"ORVs have damaged every kind of ecosystem found in the United States: sand dunes covered with American beach grass on Cape Cod; pine and cyprus woodlands in Florida; hardwood forests in Indiana; prairie grasslands in Montana; chaparral and sagebrush hills in Arizona; alpine meadows in Colorado; conifer forests in Washington; arctic tundra in Alaska. In some cases the wounds will heal naturally; in others they will not, at least not for millennia." - White House Council on Environmental Quality, David Sheridan (1979) Off-Road Vehicle Issues in the News: US House hearings on "The Impacts of Unmanaged Off-Road Vehicles on Federal Land" Nature Overrun - (NY Times Editorial) Surge in Off-Roading Stirs Dust and Debate in West (New York Times) Off-Road Vehicles to be Banned in Parts of Sonoran Desert (Associated Press) ATV Crackdown Needed, State Fish and Wildlife Managers Say (Pioneer Press) 44,000 Children Injured on ATVs in 2004 (NY Times - free registration required) ATV Drivers Invading Roadless Forests (Yahoo.com) ATV Drivers Invade, Damage Roadless Forests (USA Today) Off-Road Vehicles Rev Up Controversy (CBS News) Can ORVs Drive Anywhere They Damn Well Please? (Mother Jones) Group Seeks Tougher Off-Road-Vehicle Rules (The Oregonian) Hell on Wheels: a New Wave of Bigger, Faster Machines is Driving Americans from the Wilderness (OnEarth Magazine) Lawsuit Alleges Off-Road Vehicle Damage to National Parks (Environmental News Service) ATVs Not the Only Off-Road Danger to Kids (MedlinePlus) NM Dept of Tourism Encourages ATVs to Destroy New Mexico Public Lands (NM Dept. of Tourism Web Site)

Two dirt bikes illegally entering the Santa Fe watershed on July 4, 2007

Joint memorials 13 and 40 have passed! (Read more...) View a slide show of ORV damage in the Santa Fe National Forest View a slide show of dirt bike damage in the Jemez View a slide show of motorcyclists in the Pecos Wilderness Read the Santa Fe Watershed Watch letter to the USFS asking that the Forest Service follow its own rules and close thousands of miles of unneeded roads BEFORE implementing the Travel Management Rule. Read the USFS response to our letter! US Senate to hold hearings in Feb/March of 2008 on ORV use on public lands. Stay tuned!

The US Forest Service is developing a Travel Management Plan for the Santa Fe National Forest that will limit areas of the forest where Off Road Vehicles (ORV), including All Terrain Vehicles (ATV), dirt bikes and other 4 wheel-drive vehicles will be allowed to operate. These ORVs have already caused significant damage to the forest in the form of:

• Air and water pollution
• Soil degradation
• Erosion
• Addition of sediments and contaminates to waterways
• Spreading invasive plants
• Compromise of wildlife habitat
• Harassment of wildlife populations

In addition, reckless driving endangers other users of public lands and the drivers themselves.

Top

The Forest Service hosted several meetings to gather input from the public in 2007. At these meetings the Forest Service displayed preliminary maps of designated ORV areas, presented analysis of comments received to date, and held discussions and map exercises. Off Road Vehicle enthusiasts have organized and attended these meetings in large numbers. It is up to conservation-minded people to get involved to insure the Travel Management Rule lives up to its intent to reign in senseless ORV damage. See How You Can Help to learn how you can still influence the Forest Service's decison making.

Input from these meeetings along with other stakeholders has provided what the USFS calls "a foundation for a Proposed Action" (proposed route desginations for Off-Road Vehicles). The development of the Proposed Action is the start of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process, which should get underway in March 2008. A final decision on route designations is not expected until the second half of 2009.

Top