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Well this effects ATV and OHM (Off-highway motorcycles) more then 4x4's right now. But if it becomes law it will effect alot of the freedom we enjoy on all the fireroads and trails in northern Minnesota.

Currently, Minnesota is mostly a "open unless posted closed" state (outside the 7 county metro). The new law proposal would make it the opposite - ATV's would only be allowed on designated ATV trails. For areas like my cabin this would make all fireroads illigal to ride on.

Here is the story from the Red Star-

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All-terrain vehicles should be neither banned nor given free rein on public lands but should be allowed only on specific trails, according to a majority of Minnesotans, the Star Tribune Minnesota Poll found.

When asked to choose among three different ways of regulating ATVs, 60 percent of the participants in the April 25-29 poll said that vehicles should continue to be allowed in state forests but only on marked trails that are specially selected to protect the environment. The results were similar across every demographic, geographic and political group the poll measured, including political independents. The poll surveyed 1,033 adults statewide.

Many fewer people chose from the two other options offered in the poll. About a fifth favored allowing ATVs on any state forest trail except those specifically closed to their use, and 17 percent said that ATV use should be "totally banned" in state forests because the four-wheelers damage the environment or interfere with other forms of recreation.

The Legislature is considering how to regulate ATVs and other off-road vehicles more closely but is divided on how to accomplish that.

Under the current rules, ATVs and other off-road vehicles are allowed to drive on any trail in state forests except those that are posted as closed to motorized use.

One bill approved last week by the Minnesota House would continue that policy for the most part. A different proposal approved by a Senate committee would require the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources to select at least 1,500 miles of off-road trails in state forests in the next two years and mark them as such, after which all other trails would be off-limits.

In the Minnesota Poll, the option of allowing driving only on marked trails was supported by people all over the state, including 60 percent of those in the metro area, 73 percent in nonmetro counties that contain large cities, 56 percent in northeastern Minnesota and 53 percent in rural counties.

Steve Glenz, who lives north of Crosby in Crow Wing County, said that he understands how much people enjoy ATVs, but that there needs to be more restrictions on public land. "Some people have been pretty irresponsible and have torn things up pretty bad," he said. "They go off the trails and into the woods."

Glenz said that he allows a snowmobile trail to cross his land, but he recently denied permission for an ATV riding club to use it. One reason, he said, is that ATV drivers have not shown much respect for private land, and that trespassing has become a problem in the area.

"The state would do well to have some good designated trails," he said. "And I think the DNR needs to get after the ones that aren't abiding by the law, even though that's hard to do."

Those who preferred more open-ended riding opportunities for ATVs tended to be younger, men, Republicans and those who identified themselves as conservatives.

"I think ATVs should be allowed to go pretty much anywhere unless there's a sign saying to keep out," said Jason Hason of Rochester, who rides ATVs a few times a year when visiting relatives in northern Minnesota. "Yeah, they make some noise, but in lots of places we drive there's logging, and that's far noisier than ATVs," he said.

Hason said that hikers already have plenty of trails and that ATV drivers need more places to ride. But he acknowledged that he has seen some riders "who are pretty much there to rip stuff up, and I'm not in favor of that." He also said that ATVs receive too much criticism and that off-road truck drivers create the most damage when they leave logging roads and cut new trails through the woods.

Those who want to ban off-road vehicles from state land were more likely to be Democrats, liberals, older and residents of the Twin Cities metro area.

Debra Leecy of Brainerd said that banning ATVs is the only effective way to control their use on public land. There is not enough room in the woods for so many motorized vehicles, she said, and they damage ecology and wildlife habitat. "In the end, we'll be running around trying to replace what we've lost if this continues," she said.

Leecy said she has little confidence in those who propose aggressive enforcement of driving rules as a solution. "When I go camping up north, the ATV drivers go wild and don't stay where they're supposed to," she said. "When we call the sheriff, he doesn't even know who's supposed to respond."

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Posts: 5484 | From: St. Paul, Mn | Registered: Apr 2002  |  IP: Logged |