ATV ENTHUSIASTS SEEK COUNTY OK FOR RIDING SEASONAL ROADS

Supporters of ATV use on Emmet County roads in northwest Lower Michigan garnered enough petitions and presented them to local officials at a July meeting. However, these officials were also presented with anti-ATV resolutions from the Readmond Township Board of Trustees and the Petoskey Regional Audubon Society. Currently state law prohibits ATV’s from using state and county roads unless access routes along highways have been established. To date, Emmet County has no ATV ordinances or policies.

I have spent my entire life in this county and have witnessed a myriad of environmental, hunting, fishing and development issues. I have seen farmland disappear, and more wetlands reappear. I have heard hunters complain about lack of deer and areas to hunt, and activists complain about hunters and lack of public space. I have seen many cities open up roadways to snowmobilers and others remaining steadfast in their desire not to allow them. In other words, as a section of the state where tourism flourishes there has been a substantial amount of give and take.

As with any outdoor pursuit, there will be those who respect our wildlife, fisheries, forests and public lands. But also there will be those who will not. Obviously “the nots” get the most press and cause complex issues for those who are “nots”, to defend.

Indeed, many of those who would ride these roads if opened, ride snowmobiles during the winter; use ATV”s for ice fishing and volunteer time and sometimes money for fund raising and trail maintenance. More then just a few are hunters and fishermen who have made the existence of our wildlife and fisheries possible in Northern Michigan with their purchases of licenses, equipment, taxes and other fees. These would be the good guys of ATV riding, and if given a chance those who oppose such an ordinance would realize that the destruction of terrain, the uprooting of wildfowl, and the desecration of our most precious research-Nature, is not and will not be tolerated by these riders.

According to a recent Kalkaska Chamber of Commerce report as explained in a local paper: ”Owners of 124,731 ORV’s took 152,000 trips outside their region in 1998-99 involving at least one day of riding. ORV users spent $368 per party per trip on those averaging four nights away from home… Excluding spending at home in preparation for the trip, ORV users spent $40 million in Michigan. This spending resulted in $31 million in direct sales, about $10 million in personal income and supported 600 jobs. With secondary effects, the total impact on the Michigan economy was $49 million in sales, $16 million in personal income, $26 million in value added and 822 jobs. ORV license owners also spent $134 million on equipment.”

I would not know how many acres of land was chewed up, habitat destroyed, and animals uprooted by uncaring selfish riders. Then again, I would not know how many cigarette butts are shed on walking trails, wrappers left on overlooks, bottles and cans on public beaches and flotsam discarded from cruising/sailing boats either.

My wife, kids and I are lucky enough to own a cabin on an Upper Peninsula lake and witness a handful of ATV’s as they drive past our spot. Most are courteous, aware of their surroundings and moving at legal speeds. In fact ORV use on seasonal roads in the UP has been legal for years with no apparent negative/detrimental effects to wildlife and habitat. Maybe local officials need to look further into allowing seasonal roads in many Lower Michigan environs, the opportunity to prove they are courteous, concerned, careful and willing to promote the assets of their sport.