Beasts of Burden
By Kenny Lawson, McCurtain County

ATV's, four-wheelers, quads, Gators and Mules. Whatever you want to call them, they are classified as ORV's (Off Road Vehicles). Recreational riding of ORV's is quite possibly the fastest growing sport in recent history. It is now a common sight on our nations highways and byways to see trailer loads of ATV's and other Off Road Vehicles on their way to being ridden somewhere. And that somewhere is most likely on our nation's public lands.

ATV's are very useful. Ranchers and farmers use them as much as any piece of equipment they own. From working cows to mending fences, spraying crops or getting them into hard to get to places on the farm or ranch, an ATV can get the job done in an economical and convenient fashion. Hunters use them to access hard to get to places as well as planting food plots and hauling out game.

Countless hours of family fun have been logged on ATV's. It is not unusual to see a trailer loaded with an ATV for each member of the family, from the King size quad for dad all the way down to the minis for the kids. The one aspect of recreational riding of ATV's that cannot be criticized is time spent with the family.

No doubt the popularity of ATV riding has been good for the industry and in a small way, some local economies as well. Any place that has an area open for public riding has benefited somewhat from a boost in tourism if you will. But, however fun or useful they may be, ridden illegally or improperly, they are one of the most destructive inventions of the twentieth century. More importantly, they are one the biggest threats not only to their own sport, but to the integrity of our public lands.

In southeast Oklahoma, particularly McCurtain County, there are hundreds of thousands of acres of land open for public recreation. The Weyerhaeuser Company owns some half million acres that is leased to the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife and is better known as Three Rivers
Wildlife Management Area. Three Rivers WMA, as is all other department managed lands, is managed primarily for hunting and fishing, with all other uses secondary or less priority. In addition, the U.S.F.S. owns more than 100,000 acres of land right smack in the middle of Three Rivers WMA that is also cooperatively managed by the O.D.W.C.

With the exception of the U.S. Corps of Engineers buffer zone, the U.S.RS land surrounds Broken Bow Lake, which is arguably the most scenic area in Oklahoma. The crystal clear water, which is 99 percent pure, is surrounded by rugged pine/ hardwood ridges and dotted with beautiful islands. The cold water from the bottom of the lake sustains a yearround trout fishery in the lower Mountain Fork River. The quality of fishing and the reputation for producing several current state record fish, including the state record large mouth bass and German brown trout, draw fishermen and other tourists from all over the country. It is a beautiful place indeed.
Unfortunately, the beauty and integrity of the landscape and wildlifehabitat are being compromised by the indiscriminate use of ATV's. The accessibility and reasonable driving distances from major cities such as Dallas, Oklahoma City and Tulsa attract ATV enthusiasts from all over. The internet, with its access to millions of users is in large part responsible for this surge in the area's popularity. It is also responsible for the indiscriminate and unlawful use of ATV's by the lack of control of inaccurate information about the laws regarding the use of ATV's on public land.

Three Rivers and Ouachita WMA's (U.S.F.S. lands) is a labyrinth of logging roads. There are approximately 5,000 miles of them in McCurtain County alone. A person could ride a different route every day for a year and never see the same place. It is big country to say the least. These areas also provide access to some of the best public land hunting anywhere in the United States. Some of the abandoned or closed logging roads are some of the best places to find rubs, scrapes and an abundance of other deer sign. In the spring these same places provide gobblers a place to strut their stuff and a great place for a hunter to make a calling setup. Now however, ATV riders have found these places and what was once a treasured hunting spot is nothing more than a well used four wheeler trail.

ATV's by their very design are destructive. They are light weight and powerful. The aggressive tire tread is designed for traction yet, when traction is limited, they spin effortlessly. Vegetation and topsoil are easily removed with the blip of the throttle. All a person has to do is look at an ATV trail to see that it is nothing but rocks and gravel. If it is not yet it will be soon. Areas that have a lot of moisture such as river or creek bottoms are turned into mud holes.
Years of unregulated and indiscriminate use of ATV's have left behind hundreds of miles of outlaw trails. Even with thousands of miles of logging roads in the area, there were still a lot of ridges and creek bottoms that had no roads and didn't need them. Not so anymore. A recent helicopter ride in the area revealed to me an ATV trail on top of every ridge and in every creek bottom I flew over. I should have expected it. I have been watching this problem grow for several years now.

I am still amazed at the number of ATV riders I encounter who claim they do not know the rules. Often I find riders in violation of the rules on the WMA's, and the first thing they do is pull out one of the free, high quality maps made available by the O.D.W.C. When I point out the rules written clearly and easily understood on the back of the map, and the fact that the logging road they are on is closed by several large dirt mounds or signs or both, they play dumb. They claim they don't understand. What they don't or won't understand is that their $7,000 Quad with the Monster Mudder tires and built in GPS cannot be driven anywhere that is not constructed and intended for a car to be driven on.

Many riders want to know why they can't ride an ATV anywhere it will take them regardless of the sensitivity of the area. Many don't understand that when they drive through the woods or off the road the next guy that comes through wants to know where the last guy went and then you have a new trail. In the meantime a whole ecosystem is being altered or destroyed.
In the spring I find myself explaining to people that hen turkeys use these low lying brushy areas to nest. If the hen is disturbed from the nest too many times she may not return and that hatch is lost. Same goes for other wildlife species that try to raise their young. I am surprised sometimes by the number of riders who are totally oblivious to this fact and by the number of those that don't seem to care.

Nowadays it seems that I get as many complaints of illegal ATV use as I do illegal hunting or fishing. Certain times of the year I'm sure I receive more. It's easy to understand when you can sit at the four-way stop light at Idabel on a Thursday or Friday and literally count 500 ATV's coming to ride in the county for the weekend. Spring break is unbelievable. Some trucks and trailers have anywhere from 2 to 8 ATV's on them. I have even seen a semi with 16 ATV's on it.
Some hunters that hunt areas that have been worked extensively to curtail illegal ATV use have realized the benefit by seeing more game and being intruded upon less by illegal ATV riders. These same hunters have begun to report illegal ATV use in these areas because they enjoy seeing more game and their success rate has gone up. It is a better quality hunting experience.
Here are some observations that I have made over the last few years trying to curb, with limited success I might add, the indiscriminate use of ATV's on our public lands:

1. Some people buy ATV's first without consideration of having a place to ride.
2. Most of those riding are from large cities or suburbs and some may not even have a back yard or a lawn mower but they have a trailer load of ATVs.
3. Most people are not going to follow the rules regardless because they bought their machine to ride off road, while a few are content to stay on open logging roads.
4. Most get inaccurate information from ATV enthusiast web sites who sometimes willingly promote illegal riding by not policing their web sites.
5. A lot of local tourism profiteers provide partial or misleading information so as to not discourage riders from renting cabins from them. This will likely only hurt their business by not being honest with the customer.
6. Most do not research the rules even when they are as easily accessible and available as the web sites they frequent that give inaccurate information. This would be akin to going on an out of state hunt without first knowing or obtaining the regulations for that state. Incomprehensible.
7. Many do not hunt and some are oblivious that a hunting season is going on. Some appear horrified when they encounter someone with a gun. I have seen the look of terror on many faces when they ask me "What are all these people doing wearing orange and carrying guns?" Duh.
8. Most do not care about our land beyond their own use and don't give it another thought until they are ready to come back and do the same thing.
9. Some think that the dirt mounds put in place to close a road or trail are "whoopty-do's" and are put there for their enjoyment.
10. The continued indiscriminate riding and abuse of public land and ATV enthusiasts and web sites that do not police their own ranks will be the cause of the sports demise.
11. There are a few good people who wouldn't dream of breaking the law yet they will pay the price for the misdeeds of others.

Recreational riding of ATV's on public land, like hunting, is a privilege that can be removed. Riders should be aware of hunting seasons and try to avoid them. I try to explain to riders that hunters wait an entire year for a season that is sometimes all too short. They can ride all year long and do. Hunting, like fishing is a peaceful pursuit. Most people including me, like to get away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life and just want to hear the birds chirping, the wind blowing and the leaves crunching followed by the gobble of a big tom turkey or the grunts of a rutting buck, not the buzz of a dozen four wheelers coming through the woods to disturb your hunt.

Some hunters use ATV's to save wear and tear on their trucks. That's understandable. Some hunt as an excuse to be able to ride their ATV Some people just like to ride. Whichever applies to you, respect our public lands and those that prefer to enjoy it the way nature intended it.