ATV Action Catalyzes Public Response

In spring 2006, what was perceived as in imminent threat to Boulder’s quality of life—county promotion of new ATV routes throughout the region—catalyzed a groundswell of public activism against that effort. An outgrowth of that activism spirit morphed into our nonprofit Boulder Community Foundation, under the business name of Boulder Community Alliance.

While other individuals jumped into community-oriented projects, then-Executive Director, Tim Clarke, continued working with the regional players he’d met through the ATV/Garfield County Trails involvement. Among his activities:

• Tim worked with Steve Roberts, owner of Escalante Outfitters, to represent concerned citizens regarding local ATV issues.
• He put BCF on the mailing list for scoping notices regarding the Escalante Ranger District.
• He made contact with other groups working on national forest issues, most notably the Three Forests Coalition (TFC), comprising 15 organizations monitoring the Dixie, Fishlake, and Manti La Sal forests
• He organized a monitoring training session with Diane Tracy, board member of Great Old Broads for Wilderness. Volunteers from Boulder and Escalante learned how to use gps units, cameras, and report forms to monitor user-created ATV routes on Boulder Mountain.
• He put Boulder Community Alliance “on the map” as an active, responsive, go-to, grass roots organization, recognized at the state level as well as by an assortment of nonprofits throughout the region.

Although Tim has moved away, the solid start that he provided to ERBI continues under its new director, Boz Bosworth.

ERBI’s Goals

These efforts promoted by Tim Clarke and others, have coalesced under the new moniker, ERBI. We continue to carefully carve out our unique niche among an array of sometimes zealous environmental and conservation groups. We live here. We love what this area offers, and we want to defend it from encroachment. The ranchers, hunters, fishers, hikers, campers, riders using the mountains and deserts are our friends, ourselves. Our intention is to share other groups’ research and expertise where relevant to our goals, but not to adopt policies, such as restrictions on cattle grazing, that could be detrimental to local ranchers.

Our policy toward ATVs remains unchanged: our concern is with the abusers, not the ATV users who do respect designated routes, non-motorized users, and wildlife. We believe the widespread promotion of motorized recreation poses significantly greater impact threats than cattle grazing ever has or possibly could.

User-created routes are having serious impacts on vegetation, wildlife habitat, watershed integrity, non-motorized recreation, and cattle grazing. The extent of user-created routes is so extensive that the roads network is likely to be double the 4,000 miles that was thought to be in the DNF region. Volunteers have already contributed monitoring records of ATV abuse within the Escalante Ranger District. We anticipate that monitoring will be an ongoing process within the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.

We continue to work collaboratively to evolve a tourism policy that focuses on the quieter forms of recreation which have thus far defined our region and shaped our local businesses. Together with business owners, residents and landowners, we believe that the nationwide promotion of ATV / OHV tourism in the Escalante River basin region will prove to be a disastrous policy. We have researched many stories of other communities that are struggling with the many impacts of motorized tourism. There is evidence that it does not bring the economic benefits that are projected; rather it imposes a burden on local residents, stresses voluntary emergency services and enforcement personnel, compromises existing local businesses, creates physical damage to ranch lands, forests and wild lands without funding to restore them, and so on.

ATV recreation has grown considerably in recent years, and is here to stay. Many of our local ranchers depend on ATVs to access rangeland and irrigation ditches. We support that use, and likewise the responsible use of ATVs on designated trails by recreationists, hunters and fishermen. However the concentration of users, such as at jamborees, or in areas where motorized trails dominate non-motorized trails, can impose unmanageable impacts on scenic land and local communities

Our region comprises some of the most outstanding scenic landscape in the country. Tourists travel from around the world to experience the stunning beauty of the Escalante canyons—the remoteness, the wildness, the peace and quiet, and the clear air, lakes and creeks, and starry skies. Such pristine qualities represent a priceless asset to visitors who cherish the quiet and solitude, and also to the various residents who have settled here and established livelihoods and businesses in the area.

The Escalante River Basin comprises a vast ecological region encompassing three public land agencies - Escalante Ranger District of the Dixie National Forest, The Escalante Canyons of the Grand Staircase Escalante, and Glen Canyon NRA. It comprises some of the most pristine, remote and rugged country in the United States, and it offers a profound (and rare) recreation experience of quietness and solitude.
With Escalante and Boulder as the gateway towns to the Escalante River Basin, BCA sees a long range need for involvement in this critical ecosystem and stunning recreational area. However, like all such resources under increasing pressure, protecting and preserving its unique qualities will take vigilance and stewardship. None of us can afford to lose such a gem.

It also includes our town and region’s cultural, agricultural, and environmental uniqueness. So, this is the place for updates and information on the issue of your choice. If you have new ideas, contact Boz or Bobbie at boz@bouldercommunityalliance.org

Dixie National Forest Motorized Travel Plan, Implementation Plan PDF
or go directly to the Dixie National Forest Service website: www.fs.fed.us/r4/dixie/projects/MTP/implementation/index.shtml