Vermont to revoke rule allowing ATVs on state land

In one of its first official acts, the new leadership of the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources plans to revoke a rule that opened the door to all-terrain vehicle trails on state-owned land.

The hotly debated rule was put in place in January 2010 by the administration of former Gov. Jim Douglas over the objections of state legislators. Lawmakers said they had never authorized ATV access to state lands.

Douglas was succeeded two weeks ago by Gov. Peter Shumlin, who had spoken against the rule during his campaign last year.

"This should not be surprising to anyone," ANR Secretary Deb Markowitz said Thursday afternoon. "It is something both Gov. Shumlin and I talked about in the campaign."

However, Markowitz did not absolutely rule out ATV access to state land.

She said she plans to allow an ATV trail group to use about 500 feet of state land along the shoulder of Vermont 105 in Island Pond. She said the request was a reasonable one because the off-road vehicles would have "absolutely no impact" on an abutting streamside buffer zone owned by the Department of Fish and Wildlife.

She will allow that use not under the ATV rule, but through an existing procedure that licenses private companies and groups to use state land for such things as cell towers, she said.

"Beyond that, we are going to sit down with VASA to look at what they are interested in. We want to see if there is a way we can be accommodating to them without changing public policy," she said. VASA is the Vermont All-Terrain Vehicle Sportman’s Association.

The ATV rule adopted last year allowed the agency to approve up to three trails across state land to connect existing ATV trails on private land.

Markowitz said her proposal to reverse the rule also would be subject to a public hearing and comment before it is adopted.

When ATV access was proposed in 2009, it provoked an outpouring of comments, for and against. ATV riders dominated a public hearing, but written comments from more than 1,000 people ran nearly four-to-one against allowing the big-wheeled vehicles on public land.

Kent--not very off road friendly up towards your way, are they?