State of NY Reveals ATV Use Proposal
Off-highway vehicle enthusiasts in New York have been meeting with state policy makers to form an ATV use plan for public lands.
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) recently made public a draft of a policy that determines which state roads and trails are suitable for ATV use.
In the draft, the DEC says: 1) it does not encourage use of ATV’s on public land; 2) the use of ATV’s in wildlife management areas and educational areas is prohibited, with the exception of people with special use permits; 3) on state lands within the Adirondack and Catskill Parks designated as Wild Forest, ATV’s may only be used on roads; and 4) seasonal roads will only be opened on a temporary basis during times when they are unpassable (sic) to other traffic.
While the DEC says the draft is not creating any new policy and serves only as a tool to assist planners with current guidelines and regulations, many of the state’s off-road enthusiasts have expressed displeasure with the policy proposal – most recently at a public meeting in Utica.
Download the full DEC draft at: www.dec.state.ny.us/website/dlf/publands/atv.pdf
