ABSTRACT

LOCAL ASHLAND/BAYFIELD COUNTY LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS STUDY ON MOTORIZED RECREATIONAL VEHICLES

The League approved, at its 2002 annual meeting, the study of motorized recreational vehicles (MRV). Informing our decision were the five leading land use issues that came out of the Bayfield County Land Use Survey sent out to all landowners in the County. Three out of the five addressed recreational trails uses and their conflicts while emphasizing the importance of maintaining our northern identity. This was the first time that a broad spectrum of people had been heard on these concerns. Also buttressing the League’s decision to undertake the MRV study is a statement by Mike Dombeck, former US Forest Service Director, who cites off-road vehicles as one of the top ten public land challenges in the 21st century.

It should be understood that this summary is an initial contribution by the League to the ongoing discussion of the growing use of motorized vehicles for recreation. As this discussion continues at many levels of government and in the press, it will undoubtedly yield more complete and compelling data.

Of absolutely prime interest, in terms of the League of Women Voter’s basic mission in tackling any topic for study, is the general lack of ongoing public input in the expansion of multi-use trails, especially for the federal rails to trails program. The exception is the U.S. Forest Service, which is required, when making any changes in the trail routes, to contact landowners, publish a notice asking for comment, and to conduct an environmental assessment study. Thus, the League will also host a public forum at which input on this subject will be sought from a variety of sources including users, law enforcement officials, silent sports advocates, business and the general public.

The League committee, made up Jim Collins, Liz Quast and Mary Wichita, divided its tasks into four parts, as follows: 1) economic impacts, 2) environmental impacts, 3) law enforcement, and 4) property ownership issues.

The economic impacts of MRV use necessarily include: (1) dollars brought into the counties as a result of MRV, use as well as (2) dollars expended for tourism promotion, trail development and repair. The impacts also include the less obvious costs of noise, pollution, environmental degradation, trespassing, litter, speed violations, property value reduction, and accidents. These costs are difficult to quantify, but must be considered in any discussion of the MVR. One way to view at least the cost of environmental degradation is to think of it as a debt that will need to be repaid someday. Without some effort to control the damage, the size of the loan and ultimate payback automatically become larger.

According to the Wisconsin Department of Tourism, tourists brought nearly $60 million into Ashland County, directly or indirectly, between December 1, 2000 and November 30, 2001. Of that, the Ashland Chamber of Commerce estimates that snowmobilers contributed roughly $10 million, or 1/6 of the total dollars generated through tourism. All other tourism taken together brought nearly $50 million into the county. Bayfield County tourism expenditures are greater, but follow a similar pattern. Nearly $130 million dollars were generated from tourism in the same time period in Bayfield County. According to the Bayfield County Department of Tourism, roughly $26 million from snowmobiling, (or 1 in 5 dollars). The snowmobile estimates are based on about 2/3 of the direct and indirect tourism dollars that come in to each county in the winter months and interviews with local lodging establishments.

Adding to the information available on the economic impact of motorized vehicles is a study conducted by David Marcouiller and Terry Mace for University of Wisconsin Extension (1998) titled, "Forest-based Recreation and Timber Production in the Northwoods." The authors concluded from this study "Whereas household expenditure patterns indicate that passive users (non-motorized) spent the least amount per household in 1996, their total spending, when adjusted for participation, is the highest of the three user groups (hunters, motorized users and passive users). This is due to the overall higher participation rate of Wisconsin households to undertake passive forest-based recreational activities and their relatively high proportion of total expenditures spent locally."

The flip side of economic expenditures are the economic costs noted above, including taxpayer dollars to support the activity. The sources of revenue for snowmobiling include in-state registration fees, non-resident fees and the State fuel tax. An appropriation is made annually by the State using a formula that equals the amount of motor fuel tax assessed on 50 gallons of gasoline as of the last day of February of the previous fiscal year multiplied by the number of registered snowmobiles as of the same date. The transfer for 2002-3, which will be made available for trail aids for the entire state under the formula is expected to total $4,395,500. Registration fees added another $4,296,800 in 2002-03 that, with the addition of other miscellaneous general-purpose revenues brought the total to almost ten million dollars statewide. The state gas tax also supports ATV use, as do ATV registration fees. Towns, villages, cities, counties and federal agencies can receive grant funding from the ATV account for any of the following types of ATV projects: (a) land or easement acquisitions (b) ATV facilities such as parking areas, riding areas and shelters (c) development and maintenance of ATV trails d) purchase of liability insurance and (e) signs briefly explaining the law related to intoxicated operation of ATVs. The Department of Natural Resources also distributes aids to counties for the costs of local patrol units charged with ATV law enforcement. The portion of state funds available to Ashland and Bayfield County for snowmobile and ATV support depends on use. These sources of revenue do not cover the cost of forest service trails or township road repair.

The following Table of designated trails in our two counties gives a graphic picture of the proportion of opportunities assigned to the various recreational sports and their funding sources.

 

designated trails	Ashland County	Bayfield County	Funding Sources
Groomed snowmobile trails (In addition to designated county roads)	300 miles	550 miles	State gas tax; registration fees Non-resident fees
ATV designated public use trails (combination of Cheq. Forest, Bayfield Cty and private land & designated cty roads)	56 miles	110.8 miles	State gas tax; registration fees
Cross Country Ski Trails	50 miles	197 miles	Reg; vol.; state & federal funds
Snowshoe Trails	Not available	36.2 miles	Reg; vol.; state & federal funds
Hiking Trails	200 miles	130 miles	Reg.; state & federal funds
Hunter/walking trails		96 miles	Reg.; state & federal funds
Mountain Biking trails	300 miles of marked and mapped trails.
Campgrounds		5	County
Source: County maps; Bayfield County Land Use Plan, July, 2002

The primary focus of the available literature, including from the US Forest Service, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, and the National Park Service discusses MRV impacts on land, air, water and wildlife. The land impacts have caused government agencies to close certain areas to motorized use. State and federal agencies are making an effort to develop a sustainable trail system that can be managed in a way that limits the damage (ruts, potholes, wetlands, vegetation cover).

Air pollution revolves around concerns with the two-stroke engines that are in snowmobiles and ATVs. The two-stroke motorized vehicles emit 20 to 33% of their fuel "unburned". This exhaust includes lubrication oil. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that dirt bikes, snowmobiles and ATVs produce 10 percent of all hydrocarbon pollution from vehicles nationwide. According to the California Air Resources Board, today's typical two-stroke snowmobile engine produces as much harmful pollution in seven hours as a passenger car driven for 100,000 miles. The EPA has standards for carbon monoxide (CO), unburned hydrocarbons (HC), particulate matter (PM) and oxides of nitrogen. It has asked manufacturers to reduce their emission of HC and CO by 30% by 2006 and by 50% by 2010. These standards are voluntary. Manufacturers of two-stroke machines are beginning to address air, water and wildlife concerns by offering four-stroke engines. Four-stroke engines are less powerful per weight, more costly, but less damaging to the environment.

The topic of water quality has not been well studied so far, but elevated levels of ammonium, sulfate, benzene and other toxic compounds have been found in snow samples on heavily traveled snowmobile trails. Motorized activity impacts wildlife. If animals are harassed, there is some evidence that they use scarce energy needed to survive. Noise affects the animals, disrupting breeding patterns and the young. Pollution from these machines threatens public health as well as the health of animals.

When all is said and done, when reams of data have been collected about the various levels of law regulation and enforcement at the county, state and federal levels the one response of each of those

contacted is unequivocal in lamenting the need for more personnel in the field. Repeatedly, the prevailing opinion is that the laws are more than adequate in the realms of trespassing, alcohol use/abuse,

theft, and registration, although small and difficult to read registration numbers, especially on ATVs, make it difficult for residents who want to report problems. Also, there’s no lack of signage along trails regarding permitted and restricted access. Attempts to regulate speed are ongoing and controversial. However, because of the extremely limited number of hours budgeted for actual patrols, those who violate regulations are rarely apprehended.

A recent article in the Ashland Daily Press quotes Karl Brooks, DNR  snowmobile administrator as saying "the number of snowmobile deaths won't drop significantly in Wisconsin until the culture of the sport changes.  There needs to be a social change among our snowmobilers," he said.  They have to take on the same attitude as the international snowmobile community has, which is zero tolerance for drinking and operating a snowmobile.  You don't drink before or during a ride.  That's all there is to it."

Here is another issue that begs for clarity in presenting a fair and accurate picture of the vicissitudes of certain property owners who either have granted easements to cross their lands or whose land adjoins

the various MRV trails. Sifting through the extremely complicated levels of government involvement (federal, state, and local) has proven to be generally frustrating and often confusing. One of our legal experts confirmed our assessment of the property rights controversy as a checkerboard of jurisdictions, with each "40" having a different history. The seemingly simple question of who pays the taxes on easement-granted land, land that one cannot use, is a thorny one. The littering that inevitably occurs along the trails (from soda bottles to disposable diapers) raises questions of responsibility in regard to the rights of the trail users vs. those whose land borders the trails.

Harvey Jacobs at the University of Wisconsin/Madison has edited a book entitled "Who Owns America: Social Conflict Over Property Rights" which is to be followed up in spring, 2002, with another volume ‘Property Rights in the 21^st Century. Clearly, the topic is of increasing relevance with the broad social value of public space gaining ascendancy over individual property rights, according to Jacobson. Another issue, one that relates to law enforcement as well, pertains to equal protection under the law. For example, if the public is granted corridor access under the Rails to Trails Act of 1983, what is the recourse of the landowner adjoining the trail to adequate law surveillance as regards speed, alcohol abuse, round-the-clock noise, destruction of property, and trespass? These are questions that go unanswered as MRV users increase by almost 10% each year.

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) survey data from questionnaires circulated in 1997-98 (to be used for planning 2000-2005) shows that participation rate for ATVs in Wisconsin has risen to 6% of the population (approximately 315,000), an increase of some 4-5% per year, with the increase being more pronounced in the past few years. More ATV riders are from the north and central portions of the State than from the southern. Projections are that use can be expected to increase at a double-digit rate through the next planning cycle (2005). According to WDNR, ATV sales nationwide have increased by over 10% the past two years and this trend is expected to continue for the near future (WDNR 1998a).

"The latest statewide data clearly indicates that the ORV/ATV use is on the rise, and certainly more so than the WDNR had predicted in 1990, but it is important to keep this information in perspective. While use and demand for ATV opportunities is increasing, it is still significantly less than some other activities (some of which may conflict with ATV uses)." (P. 6-7 WDNR-Analysis of Management Situation, All Terrain and Off Road Vehicles, Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forests).

Thus, the challenge of taking into account the wide range of users of our national, state and county lands, while at the same time preserving the reason northern Wisconsin is so attractive to residents and tourists, alike, will continue. In the spirit of all League studies, after the public forum, March 31, consensus questions will be developed and action taken by League members.

For more information, contact Liz Quast – 746-2256.