, adding that the legislation closes a loophole that would allow ATV riders to create trails independently and establish new routes.
But not everyone views Dill’s provision that way. Norton complains the new law is so ambiguous as to be almost impossible to enforce. “The new rule says stay on mapped trails, but the second provision says that that doesn’t apply on unmapped trails. When is anybody in the wrong?” he asked.
“Dill is making the law so complex as to be meaningless,” said Kristin Larsen, a resident of the Cloquet Valley state forest in southeast St. Louis County.
Norton said his group views the amended law as a step backwards, and said it’s the same kind of last minute arm-twisting approach that undid an earlier compromise crafted in 2003. That compromise exempted new OHV trails from the environmental review process, in exchange for a law that required OHVs to stay on those trails. But that requirement was eliminated two years later in the waning hours of the 2005 session, after considerable pressure from then-Senate Majority Leader Dean Johnson. It was two steps backwards for supporters of OHV limits, having given up their demand for environmental review of new trails, without getting anything in return.
Norton said the latest maneuverings have a similar feel. “It’s like deja vu,” he said.
Sen. Chaudhary said he understands that some are disappointed, but he says the new legislation is a step forward for controlling OHVs in the state. “The principle of the rule still applies,” he said. While unmapped trails will still be open in northern Minnesota forests, Chaudhary said the DNR will be discouraging their use. He acknowledges the new law is unclear, but said that lack of clarity will encourage OHV users to stick to mapped trails. “When in doubt stay on the map. That’s the culture we’re trying to establish,” he said.
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