ORV riders have nowhere to hide

Renee Van Buren (Readers' Forum, Nov. 9) says that she finds few places to hide from ORVs anymore. In reality, there are far fewer places to use ORVs now than in past years. Since I learned to ride a motorcycle in 1972, thousands of miles of Utah trails and roads have been closed to ORVs. Renee mentions the San Rafael Swell. At least 200 miles of trails and roads there have been closed to off-road vehicle use. The San Rafael Reef virtually is closed to all vehicular traffic. Zion National Park and Snow Canyon State Park allow no ORV use. Canyonlands National Park restricts vehicle use, as do all national forests. Hundreds of miles of trails and roads in the Uinta Mountains have been closed to vehicular traffic.

Are there truly few places to hide from ORVs? What about the Jordan River Parkway, the Provo River Parkway, Bonneville Shoreline Trail and the Lone Peak and High Uintas' wilderness areas? Millions of acres are closed to ORV use. The truth is, ORV users have few places to hide anymore.

Brian T. Bawden

West Valley City