A motorized cacophony is shattering the quiet and harming both the wildlife and landscape of America's cherished public lands, including Wyoming's Medicine Bow National Forest. From Maine to California, off-road vehicles (ORVs) pose one of the fastest growing environmental threats to our National Forests, National Parks, Wildlife Refuges, and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) managed lands.

These ORVs - jeeps, all-terrain vehicles, snowmobiles and motor bikes - compact soils, damage vegetation, displace wildlife, cause erosion and water quality problems, and create significant "user conflicts" on our public lands between the motorized and non-motorized public. The scars left by the machines have also caused a significant loss of wild country and wild values, as machines are taken further and further into previously remote and pristine places.

In an attempt to address this growing problem, The Wilderness Society, Wildlands Center for Preventing Roads (Wildlands CPR), Biodiversity Associates of Laramie, and more than 90 partner groups announced they are file a rule-making petition asking the Forest Service to develop a comprehensive approach to ORV management on national forest lands. The Petition requests the adoption of five changes to the current ORV management framework:

• Motorized vehicles should only be allowed on system roads and trails designated and posted as open for specific vehicle type. Cross-country travel by motorized vehicles should be prohibited.
• Designation of ORV routes should only occur where the Forest Service can demonstrate that use of the route by ORVs will not cause adverse environmental impacts.
• Designation of ORV routes, upgrading of existing routes to accommodate new or additional ORV use, and the construction of upgrading of facilities for ORV use must be fully analyzed under the National Environmental Policy Act.
• ORV use should be prohibited unless adequate monitoring and enforcement of the use and its impacts is fully implemented.
• ORV use should be prohibited in legislatively or administratively proposed wilderness areas, inventoried roadless areas, and other areas with roadless values, except on roads for which their use has been formally designated.

According to Jeff Kessler of Biodiversity Associates, these sweeping steps are necessary to protect the public resources: "It's gotten way out of hand; fifteen years ago, ORVs were causing some problems, but it was largely localized and manageable. But today, there are literally hundreds of thousands more ORVs out there. Many are being used in places that are not suitable for off-road use, and the result has been significant and irreparable damage to the public lands."

Kessler concedes some ORV users are using their machines responsibly, but he says "Some ORVers probably don't realize the damage they are causing, and others simply don't care. Because the USFS does not have the personnel or funding to monitor the explosion of ORV use, and because environmental damage is spreading across so much of the public land, a new approach is needed to halt the damage before we lose our natural heritage."

Kessler cites examples of damage caused by ORVs on the Medicine Bow National Forest. "Far too many ORV users are ignoring road and trail closures, are going through wetlands and sensitive alpine areas, and are using public lands as a testing ground for how well their machines can travel through streams and steep hills." He add "ORVs are also being used in areas, such as elk calving areas, that should be left undisturbed for wildlife security. " His group has collected photographs showing examples of ORV damage in the area.

Press packets and images are available from Biodiversity Associates (307) 742-7978, and from the Wildlands CPR website at http://maps.wildrockies.org/orv/ and at the Wilderness Society website at http://www.wilderness.org/orv.htm.

In order to examine the current management of motorized recreational use on National Forests, Wildlands CPR submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to every National Forest in the United States in October, 1998. The information received from these requests clearly demonstrates that current trail management is failing to protect the natural resources of the National Forests, that user conflicts abound, and that agency monitoring and enforcement lag behind violations.

• 71 percent of the responding forests provided some record of resource damage or motor vehicle violations.
• 66 percent of the responding forests identified user conflicts as a result of ORV use.
• Only 6 percent of the forests provided a record of adequate monitoring for every year, 1987-1998, requested in the FOIA letter, despite a legal requirement for monitoring.

"The lack of a coherent policy by the Forest Service has resulted in a situation that is scientifically indefensible and environmentally devastating," said Bethanie Walder, executive director, Wildlands CPR. "It is urgent that the Forest Service address this long-standing problem."

The rulemaking petition to be filed by The Wilderness Society, Wildlands CPR, Biodiversity Associates, and more than 90 local, regional and national organizations, is a document that outlines the scientific research regarding ORV damage, and analyzes the policies, regulations and law regarding ORV management. The Petition triggers a formal process that requires a response by the Forest Service.

Gayle Joslin, a wildlife biologist and member of the Montana Wildlife Society, said, "There are few events in the course of history that have had the potential to more seriously impact wildlife and their habitat than the advent of off-road vehicles. Unfortunately, the stewards of public lands have not been able to adequately respond to these damaging land uses." Her group has pledged to help agencies implement enforceable standards for ORVs.