In a week of distressing news, none was more depressing than The Salt Lake Tribune’s Saturday front page which revealed that ATVs will be allowed on the roads, including remote back roads, of Utah’s national parks.
Brian Maffly’s story reported the main problems: the eventuality of permanent damage to these fragile and irreplaceable landscapes, and the impossible challenge of keeping these off-road vehicles on roads.
While ATVs and UTVs may have their place on farms, ranches and some rough rural roads, they have degraded the outdoor experience for all of us. Places like the San Rafael will never recover.
Destruction of vegetation and harassment of wildlife are not the only problems. Since utility terrain vehicles were deemed highway worthy by the Legislature, quality of life in Summit and Wasatch counties has taken a decisive turn for the worse. From a half mile or so away, you can hear these machines roar, be it along the Mirror Lake road, or any access to the Uinta Mountains.
Why must those of us who venture into our national forests be subject to someone’s joyride in the far distance? We are there to see the sights and smell the clean air. We want to hear the wind, the water, the birds — the pounding of our hearts from exertion and exhilaration. Instead we are helplessly returned to the place from which we endeavored to escape.
Terry Orme, Sandy
Donate to the newsroom now. The Salt Lake Tribune, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) public charity and contributions are tax deductible