I'm done with any kind of abuse by ATV/UTVs. A tire off the road and I turn them in. mtmuleyThanks for turning those people in mtmuley.
Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature may not be available in some browsers.
I'm done with any kind of abuse by ATV/UTVs. A tire off the road and I turn them in. mtmuleyThanks for turning those people in mtmuley.
[FONT="][FONT="]We are working with USFS, BLM, DNRC, and MFWP enforcement to try and improve this situation. It is going to be a difficult challenge. Success will require public participation at several levels. Part of the challenge is the need to keep closed routes signed. Dillon BLM and DNRC has agreed to return to signing closed routes as closed. Versus signing open routes as open and non-signed routes being closed. Enforcement officers are indicating to us that a ticket will not hold up in court unless there is a sign on the route indicating it is closed to motorized travel. Also, public understanding of this signing approach is poor. Another part of the challenge is public ignorance on travel regulations and the importance of well managed travel. Many folks don’t see any issue with having wide open travel and think the government is simply locking them out of public lands through motorized closures. The resource impacts and associated costs of managing poor travel are measurable – as are game displacement from public lands. Penalties for motorized travel are relatively minor. The Montana state fine is $135. Federal BLM and USFS are $225 and $250 or vice-versa. The federal officers have the ability to issue steeper restitution penalties if significant resource damage can be proven. State officers do not. In many cases, the penalty is less than what folks pay in gas during their trip. We literally have hunting camps in this country that maintain collection jars for paying a fine if they get caught and tell enforcement officers to just take the jar from the tent if they see them. There is little that enforcement can do on USFS lands west of I-15 because there is no travel management plan completed for those lands. As federal agency budgets continue to get cut, this challenge becomes more impossible. [/FONT]
Enforcement officers are indicating to us that a ticket will not hold up in court unless there is a sign on the route indicating it is closed to motorized travel.
Many folks don’t see any issue with having wide open travel and think the government is simply locking them out of public lands through motorized closures.
Penalties for motorized travel are relatively minor. The Montana state fine is $135. Federal BLM and USFS are $225 and $250 or vice-versa
We literally have hunting camps in this country that maintain collection jars for paying a fine if they get caught and tell enforcement officers to just take the jar from the tent if they see them. There is little that enforcement can do on USFS lands west of I-15 because there is no travel management plan completed for those lands. As federal agency budgets continue to get cut, this challenge becomes more impossible.