Careless ORV riders targeted

PROVO — Count Debi Jensen among the motorbike riders who feel irked at the fellow off-road vehicle enthusiasts who veer off the trails, breaking trees and ripping up the dirt on the mountainside.

It's those kind of riders, she says, who give the sport a bad name.

"It is the ones who abuse it and cut through the roads that make it hard for everyone else," said Jensen, a Spanish Fork resident who owns two ATVs. "That's why people are so against them."

Utah County Commissioner Gary Herbert said the popularity of off-road vehicles is taking its toll on Utah Valley's foothills. As a result, Herbert and the two other commissioners are debating whether to increase fines for people who ride ORV's in unauthorized areas to protect the foothills.

"The ordinance is not redefining where you can and cannot ride," said Lindon Mayor Larry Ellertson, whose city passed a similar ordinance. "We have a desire to bring people into compliance. We've earned the right to control it (off-road use) because of the way people have been abusing it."

The proposed county ordinance fines first-time offenders some $200 for driving on unauthorized trails.

The fine jumps dramatically to $750 on the second offense. Multiple offenders would be charged $750 plus up to a 35 percent surcharge. The suggested ordinance also asks a judge to assess up to one-half of the penalty as community service at $5 per hour.

But Russ Tucker, who has been riding ORV's for almost 20 years, said the fines are nothing new to riders. "There has always been a law against it, always been a fine against it," he said.

Tucker said existing laws have not been enforceable — and the new fines will not change anything. In the past, he said, police haven't been able to catch violators.

And that's not likely to change, he said.

Until he finds a place to ride nearby, Tucker said he will continue riding on the foothills near his Orem home.

"You give me somewhere else to go and I will gladly leave the foothills and go to that place," Tucker said. "I want to cooperate with law enforcement. I'm a resident, too. I'd rather not have the hillside defaced, but there is nowhere else for me to go."

With more than 300 miles of approved trails, the Uintah National Forest provides plenty of opportunities to ride, said Uinta National Forest supervisor Pete Karp.

"We have the facilities for those who want to follow the rules and regulations," said Karp, who said Utah County residents can ride in the North Fork area of American Fork Canyon or on some trails near Squaw Peak. "The benefit I see in (the ordinance) is it ups the ante . . . on unauthorized use."

Unless local officials find an outlet for off-road enthusiasts to ride, Herbert said, people are going to continue violating the law.

"We might collect more fines, but we won't solve the problem. "The market seems to be demanding more and more. The demand gets bigger and bigger, and we restrict its use? If that continues, we've got a formula for failure here."

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