PROGRESS ON FOUR WHEELS

With more places to ride and more clubs to promote responsibility, all-terrain vehicles are naturally moving from being viewed mainly as nuisances to an important part of the state’s recreational economy. With continued state support the trail ahead should be less bumpy.

ATV sales in Maine grew exponentially over the last decade. Trail development was way behind, a problem that is slowly being rectified. In 2003, there were about 2,000 miles of ATV trails. Today there are 5,000, a vast improvement, but less than the 7,000 hoped for by state and industry officials and far less than the 13,000 available to snowmobiles, although snowmobiles travel faster and farther and so need a more extensive network.

Without designated places to ride, ATVers were going through fields, streams and forest lands, causing extensive damage and earning the enmity of landowners. Unlike snowmobile trails, which mostly vanish when the snow melts, ATV ruts are long lasting.

Three years ago, the Legislature passed a law requiring ATV riders to get permission before accessing land. This is the opposite of Maine’s long open access tradition. While this is one way to minimize landowner-ATV conflicts, a better way is to ensure ATVs have designated places to ride.

In 2003, the state raised the annual resident ATV registration fee from $12 to $33. Although some of the money was initially diverted to balance budgets, the funds are now divvied up between the Departments of Conservation and Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. Much of the Conservation money goes toward trail building and maintenance.

Clubs do much of the trail work with a combination of funds they have raised and grant money from the Department of Conservation. There are now 135 clubs, up from about 90 in 2003. Membership also leads to more responsible riding. A bill passed this year created a group to look for ways to examine incentives to encourage more club membership. New Hampshire, for example, offers discounted snowmobile registration to club members.

Scott Ramsay, the head of Conservation’s Off-Road Vehicle Division, says the growth of clubs is the biggest factor in improving relations with landowners. Several years ago, someone at the department spent the better part of each Monday fielding complaints about ATV use. Now, those calls take less than an hour. Because landowners now have local residents they can talk to when problems arise, they are more willing to let ATVs use their land, according to Mr. Ramsay.

Ensuring ATVs have a place in Maine is far better than chasing them from one off-limits spot to another.