Use ATV's illegally.........Lose Your ATV!

S

SoleSearcher36

Guest
LAST EDITED ON Apr-24-12 AT 03:00PM (MST)[p]LAST EDITED ON Apr-24-12 AT 01:42?PM (MST)

LAST EDITED ON Apr-24-12 AT 01:20?PM (MST)

How many of you would like to see an "enhanced" penalty for illegal off-trail abuse of ATVs? Lazy, unethical shed hunters not only have the potential to give all shed hunters a "black eye" by unethical and illegal use of ATV's offtrail they also damage habitat, contribute to/cause erosion problems. I contend that this type of use of ATV's is also unnecessarily disruptive to game animals(particularly mule deer) on the winter range. I am seeing more and more of this type of abuse with each passing spring and have to believe many of you are as well. From what I have seen firsthand it seems these guys operate with relative impunity and something needs to be done about it without just needlessly penalizing the vast majority of honest folks out there.
How many of you would support an "enhanced penalty" system to possibly help remedy the problem without unneccesarily penalizing legitimate ATV use on established roads/trails?
The current fine system of $100 is obviously not a steep enough price to pay for illegal ATV use. I would propose a "graduated" penalty system that would impose drastic penalties on gross or repeat offenders to include something steeper like maybe a $10,000 fine and seizure/forfeiture of the offender's ATV and personal equipment.(binoculars,etc)
I believe this would help put a damper on this activity without unneccesarily limiting or punishing the responsible user.

I have already contacted the BLM as well as Colorado Parks & Wildlife and think this is something that is acheivable with a little support and consensus amongst sportsmen.

What say you?

This is a remedy I am going to pursue in my home state of colorado and am beginning the groundwork for that. Will it get anywhere..............it won't if I don't try. The squeaky wheel usually gets the oil so I guess I am going to have to be that wheel rather than silently griping about it rather than trying to do something. Anyone interested in lending their support/advice in any way can feel free to contact me at [email protected]. It would be helpful to have a list of supportive names to accompany my contact with the CPW,BLM & USFS. I will even have a folder for hate mail if you like to send that sort of thing. I am not looking to further limit our use of ATV's/offroad vehicles. I am generally supportive of responsible use and do so myself. I am interested in protecting our resources and the priveledges we currently have and not allowing a small percentage of disrespectful abusers threaten the future of those priveledges.
 
I say you need to chill out. We have too many laws already. every time I open a thread, somebody is claiming we need to stick it to someone.
 
LAST EDITED ON Apr-24-12 AT 01:09PM (MST)[p]So you are saying you are ambivalent at best to resource damage on our public lands??? I am certainly not proposing any new laws here. I am just proposing we give some necessary ones we have enough "teeth" to be effective..........much like the "samson" law did to punish poachers here in colorado. Do you not support that one? While I take overregulation very seriously and am adverse to it in most cases....not all laws are bad.
 
I don't agree with forfeiting your personal property but I do agree with steep and incremental fines with every subsequent violation.

Eldorado
 
LAST EDITED ON Apr-24-12 AT 01:41PM (MST)[p]>I don't agree with forfeiting your
>personal property but I do
>agree with steep and incremental
>fines with every subsequent violation.
>
>
>Eldorado

That is fair enough Eldorado. I appreciate your response. My example was just that and loosely based on what the "Sampson" Law provides for as a penalty for poaching a 22" wide muley. Simply put, their needs to be a sufficient deterrent for this activity. On the flipside I often find some of the rules regarding offtrail use to be unnecessarily restrictive(i.e. when it comes to retrieval of game) but there are venues to get those regulations changed/defined as to allow such things.
 
nope i dont think we need more restrictions. offroad use is not a problem in my neck of the woods. travelling a 4wheeler offroad does not cause damage, unless it is creating a road. one or two times over a sage or grass does not damage it. its weird farmers can drive over there field with equipment wieghing 20 times the amount an atv does and it does not hurt it huh. we check cows etc so we drive atvs all over our property and its not damaged anything and infact our range is in some of its best shape in a long time. so im pretty positive a 600 lb atv is not gonna hurt the habitat like u tards claim. this is my first ahnd experience and opinions ive gathered from it.
I also believe this is instilled in our heads by the same bs global warming is. its enviro wackos making bullshiz claims and people feeding in to it.

if we seen any sort of damage sustained from offroad atv use on our rnach im pretty sure we would stop ... not gonna hurt ourselves by continuing to use atvs off roads if it cause damage.
 
Wow!

theox might ought to put his glasses on!

There's been lots of Land destroyed in TARDville!

If you ain't smart enough to know that by now maybe you ought to Think before you Type!

We don't need more Laws!

What good is a Law that is not Obeyed nor Enforced?





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It's been a long hard ride
Got a ways to go
But this is still the place
That we all call home
 
show them maybe in your neck of the woods but all my first hand experience it has not hurt anything on our ranch. our ranch is in some of the best shape its been in for a long time because we restore habitat lost to sage and pj encroachment. believe me sage is not easy to kill! in order to kill sage every green leaf has to be removed if one leaf remains that plant will grow back. ive brush mowed thousands of acres, and guess what all during winter and spring, until it gets to muddy and it just tears stuff up tractor and ground, but guess what driving a tractor across it did not hurt grass growth, in fact after removing the sage the grass growth was immensely helped. we have bladed roads through pastures took 2-3 inches off cleared the sage and voila if the road does not get used excessively the grass is thicker there than the sage infested ground next to it. i dont know where you guys are seeing habitat degradation from 4 wheelers but i think its a load of crock. the only way it begins to hurt is when its repeatedly driven on and a road is created one twice does not hurt it.
 
+1 theox

I'm not seeing the problem either. You start all of this kind of crap and the next thing you know, you won't even be able to walk around in the forest because "it's too hard on the habitat"

Some of you guys ought to look at what 20-30 head of elk does to the ground surface...
 
I agree that driving once or twice on a piece of ground does not damage the grass or sage. The problem I have encountered on public land is that when one ATV goes off road hundreds are sure to follow in the coming months. This then creates a trail then a highway for the ATV. If all ATV riders would stick to the trails on public land this would not happen and it would not be an issue.
 
theox, while I don't doubt what you have seen firsthand on your ranch in regards to habitat.....that really isn't the focal point of my endeavor. My primary concern when it comes to illegal offtrail vehicular use has to do with the elevated disruption that a motor vehicle driving offroad through critical mule deer habitat imposes. Secondarily to that would be the impact to vegetation and possible erosion issues. Last but not least is the expectation that when I put my boots on and walk into a piece of roadless ground that I should not be seing vehicle tracks where they do not belong. I do not think this is an unfair expectation.
 
I have to say one or two trips are not an issue. BUT in areas near big cities is seems like if there are already ATV tracks, then it is open game for the rest of the world to follow.

I dont agree with going off trail just to retrieve game. I used to be an advocate for this, but have seen it become abused. These exemption makes it hard for the laws to be enforced. Just close the area to motorized vehicles or leave it open. Either way people will go off trail at some point. I mean all those roads that you dont have a problem with were "off Trail" at some point...
 
> I mean all those
>roads that you dont have
>a problem with were "off
>Trail" at some point...

Good point.
 
Yeah, I am fine with it. At least, I would say take the hunting rights away for 2 years or a $1000 fine.

My eyes were opened when I hunted in NM. Everything was closed to ATV's, except for the main access roads.

Here in the county I live(Utah), there are so many cut roads, is hard to take your kids anywhere without running into them. There is amazing habitat but like I said, you can hike and hike and continue to run in cut roads.

I wish they would shut down 90% of the roads.
 
Ya, I'd agree with big fines. Sure theox makes a point that once or twice isn't really going to hurt anything in ideal conditions, but most of the time they drive off road in the spring when it is wet, and that leaves a mark. Not to mention that it is already a law, they shouldn't be driving off-road in the first place, and they know it too. That is what really pisses me off.

What keeps these same people from poaching???????
 
>Ya, I'd agree with big fines.
>Sure theox makes a point
>that once or twice isn't
>really going to hurt anything
>in ideal conditions, but most
>of the time they drive
>off road in the spring
>when it is wet, and
>that leaves a mark. Not
>to mention that it is
>already a law, they shouldn't
>be driving off-road in the
>first place, and they know
>it too. That is what
>really pisses me off.
>
>What keeps these same people from
>poaching???????

In colorado what helps keep some folks from poaching is the very real possibility of getting fined STEEPLY under the "samson" law. My investigations into this matter have revealed a very real root problem in the various entities(blm/usfs/etc.) ability to successfully apply an effective deterrent. Come to find out a person could be fined up to $100,000 and spend up to 12 months in jail for these offenses but in layman's terms there is no court venue available for them to successfully prosecute in an offender challenges the ticket. A major step to resolve this stumbling block it seems, would to amend the "Federal Lands Policy & Management Act of 1976" to allow the blm/usfs to write the tickets as a lower class "B" misdemeanor rather than the current class "A" misdemeanor that the FLPMA stipulates. It is my understanding that with the class "A" misdemeanors as issued by a federal law enforcement body it requires prosecution in the same court that tried the "shoe bomber".........and that court will not take on non-felony cases. By amending FLPMA to allow the blm/usfs to write a simple class "B" ticket(does not have potential jail time).......they could try the cases in "local" courts that accept and dispose of class "B" misdemeanors on a daily basis and would not have to go directly to the higher federal court. I have been in contact with the National Chief Ranger from the BLM and this is the understanding per our conversation. By not being able to write class "B" tickets they are effectively hamstrung.
 
LAST EDITED ON Apr-25-12 AT 03:03PM (MST)[p]Here in Arizona we've recently had about 90% of our roads in the Kaibab and Coconino national forest shut down to any travel. The only roads open are the main dirt roads, and all side roads have been closed. Also a law saying no camping further than 30 foot from the road. These laws are all new to me and I haven't had to deal with the full effect of them yet. IMO it's way too many restrictions at once, and the forest service could have gone about it in a much better way....
 
Although it is possible & I know it happens on rarte occaision!

I'd like to know percentage wise just how many Big Bucks have been taken off the HandleBars of a f'n Wheeler with a TARD atop it?

Shows you what kinda Hunters they think they are!

SOB's have Blazed Trails everywhere on the South Slope & the USFS & DWR ain't doin JACK about it!

Swear to GAWD I could write more Citations in one day than the whole Bunch writes in a year!



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If You Love Your Country,SHOW THEM TO ME!




It's been a long hard ride
Got a ways to go
But this is still the place
That we all call home
 
well im sorry but i just have not had the problem with new cut trails i see tire tracks from shed hunters all the time and no one wants to follow someone elese 4 wheeler tracks while shed hunting . maybe in your neck of the woods its becoming a problem but not everywhere.

i have seen a lot of hiking trails leave the same scar that a 4wheeler trail leaves why is there no complaining about hiking trails. constant foot traffic causes the same thing as constant atv traffic. better shut down all the hiking trails too huh!

just because you guys dont like atvs does not mean the next guy doesnt. you trying to restrict someone from using existing trails and roads is no diff then an anti trying to restrict hunting because its not necessary for our survival as we can buy the meat for much less at the store. It does not give them the right to stop hunting because they dont like it. Atv enthusiasts deserve and have the right to putt around on a few trails . i dont agree with making new trails but i certainly dont agree with giving more power to govt, and environmentalist wackjobs
 
LAST EDITED ON Apr-25-12 AT 03:40PM (MST)[p]>Although it is possible & I
>know it happens on rarte
>occaision!
>
>I'd like to know percentage wise
>just how many Big Bucks
>have been taken off the
>HandleBars of a f'n Wheeler
>with a TARD atop it?
>
>
>Shows you what kinda Hunters they
>think they are!
>
>SOB's have Blazed Trails everywhere on
>the South Slope & the
>USFS & DWR ain't doin
>JACK about it!
>
>Swear to GAWD I could write
>more Citations in one day
>than the whole Bunch writes
>in a year!
>
>
>
>[font color=red size=redsize=18"face"]SHOW THEM TO ME![/font]
>
>If You Love Your Country,SHOW THEM
>TO ME!
>
>
>
>
> It's been a long hard
>ride
> Got a ways to go
>
> But this is still the
>place
> That we all call home
>
>

i rarely see as guy hunting on a four wheeler do very successful in fact from my glassing pointsw ive seen them drive right on by deer alot.
 
theox!

You need to get off your Private Property once every 10 years!

Question ox?

Would it be OK if the Shed Heads came in on your Place & just Shredded it for you?

You claim Wheelers don't hurt anything!

I'll prove you wrong in a quick hurry!



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If You Love Your Country,SHOW THEM TO ME!




It's been a long hard ride
Got a ways to go
But this is still the place
That we all call home
 
I love the "more government is not the answer" responses to these questions. This would be perfect if we all just played by the rules. In Idaho they don't so I am sure in Utah, Wyoming, Colo, etc. they don't either. I love my Yamaha Grizzley, but this is a huge problem in Idaho and it needs to change.

The problem as I see it is that, there is very little on the ground enforcement troops so people bend the rules a ton. Mostly, as others have noted, they see any tire tracks off the main road and then shortly we have a new "road" and their excuse is "I was on the trail".

Here in Idaho there is a website that will show any and all authorized trails, and legally you can't be off of them. Compare the authorized trails to the amount of trails and it's like 1:5 now.

So yes, I agree that if we don't have many people to enforce the law, the law should be distasteful enough to discourage. Sure the first offense can be a reasonable $100, but the second should be $500, and if the second is in conjunction with hunting then the loss of hunting privileges for 1-2 years should be mandatory. Third strike and you lose the bike. AND, it is your responsibility to know what roads are allowable and which one's are not. It is not the authorities job to POST everything, because all the law abiding citizens, that some here think don't need more "government", will tear those signs down within six months max.
 
LAST EDITED ON Apr-25-12 AT 03:56PM (MST)[p]95% of my shed hunting and 99% of my deer and elk hunting is on public lands bud we range cattle on 80000 acres of blm and state lands. I know roads get created i know 4 wheelers go off trail constantly i also know they e dont do the damage you guys say by just traveling once or twice off road. I hate 4 wheelers finding there way into my hunting grounds as much as the next guy but i dont think we need to be taking away peoples rights and need to be taking there atvs away. I dont think your guys tune ups are necessary let alone right! i would say your "tune ups" would classify much worse then someone driving there 4 wheeler offroad to retrieve game, or look for a shed. I just know driving over grass and sage once or twice doesnt damage it. I have kept close observations in a few areas on our private that i have driven offroad and it leaves no damage or prevents growth or stunts growth ever! like i said i drove a 14,000 lb tractor over many areas with a brush mower in wnter and spring even in slight mud and made 1-2 inch deep ruts and guess what grass was not any shorter in the tire rut as the stuff that did not get run over. oncfe it got muddy enough that it was just getting to work the tractor and equip to much i stopped. guess what after removing the sage the grass was thicker then it ever has been./ could hardly get a cow to go into the area and now they are always in it. driving off road once twice on a light atv is not gonna do damage if a tractor does not
 
so ox?

You've never ever seen ATV damage in TARDville?

You've never seen Prime Hunting Areas in TARDville destroyed by Law Breakin BASTARDS on ATV's?

ATV's don't damage Forage,Brush,Grasses & etc huh?

I ain't for more Laws!

They won't Obey Nor Enforce the Laws We already have!

Comes a time that Round Thang atop your shoulders comes in to Play & you use it for what it was intended for!

And the 100.00 Fine mentioned above just blows my mind!

Most JACKTARDS would chance that day in day out!

WAKE THE HELL UP AMERICA!

Nevermind,it's too GAWD DAMNED Late!





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It's been a long hard ride
Got a ways to go
But this is still the place
That we all call home
 
If someone is caught with an ATV off of an established legal road or trail, yep, hammer the Hell out of them. Some one said an ATV won't do any damage if driven once or twice over virgin ground. Who the Hell cares! If illegal, throw the book. And that "once or twice" mentality is a crock anyway. There are certain areas where an ATV track stays virtually forever. The attitude of once in a while it is OK is the attitude that starts all the illegal use in the first place. mtmuley
 
STTM...........somewhere in your book of tricks you sureley have a colorful "bangs head against wall" emoticon I can borrow?

To theox and some others......I don't intend to offend your intelligence in any way but I am going to be blunt.

NOWHERE IN THIS POST DO I MENTION OR IN ANY WAY ADVOCATE FOR A SINGLE ACRE OF ADDITIONAL CLOSURES TO ON OR EVEN OFFTRAIL MOTORIZED VEHICLE USE OF ANY KIND! WHAT I AM PROPOSING WOULD NOT IN ANY WAY REDUCE OR AFFECT WHEN/WHERE/HOW ANYONE CAN CURRENTLY OR IN THE FUTURE RECREATE WITH MOTORIZED VEHICLES OF ANY KIND. I DID NOT ASK FOR AN OUNCE MORE GOVERNMENT INVOLVEMENT OR EXPANSION OF AUTHORITY.

The only issue I am interested in addressing is the ability of federal law enforcement to enforce the rules and adequate penalties to deter the lawbreakers. If you aren't interested in deterring illegal activity.......fine, but just say so.
 
You're up in the f'n night!

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If You Love Your Country,SHOW THEM TO ME!




It's been a long hard ride
Got a ways to go
But this is still the place
That we all call home
 
Don't worry in a few years they will have all the roads closed down. It was amazing to see the number of roads on the Monroe they closed down the last couple of years. These are not ATV roads but roads we used to pull our camp trailer down and have used for the last 30 years. I agree people should not ride where they aren't suppose to but they are closing off alot of areas that have established trails that used to be marked opened. Open one year closed the next.
 
>Don't worry in a few years
>they will have all the
>roads closed down. It was
>amazing to see the number
>of roads on the Monroe
>they closed down the last
>couple of years. These are
>not ATV roads but roads
>we used to pull our
>camp trailer down and have
>used for the last 30
>years. I agree people should
>not ride where they aren't
>suppose to but they are
>closing off alot of areas
>that have established trails that
>used to be marked opened.
>Open one year closed the
>next.

I have encountered alot of closures I don't agree with here in colorado as well. I am generally not a fan of closing existing 2-tracks that have been there for half a century.
 
I've had a few long hikes ruined by seeing a parked ATV or fresh tracks of one in a no off road motorized vehicle areas.
I my experience with hunters, if there OK with breaking one law their likely to be breaking others.
I've seen lots of ground that if you can get a ATV in, they are there.
A rancher using a ATV to check cattle, fences and going about his business is fine and little or no damage is done. This rancher for using a ATV in an illegal way on public land should be treated the same as any law breaker.
1st offense the law is probably low, should be $250 or so. By the 2nd offense would show there's a pattern of law breaking. Double the fine and take away all hunting and fishing privileges in all states.
 
>
>Here in Arizona we've recently had
>about 90% of our roads
>in the Kaibab and Coconino
>national forest shut down to
>any travel. The only roads
>open are the main dirt
>roads, and all side roads
>have been closed.

Mike, you seem to be more educated on the AZ FS road closures than me. I can't seem to find any information about 90% of the roads being closed. Could you help me out man? I am sure you can back up your math. ;-)
 
solesearcher, It just kills me how the horse owners will tear up a muddy dirt road with their horse trailers and then complain about an ATV on a grassy side hill(that wouldn't show the next day) and don't see anything wrong with your cost causing trek, because mr. government man can grade the road with our tax money. I do however, see that controls must be maintained, but with another law - - it seems to me that you're just compounding the issue with your "bellering" to the BLM, unless of course you want to close all those muddy mountain secondary road. You probably have chains on your 4 X 4, good legs, and/or a horse.
 
Amazing how poor the reading comprehension is on here. solesearcher isn't talking about any new laws, just stiffer fines for existing laws. The only reason somebody would object is if they themselves were breaking the current law and worried about losing their atv. Otherwise who cares if they stiffen the fines when somebody breaks the law?
 
>Amazing how poor the reading comprehension
>is on here. solesearcher isn't
>talking about any new laws,
>just stiffer fines for existing
>laws. The only reason somebody
>would object is if they
>themselves were breaking the current
>law and worried about losing
>their atv. Otherwise who cares
>if they stiffen the fines
>when somebody breaks the law?
>

Thank you DirtyTough, you hit the proverbial "nail on the head".

From my queries it seems that the common perception of it being a $100 fine for this activity is more or less accurate.....$125 fine in most cases per the blm. Were I of the mind to do so then I can easily justify the possibility of an additional $125 into "the cost of doing business" when I go antler hunting. I just don't feel this is an adequate deterrent and the evidence I see in the field every year overwhelmingly supports this. Anyone who believes that a motorized vehicle putting through the bedding areas of wintering mule deer doesn't disturb animals to a greater extent that a person on foot is "up in the f'ng night" as STTM put it. And even if it were true that "rototillng" the ground is beneficial to habitat, I think it would be fair to say the average wheeler enthusiast is woefully unequipped to make a decision on when/where mechanical "rejuvination" of rangeland should occur.
 
solesearcher, I don't horn hunt or stress the animals during the spring. What I do know is that here in Utah the horn hunters are getting more and more of the roads closed until a later date because of their trucks making a mess out of the government wet dirt roads. They never know when to stop and turn around. Are you one of those? They do much more damage than the ATV's do. Also one thing I do know from being in government country all around us is when you stir the pot, it only opens a can of worms you may not be willing to live with. It only takes a little excuse for them (BLM and Forest Service) to over-react.
 
>solesearcher, I don't horn hunt or
>stress the animals during the
>spring. What I do
>know is that here in
>Utah the horn hunters are
>getting more and more of
>the roads closed until a
>later date because of their
>trucks making a mess out
>of the government wet dirt
>roads. They never know
>when to stop and turn
>around. Are you one
>of those? They do
>much more damage than the
>ATV's do. Also one
>thing I do know from
>being in government country all
>around us is when you
>stir the pot, it only
>opens a can of worms
>you may not be willing
>to live with. It
>only takes a little excuse
>for them (BLM and Forest
>Service) to over-react.

It would be dishonest to say I have never left a tire print on a muddy road either shed hunting or hunting/fishing/camping. Coincidentally most of the side roads in the country I shed hunt already have seasonal closures in effect so this really isn't an issue and the remaining roads are either rocky or gravel/paved main roads that get me within foot distance of where I want to be. You made the claim that shed hunter traffic specifically is the cause of these road closures you refer to. Do you have anything you can support this with? Isn't it possible this is not just shed hunters out earlier in the year but also coyote hunters, lion hunters, folks out to go "muddin" etc.? Just curious how you know unequivocally that it is solely because of shed hunters. I typically watch from afar until all the sheds are on the ground before I go in after them. This suits me for a whole variety of reason. Cannonball........if you don't think someone out there is going to "stir the pot" or "open up a can of worms" if we sportsmen don't then you are out to lunch. The question is what are you more willing to live with.........a sportman that is very interested in maintain our ability to recreate to the greatest extent possible or someone who would prefer to have us not be able to hunt/fish/shed hunt/cut firewood/ride atv's at all. We all know the "squeaky wheel gets the oil" and we as sportsmen arguably don't do a good job of squeaking it seems.......after all we really would just rather be hunting. In that regard we are our on worst apathetic enemy.
 
Stiffer or stricter laws are useless if there isn't the manpower to enforce it. Shoot I see expired registration on atvs more than people tearing up the hills.
 
My point here is that the ATV's may not be the worst offenders. It just may be horns hunters in trucks or, yes, even the off road'ers, just out there to see how far they can go on a muddy road.

The only thing I'm saying is that everyone has their own axe to grind. The Pahvant range's roads used to be open the first of April, then it went the first of May. Now one end of our road is handled out of a different office and the road remained closed past May 1st. We ran on to some land owners who had a key from BLM to the gate - the reason the rest of us were not allowed -- trucks tearing up the muddy roads. That road is in the vicinity where the elk drop their antlers. The horsemen in this area drag their horse trailers through the muddy roads, and why they can't ride the horses is beyond me.

Are ATV's a problem? Of course they are, but probably not as big of a problem as a truck driving horn hunter and the Baja'ing kid in the mountains. Just look around town in a small town at some of the most muddy trucks you have ever seen in your life or just go to a car wash and see mess they leave there.

Lets close all of the mountains and make a stink, the Sierra Club will be happy.
 
LAST EDITED ON May-02-12 AT 12:28PM (MST)[p]Again....my purpose in this is does not concern any existing closure of roads, trails or even areas that are open to offtrail riding. If someone wants to advocate for opening some already closed areas.....fine. If someone wants to advocate or lobby for more closures and restrictions........that is your right to do so even if I don't agree with it.

I cannot help but believe that if the specific problem I am trying to address isn't diminished through a more "narrowly focused" solution then sooner or later it will be addressed by broader restrictions on ALL users. If that happens it will likely effect not just folks out shed hunting but also our hunting access/activities in the fall. To think otherwise I believe would be to "bury my head in the sand". It doesn't take much time just searching the internet to find many, many folks that would like to remove man from "natural places" basically entirely.

Obviously as I gain more insight into the situation and legal intricacies, the remedies I pursue may evolve and to some extent already have. I do believe I have identified a couple venues that might be persued in regards to this. I am continuing to educate myself and gather input in an effort to have proposals that are coherent, achievable and narrowly tailored. I will provide a rough overview of some of the direction I may pursue with this...

Two directions I am looking into right now..........

(A) Address the "Federal Lands Policy & Management Act of 1976" to allow the BLM to write a LESSER class of misdemeanor ticket for minor infractions such as offtrail motor vehicle use, illegal woodcutting, etc. As it stands right now the BLM(per FLPMA) MUST issue a higher "Class A" misdemeanor ticket which entitles the cited(alleged) offendor to an undue level of legal recourse and amongst other things can actually increase taxpayer cost to "try" these essentially minor cases. In this case by decreasing the severity of the ticket we might be able to prosecute offendors in a more efficent & cost effective manor.(A "Class A" misdemeanor automatically entitles alleged offenders the right to a jury trial) With a "Class B" misdemeanor ticket, citations would be handled essentially the same way as a minor traffic ticket. A second aspect of this would be that it would bring increased uniformity between the BLM and the USFS in regards to enforcement remedies.(the USFS can and does write class "B" misdemeanor tickets.

(B).... Look at petitioning the Colorado Wildlife Commission to increase the penalties for "wildlife harrassment" when a motor vehicle is involved both monetarily and in the number of points that can be assessed against one's hunting/fishing priveledges. Tied to this would be that IF you were caught operating a motor vehicle offtrail illegally and you are in possession of shed antlers, possession of the shed antlers would be "prima facie" evidence that harrassment has occured thus justifying a wildlife violation. This would be a tool availble to our game wardens to deal with gross or repeat offendors but not be mandatory so as to continue to allow the investigating officer to use discretion as to whether a warning or lesser citation should be given. I believe this is in keeping with my belief that we are trying to affect a change in behavior and not simply be punitive. I believe doing something like this may be a method to decrease interference/disturbance/displacement of wintering animals without unnecessarily restricting access like a complete closure would. This would also not reduce ability to lobby for offtrail game retrieval where appropriate. While this remedy is specific to colorado it could be pursued/applied by other western states' individual game management agencies (DNR,F&G,etc.)

Would love to hear any of your thoughts regarding these two proposals. If you have an issue with either of them I would also be interested in hearing some well-founded reasons why. I will post this in the other thread as well.
 
Some basic ideas with common sense for discussion. Those sorts of things don't generally fly too well around here... lol
 

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