The National Park Conservation Association, the Bluewater Network and Wildlands CPR filed a complaint in a Washington, D.C., federal district court that calls on the Park Service and Interior Department to begin complying with their own rules for enforcing and monitoring potentially damaging OHV use.

Based on park managers' own reports, the environmental groups cite OHV-related damage to animal burrows in Canyonlands and Arches National Parks, to archaeological sites in Grand Canyon National Park and to trails in Washington's Olympic National Park.

"National Parks were created 100 years ago as a preserve for our national heritage - not as playgrounds for off-road vehicles," Wildlands CPR Executive Director Bethanie Walder said in a statement. "The existing policies to protect our parks must be upheld and enforced."

Conservationists say that a lack of funding is largely to blame for the problem. Because of financial limitations, the Park Service is unable to hire enough staff to monitor OHV use and enforce park rules. But they also claim the Park Service has been slow to respond to the growing OHV problem.

As evidence, they cite an internal Park Service survey that cites 256 responses from park managers indicating increasing damage from illegal off-road use.

"Despite evidence of damage, the leadership of the National Park Service is simply proposing more studies of the problems caused by off-road vehicles in some parts of the National Park System and has refused to take action elsewhere," said Carl Schneebeck, public lands campaign director for Bluewater Network.

Al Nash, a public affairs specialist for the Park Service, declined comment Tuesday, citing the pending litigation.

OHV advocates, however, call the lawsuit part of a larger campaign to rid the parks of all motorized off-road activity.

"We don't condone illegal use and we support enforcement efforts. But this complaint goes beyond that," said Brian Hawthorne, spokesman for the Pocatello, Idaho-based Blue Ribbon Coalition. "This is an attempt to make our national parks more like wilderness areas. But we think the Park Service can and should accommodate OHV use where it is appropriate, and there are places where it is appropriate. We think there should be more recreation in the parks, not less."

jbaird@sltrib.com