Environment Essay: Off-Road Vehicles on Public Lands

Public land. "Public," meaning everyone owns it. Every United States citizen has a right to recreate on the lands preserved for us. So, what does that mean? There are a lot of us, and we all have different ideas of what's fun to do outside. How do we decide which activities can be allowed without someone getting their toes stepped on? If the land belongs to all of us, and we have a responsibility to preserve it for generations to come, then how should we manage it?

Off-highway vehicles (OHV), which include snowmobiles, four-wheelers and dirt bikes, are the mode of choice for millions of Americans who want to experience the outdoors. They're blamed for irreparable damage to the environment, and touted as one of the most enjoyable ways to spend time with friends and family outside. Environmentalists insist that much harsher restrictions of OHV use on public lands are vital to preserving fragile ecosystems. OHV users say they follow the rules already in place and don't need any more.

Many members of each group see the issue as black and white. However, OHV use on public land is much, much more complex than that. Many parties are involved, ranging from government agencies, environmentalists, private landowners, various recreation user groups, and the public in general. It is not only possible, but also very necessary to include everyone when making decisions about a specific area of public land. Only through compromise can a plan come about that is truly best not only for all parties, but also for the land itself.

Environmentalists are some of the most argumentative and relentless people around. They view compromise in any form as a step backward. When the environment is compromised for anything, they say, we all lose. Their opinion isn't unfounded. We all are a part of a global ecosystem, and whether we like it or not all of us are affected by what happens to it. Compromise means that the environment lost ground to something else, like oil companies or housing developers, which get profits at the expense of everyone else. When it comes to OHVs on public land, many major environmental groups like the Sierra Club are pushing hard for severe restrictions and even bans in some places.

Off-highway vehicle users tend to view a compromise the same way environmentalists do, but for different reasons.