European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 30, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Daily Magazine feuding Over tvs by Timothy Egan new York times the Trail jus oils de the Glacier pea National wilderness area at Enlil wash.,has seen so much motorized traffic lately thai some hikers have storied Catling it the interstate. As in the Colorado Rockies and desert areas throughout California the feud there in the Cascade mountains Over the growing Heel of All terrain vehicles tvs has reached Ever pitch. Government managers of the vast Public spaces of the West have Long allowed hikers and people who drive the Ono seat vehicles made in four wheel and the recently discontinued three wheel versions to share trails and Remote areas that Are inaccessible to conventional four wheel drive vehicles and Mountain Motorc Tes. As damage to fragile Mountain Meadows and desert areas has accelerated conservationists and even Soma Ell Road motorists say coexistence is breaking Down. The Federal government has banned the vehicles in official wilderness areas and efforts Are under Way to protect More areas by designating them As wildernesses. Tie critics say the explosive growth in us of the vehicles has ruined More than a million acres causing erosion loss of wildlife habitat and destruction of grass and Flower Meadows. According to a government study the vehicles which require no licenses to drive have caused More environmental damage than strip mining. Ii just makes me curious said Lynn Young a Park Ranger and spokesman Lof the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forest West of Denver they re ripping up wilderness areas that will Lake a Hundred years to regenerate. What s happened is the land ethic has changed. Fifty years ago most people wed on the land and understood How you could hurl it. Mow most of the visitors come from the City in these big vehicles and Don t know anything about the  groups representing people who use off Road vehicles say most riders Ere responsible people using them in designated areas but they acknowledge that a significant minority has caused extensive damage. The problem is nol thai these machines make people go  said Mike Bishop of the California All terrain vehicle commission. You be got a whole lot of people using the outdoors who Aren t educated in any tudy reports the atlatl terrain vehicles have caused More environmental damage than strip mining. Land use experts say the vehicles among the most dest Euclive invaders of the environment in a generation. Kerry s. Waller the director of botany at the Center Lor Plant conservation at Harvard University said the vehicles had caused severe vegetation loss even contributing to the extinct ton of some plants. To the Northwest All terrain vehicles have ripped up Stream Bottoms where migrating Salmon Lay their eggs causing damage that could Cost Tho Lishing Industry millions of dollars. Forest rangers and desert land managers say that doubling their budgets would still nol provide enough manpower to keep vehicles Olf sensitive land. Even when caught violators Are fined no Moro than $500, which some critics say is a Light Penally for causing damage that could last a Century. We be had to crack Down on them but we just Don t have the manpower to patrol the area said Kathy Albert of the 1,7-Rniilson-acre mount Baker Snoqualmie National Forest cast of Seattle she said hikers arc abandoning areas they once shared with motorized vehicles at users have a right just like hikers but it s becoming increasingly Clear that the two uses Aren t  in California the conflict has split the Sierra club and Olshef environment groups that rely on support among people attracted to the outdoors. Members have gone separate ways Over Federal proposal to establish More than 7.5 million acres of wilderness and new National Park land in the dry mountainous areas of Southern California near Nevada. The club Ollic Lally supports the measure which was Congress tabled this year. But members who ride vehicles say the wilderness designation would effectively lock them Oul of their favorite outdoor areas around death Valley and the , they advocate stricter enforcement and education among users. We want to see these areas protected but protected from development not All motorized users said Bishop who is also a Sierra club member. Two months ago the club s Board of directors criticized users of All terrain vehicles Lor causing soil damage disrupting wildlife and encouraging illegal Hunting. They cited a study of desert Aroas by the . Geological Survey which estimated that Lor every mile of travel an All terrain vehicle dislodge 3.3 tons of the desert soil. Oneo the vegetation is gone it will take at least a Century to return. A Federal a kind of land  with choir oversize tires Saddle seals and loud engines All terrain vehicles were introduced in the United states with a bang in the Early 1980s, with prices ranging from $700 to $5,000. Young people including children sometimes barely beyond their toddler years were particularly attracted to them. They Are illegal for Road use. Although people have Long used snowmobiles motorcycles and jeeps on Back country terrain Tho popularity of More versatile All terrain vehicles brought a wave of new motor traffic to the outdoors. Since f 982. More than 2,1 million of the new vehicles have been sold in the United states. They have been involved in 977 deaths. Concerned about the Accident Rale the consumer product safety commission made Public a consent decree three months ago in which the manufacturers agreed to Slop Selling three wheeled versions of the vehicles which the commission deemed More hazardous than those with four wheels and to undertake a multimillion Dollar safety education program for riders. Some critics fault the Lour leading manufacturers of All terrain vehicles Honda Suzuki Kawasaki and Yamaha saying that their advertisements encourage destruction of the land. In federally owned land roads have been set aside for the vehicles including some trails used by hikers. Evan though the machines Are prohibited from designated wilderness areas that has not kept some of them out of the wild according to Federal land managers the problem is that people can take these vehicles just Aboul anywhere they want logo said Young. And they see these ads thai show a Guy with a blonde sitting next to him charging up a Hill or splashing through a Stream. Ii shows arrogance toward the land. It says to in charge " Paul Golde. A spokesman Lor the speciality vehicle Institute of America an education and information group financed by manufacturers says the companies have discontinued such advertising. I Don f think you la find any More ads that Are environmentally irresponsible he said. Most Ridera. Golde said do not destroy tha land what you be got is a Small percentage of riders who Are basically idiots and they give Alt the Othef users a bad name. We support busting people who ride outside the designated  whether or nol the offenders Are a minority some Friday september 30, 1988 the stars and stripes Page 13