BRWC believes that while everyone has the
right to enjoy our national forests, no one has
the right to abuse them.
Seeing is believing. Erosion and habitat degradation often go unnoticed because damages occur in isolated and remote locations. MUD brings impacts to light with images taken by volunteers walking miles of both authorized and unauthorized (illegal, user-created) routes on the Logan and Ogden Ranger Districts.
(More photographs of local impacts posted on PanOramio and Google Earth.)
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Growth In OHV Ownership
• Former National Forest Chief Dale Bosworth said, "The number of people who own OHVs has just exploded in recent years. In 2000, it reached almost 36 million. Even a tiny percentage of impact from all those millions of users is still a lot of impact. Each year, we get hundreds of miles of what we euphemistically refer to as 'unplanned roads and trails.'"
• This is a 700% increase since 1997 when it was estimated to be 5 million owners. The number of registered OHVs in Utah tripled in eight years,
from 51,686 in 1998, to 172,231 in 2006, a 233% increase.
• Currently there are approximately 500,000 OHV owners in Utah plus thousands more who visit.
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Unauthorized Use & Trespassing
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• Disregard for rules • Trespassing • Users creating trails • Driving off designated routes • Out of season use |
• A Few Bad Apples?
Not so says a Utah State University survey. Nearly half of riders prefer to ride "off established trails." Of the ATV riders surveyed, 49.4% prefer to ride off established trails, while 39% did so on their most recent excursion. Of the dirt bike riders surveyed, 38.1% prefer to ride off established trails, while 50% did so on their most recent excursion.
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Soil Compaction
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• Compacts at least 12” deep |
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Soil compaction caused by OHV use will induce soil compaction at least 12 inches deep and is a major issue for soil health. Compacted soils exhibit loss of their porous nature that causes reduced infiltration, changes in water storage, reduced root growth, and lowered gas exchange. In highly compacted soils, these effects result in reduced water and oxygen for plants and enhanced runoff and consequent soil erosion. Indirect impacts on young plants include the upsetting of water storage, soil infiltration rates, decreases soil nutrients and thermal structure of soils; these are all OHV related deficiencies that that can disrupt seed germination and seedling growth.
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Rutting
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• Loss of top soil |
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Altered soil properties by OHV use can change surface patterns of precipitation runoff (amount, velocity) that can result in accelerated rates of erosion and sedimentation (deposited solids) and elevated levels of turbidity (suspended solids). Extensive networks of OHV routes that proliferate across the landscape can serve as conduits that direct or alter the direction of surface flows. These conduits can be eroded to form gullies that channel dislodged sediments and contaminants into aquatic ecosystems.
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Wildlife Habitat Fragmentation
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• Territory diminished |
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The impacts of OHV activities on wildlife and their habitats are well documented. Roads and trails fragment and reduce habitat size and can have serious consequences. Diminished habitat will lead to a decrease in the population size and a genetic bottleneck. By just driving through an animal's territory will diminish that territory and will affect the health and living conditions of those animals.
Scientific studies conducted in the western United States have looked at elk and their habitat needs and have established that; 1) elk seek habitat that offers cover and forage,* and 2) their usage of that preferred habitat is limited when it is bisected by roads open to vehicles.**
Put simply, the more open motorized routes in an area, the lower the quality of the wildlife habitat and less desirable it is for elk and deer to utilize or stay in that area.
These studies demonstrate that even narrow roads and trails represent significant barriers to the movements of animals. Reluctance to cross even narrow trails may alter the movements of various species. The cumulative effects of OHV-route networks proliferating across the landscape can have serious ecological consequences.
Also, noise generated by OHVs also has been found to alter animal behaviors, breeding populations, and the abilities of some species to detect predators.
Wildlife can be limited in available food as the plants they eat are destroyed be expanding impacts. Some drivers harass, stress, and kill wildlife.
These factors may result in diminished body mass, reduced productivity, and/or poor survivorship.
*Thomas, J.W., and D.E. Towell. 1982. Elk of North America, ecology and management. Harrisburg, PA: Stackpole Books.
**Leege 1984, Lyon 1984, Lyon et al. 1985, Roloff 1998, Lyon and Christensen 2002, Wertz et al. 2004
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Exotic Plant Species
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• Invasive weeds cover 2,300 acres per day |
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Invasive weeds are covering 2,300 acres of the West each day and every minute devour an area the size of twenty Wal-Mart superstores.
Wildlife habitat is reduced, water tables dry up and the wildfire threat is intensified.
Off Highway Vehicle (OHV) travel through weed infested areas can lodge noxious weed and invasive plant seeds in the undercarriage of vehicles or in tire treads. These can then spread to unexposed areas where they can spread over a wide area in only a few hours.
These weeds displace native plants altering entire ecosystems and can spread to nearby fields and pastures adversely impacting farmers and ranchers.
A study in Montana demonstrated that it’s possible for a single OHV to disperse more than 2,000 invasive knapweed seeds over a 10-mile radius.
The research also found that these seeds are more likely to germinate and crowd out native plants in areas where soil has been compacted by off-road vehicles. Knapweed has reduced elk forage in some places by 70 percent.*
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Erosion & Water Quality Degradation
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• Water is Life, Quality Matters |
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Water is Life, Quality Matters isn’t just a slogan. Unfortunately, as a perceived challenge, irresponsible motorized users often target sensitive streams and riparian areas and directly contribute tens of thousands of tons of water-clogging sediments each year into our drinking and irrigation water.
Clean, clear water means healthier drinking water, cleaner irrigation water and more productive fisheries.
The effects of motorized activities on water quality include sedimentation (deposited solids), turbidity (suspended solids), and pollutants. Sedimentation increases because of compacted soils and reduced vegetation cover and increases the amount and velocity of runoff. This leads to Possible Flooding and the lack of moisture retention for later-in-the-year runoff.
Pollutants associated with emissions and spills of petroleum products may be adsorbed in sediments, absorbed by plant material, or dissolved in runoff; once mobilized, these contaminants can enter aquatic systems.
