Off-Road Vehicle Activity

The number of off-road vehicle riders has increased seven-fold in less than 30 years. It is not just the exponential increase in riders that is creating problems on our public lands; the power and speed of these vehicles have also increased dramatically. With these increases, previously inaccessible backcountry is now accessible to motorized traffic. The range, speed, noise, and wheel track of an off-road vehicle can cause substantial damage to wild, fragile ecosystems and have significant impacts on water quality, wildlife, and other users of the public lands who prefer quiet unspoiled landscapes.

 

Public land agencies at all levels – local, state and federal – are attempting to develop balanced and responsible management plans, but the agencies do not have the staff to monitor the vast lands impacted by motorized use, or to enforce the established rules. In response, Great Old Broads for Wilderness has launched Broads Healthy Lands Project (BHLP), an objective, quantifiable off-road vehicle monitoring and database system to document all types of impacts to public lands travel corridors.

Broads determined that increased monitoring of our public lands is essential to provide land management agencies with accurate, thorough and reproducible information that they can use to create and enforce balanced, effective management plans. It is our hope that the data collected along travel corridors by citizen volunteers will assist agencies in protecting and restoring our wild roadless public lands.

For Broads' off-road vehicle position statement, click here.

How can you help?

1. Become a volunteer and monitor off-road vehicle activity on public lands in your area. Broads' monitoring projects are in many different geographical areas and new opportunities arise often. If you live in the Durango area, we are currently looking for volunteers to help with our Community Watershed Restoration Initiative. Contact broads@greatoldbroads.org for more information on this or any other monitoring project.

2. When visiting places, make sure businesses and agencies know that you prefer to recreate in places without off-road vehicles. Ask business owners and agency personnel where you can hike on public lands without running into motorized vehicles.

3. Donate to Broads Healthy Lands Project

If you would like to donate to BHLP, please click on the button below to donate on-line, or if you would prefer to mail a check or money order, please print and mail our membership/donation form.

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