In areas of forest preserve, such as the Adirondack and Catskills parks, the use of all-terrain vehicles is strictly regulated by state and federal laws. ATVs are banned from riding in designated wildlife areas and in all probability, further restrictions will be imposed within the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation’s forest preserve.

A Dec. 27 state court decision ruled the Adirondack town of Horicon, Warren County, could no longer allow access for ATV riding on eight of its old, mostly abandoned, dirt roads. According to published reports, the decision was based on the “town’s failure to comply with state environmental and traffic laws for assessing potential damage and possible alternate trail routes.”

The DEC, within its authority, has closed roads to ATVs for safety and trespassing reasons. Limited trail opportunities make it difficult for ATV riders to enjoy their sport.

In Cayuga County, there are no state lands or trails, and only one area for a mobility exception of permitted disabled access to Bear Swamp, in the southern part of the county. “There is almost two miles of trails on seasonal town roads,” said supervising forester Richard Pancoe of the DEC Region 7 Cortland sub-regional office.

In Wayne County, DEC Region 8 Bath sub-office, division of lands and forests, issues CP3 permits for disabled access to Wildlife Management Areas for the town of Huron and Wolcott at the Lakeshores WPA and the Galen WPA locations. Regional Forester John Gibbs said there are 1.5 miles of roads at both locations.

The DEC regional website www.dec.state.ny.us can be used to locate other permit disabled access holdings offered in the state for ATVs.

ATV trails in Wayne county are maintained by the All County ATV Club, Inc. Founded in 2001 by Barry and Janet LaVoy of Montezuma, the club has over 260 family members, many of whom come from out of the county to ride. The club has about 35 miles of trails - trails Barry LaVoy created 30 years ago for dirt bikes. Three years ago, a clubhouse opened in Savannah. Every summer in town the club holds it annual mud bog fundraiser.

Last fall, the DEC Avon regional office closed off the muckland dikes for riding in Savannah. Before the closure, a trail ran uninterrupted from Montezuma to the clubhouse. “The club hopes the DEC will allow us to blaze a trail along the river to replace the dikes, so we can connect over to Mays Point and the power line,” said LaVoy. The club has trail disconnection points in Clyde because of non-permission from a private landowner and in Port Byron, the village roads are off-limits. Conversely, the Town of Mentz has granted the club limited road usage.

All County ATV Club, its officers, members and volunteers have been working to establish a connection into Cato from Weedsport to link with the trails of the Oswego Valley ATV Club. This is a new club which meets in Hannibal. All County ATV Club president Mark David and VP/Trail Boss Jeff Mills have made inroads with the village of Cato.

“One thing is for certain,” LaVoy said. “If connected, riders could follow the Oswego Valley ATV club trails to the Oswego County ATV club trails to Tug Hill.”

On the Hill, clubs in Lewis, Herkimer, Oneida and St. Lawrence counties have been advocating for passage of state legislation creating a state ATV Trail Fund. The bill would designate a portion of the ATV registration fee be paid into such fund for partial use in development and maintenance of statewide ATV trails. These public trails on private lands or property owned by local governments would build partnerships with counties, cities, towns and villages.

Although such a proposal makes sense to ATVers, the legislation has stalled in Albany since 1986. The current bills to establish the ATV trail development and maintenance fund are sponsored by Assemblyman Joseph Morelle and Sen. Elizabeth Little. This multi-sponsored Assembly member bill showed favorable movement with its reporting from the Tourism, Arts and Sports Development Committee to the Codes Committee. The sole sponsored Senate bill was introduced in April to the Tourism, Recreation and Sports Development committee.

A one-house Assembly multi-sponsored bill (A.3811) was introduced by Will Barclay of Pulaski. Last session, the bill was held for consideration in the Assembly TA&SD committee.

The use of state aid to develop and maintain ATV trails would be structured in the same way as the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation snowmobile trails grant-in-aid reimbursement program. Beyond the trail development and maintenance, state aid can be used for education and training, setup of a property damage remediation account and law enforcement.

Furthermore, the bill would allow localities to adopt stricter local laws and ordinances. In other words, ATV trail fund sponsors, counties for example, could legislate their own home town rules.

It’s like the old adage ‘build a trail and they will come.’ In this case, a report on ATV recreation per a 2005 Cooperative Tug Hill Council report estimated an assessment of $23.1 million in sales to local businesses and in wages. A passed Senate bill sponsored by George Maziarz requests an independent study be compiled on the economic impact of ATV-related tourism and recreation. The bill was referred to the Assembly and reported to its Ways and Means Committee.

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