Task force’s proposed ATV reforms lack funds

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The Governor’s ATV Task Force this week released 46 suggestions for reducing accidents and improving the environmental responsibility of all-terrain vehicle riders, but observers are doubtful the ambitious reforms will be realized.

The task force wants to see game wardens working with ATV clubs to enforce new, stricter fines against trespassing and driving drunk. It also imagines an enlarged network of legal trails, and a fund for landowners to be reimbursed when irresponsible drivers go off-trail.

Great ideas, observers said – but where’s the money?

“Clearly, the bottom line is we have to fund all of this,” agreed Brian Bronson, a task force member and head of the Department of Conservation’s off-road vehicle division.

ATV enforcement has been a perpetual problem in Maine, peaking last year with dozens of new laws proposed in response to a record 319 crashes and countless complaints of property damage.

In fact, the Legislature’s public hearing on the bills had to be moved to the Augusta Civic Center to accommodate the crowds. And last March, 300 people tackled the problem at a Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine-sponsored ATV summit, where Gov. John Baldacci announced creation of the task force.

For those who have followed the debate, the task force’s recommendations are nothing new. Most are the sort of common-sense solutions that legislators and sportsmen have tried, and failed, to implement as the ATV problem grew.

Maine has 55,000 registered ATVs, and, with just a few scattered trails, riders are tearing through fields, forests and back yards from Presque Isle to Sanford.

The backlash from landowners has resulted in a loss of the traditional access to private land that snowmobilers, hunters and fishermen have relied on for decades.

Everyone points a finger at the lack of law enforcement. Even police officers agree that ATV enforcement falls through the cracks because no single agency has ever been given the authority for off-road vehicles.

This week, the ATV Task Force recommended that the Maine Warden Service take the lead.

Wardens frequently express frustration that ATV enforcement takes them away from their core mission – policing hunting and fishing.

But someone has to be in charge, and the warden service possesses the experience to do the job, task force member and Warden Col. Tim Peabody said Tuesday.

Under the task force’s plan, wardens would head cooperative “mobile strike forces” involving state, county and town officers whenever a serious ATV problem is identified. Similar efforts have been used to address ATV problems in Sanford, Peabody said.

“We’re not suddenly being saddled with this overwhelming task,” he said. “The goal is to distribute the enforcement.”

Many of the suggestions for improving ATV laws recognize that ATVs are motor vehicles and should be regulated as such. Violations, including for operating under the influence, would begin to count as points against a driver’s license, and liability insurance would be mandatory.

Years ago, the lawmakers tried the same approach with snowmobiles, but the bill failed because it just didn’t make sense, and it still doesn’t, Bob Meyers of the Maine Snowmobile Association said Tuesday.

Meyers believes that the solution lies in law enforcement and clubs like those that saved the snowmobiling industry’s reputation 30 years ago.

“Being part of a club, just by osmosis, people are getting the safety message,” Meyers said.

The task force recommends boosting club membership by giving a discount on ATV registration to members.

Mike Mullen, a task force member from the state Department of Environmental Protection, called ATV clubs “the backbone” of state efforts to keep ATV riders on legal trails.

Unless club members help build and maintain a network of trails, erosion and other property damage will continue to plague landowners, he predicted.

The task force proposes boosting trespassing fines and creating a fund that could be used to reimburse landowners for damage.

“If we don’t know who the culprit is, the landowner is still on the hook,” Bronson said. “We need to help the landowners out, or we’ll lose all access.”

But increased law enforcement, an ATV damage fund and trail construction require money.

The task force proposed increasing ATV registration fees about one-third to $50 for state residents and $80 for out-of-staters – unless they are ATV club members.

The fee hike could raise thousands for new programs but is bound to be controversial. Just last year, the state had to fight to pass an increase from $17 up to $33 for in-state registrations.

The task force also proposed dedicating ATV gas tax revenue – predicted to reach $120,000 for the next two years – to the task force’s mission.

Registrations, gas taxes and fines are not dedicated now to ATV issues, but if they were, the full task force plan could be realized, members said.

“It’s a package deal,” Bronson said. “To really work it’s all got to be there – the safety, the enforcement, the trails – that’s what we’re aiming for.”

Copies of the ATV report are available by calling 287-8000 or on the task force’s Web site at www.state.me.us/ifw/aboutus/atvtaskforce.htm. Four public forums have been scheduled to discuss the document, with local events taking place 6-8 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 22, in Mathieu Auditorium, Schoodic Hall, Eastern Maine Community College in Bangor, and 6-8 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 28, in the Campus Center multipurpose room, University of Maine at Presque Isle.