Bob Duplessie
Director of Recreational Access & Land Owner Relations
I write this article with a serious concern, I get calls on a weekly basis from land owners having problems with ATV's. I realize that only a few bad actors are the problem, but the ATV community must continue to educate riders on the need to respect private property. On the other hand, there is good news.
The following will summarize a positive and a negative from last month. The positive is that a local ATV club stepped up to the plate for good land owner relations. The negative, widely published, was an incident that has given a black eye to the whole ATV community.
Below is a photo of a problem that was turned into a good deed and a positive experience. It shows some of the good deeds done by many of the ATV Clubs in Maine to promote positive relations with land owners. I received a call from a land owner with a complaint of a large hot tub dumped on his property near a small pond and he had no way to get rid of it. He never suggested or thought an ATVer would do this. He mentioned that in the past he often hauled away old televisions and other junk but this was just too much. He was at the end of his rope and considering posting his land but did not want to because the only open access to Isinglass Pond was through his property. Brian Bronson, Jim Brown and I stopped to meet this gentlemen and his wife 3 days later on our way to follow up on a few other problems in York County. Jim called Tim Bean, President of the Limington Wheelers ATV Club to ask for help with this problem. The Club does not have any trails on this property but did the right thing to maintain good land owner relations, like many other clubs in Maine, they hauled the trash away at no charge. I want to publicly thank Tim and members of the club for their quick assistance.
I also sent some "No Dumping" signs to the owner to post. It's unfortunate that a few bad apples have no respect for landowners that allow use of their property. I received a thank you letter from the owners in appreciation of what the local club did to help them to get the hot tub removed. The landowner was very happy and a great access point to Isinglass Pond will remain open for all to enjoy.
Some bad news usually follows good news and the following incident is an example of a true rogue that I'm sure does not belong to a Club. The incident that I refer to happened last month in Starks where the land owner was actually run over by an ATV on his own land. The incident received extensive newspaper coverage in the Central Maine Newspapers. This land owner has over 650 acres open to all types of recreation except ATV's. The snowmobile trail this rogue was riding on is clearly marked with the red and white "No ATV's," signs but they were ignored. Who could blame this landowner if he decided to post his property? Fortunately, he does not plan to post it because that would penalize all the others that use it responsibly for walking, hunting, horse back riding, snowmobiling and other recreational pursuits. I would like to thank ATV Maine for immediately coming forward and offering a reward of $ 500.00 for the arrest of this individual.
The following quote is from an editorial that appeared in the Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel. "Every decent person in Maine should be outraged at what recently happened to Starks resident Ernie Hilton. That's true, but it's also not happening. The state would do well to stiffen safety education requirements, raise the profile of enforcement efforts and seriously consider additional incentives to encourage ATV club membership. Such membership cultivates a sense of collective responsibility and also offers distinct advantages, like information about trails that are open to ATV users."
Much remains to be done to maintain the trails on private property or more limitations will follow. We need to continue to educate riders about the importance of respect for private land. Manufacturers and the state have a role to play, but all ATV riders must take the lead, because they have the most to lose. When rogues damage property and hurt people, all ATV riders are at risk of losing recreational opportunities.
