"It's an abomination, it's an embarrassment," the governor said Wednesday during a meeting with The Salt Lake Tribune editorial board.

Huntsman said that he recently visited the area around Moab with David Bonderman, a prominent venture capitalist and major financier for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, to see the damage done by illegal off-road travel.

"I wanted to get a sense of what the concern was, and it became a concern to me," he said.

So Huntsman - who rides dirt bikes, but sticks to the track - said he has begun a two-part effort to reduce the damage, using enforcement and encouragement.

First, he has asked the Department of Natural Resources to step up enforcement on state land. "You penalize them. . . . You give them tickets, you charge them, you fine them, which is what we're going to be doing through DNR," he said.

Second, he asked Chad Reed, a top motocross rider, to tape a public service announcement. "It was a plea to stay on the trail and don't screw up our beautiful state," Huntsman said.

He said the Bureau of Land Management has taken the ad and used it as an example for other BLM offices.

Michael Swenson, executive director of the Utah Shared Access Alliance, an off-road group, said off-roaders have an obligation to obey the law in most cases.

"There are many cases where there is not a travel plan in place or there is one that was put together in such a fashion that the recreation community just cannot support it," he said. "We understand why there is this perception of abuse and I guess really it depends on your point of view."

He said the alliance has invited Huntsman to go out and see the good and bad of off-road recreation, but the governor has declined.

"The word 'abomination' is a pretty harsh word," said Swenson. "I don't know that most of the folks that put the governor in office would consider people using the public lands and using ATVs on public lands an abomination."