December 19, 2005
By Stan Freeman, Staff
The illegal use of all-terrain vehicles is the number one complaint, said one official.
Fresh air and open sky need no maintenance, but nearly everything else in a state park, from the bathrooms and beaches to the trails and trees, does.
The past four years of belt-tightening in state government have squeezed the Massachusetts forest and park system especially hard, say advocates of the public lands.
And the single most pressing problem in the Connecticut River Valley, they say, is the accumulating damage that all-terrain vehicles, whose use is illegal in all the valley's state-owned forests and parks, are doing to trails and to environmentally sensitive areas.
"It's a problem statewide. There is simply not nearly enough enforcement capability to stop them," said E. Heidi Ricci, senior policy analyst of the Massachusetts Audubon Society
Getting caught trespassing with an ATV on state lands brings only a slap on the wrist - a $50 fine.
"Frankly, the laws need to be overhauled and made stronger. It's hard enough to do enforcement with so few people, but if you can't do anything meaningful when you do catch them, it's even harder," she said.
Admittedly, the state Department of Conservation and Recreation has its hands full. It oversees the management of nearly 10 percent of the commonwealth's land mass, some 450,000 acres, including 285,000 acres of state forest. It has responsibility for 2,000 miles of trails, 1,753 buildings, 29 campgrounds, 3,525 campsites, 67 beaches, 39 swimming pools, 39 skating rinks, 2 golf courses, 60 playgrounds and 55 ballfields.
That's a lot to keep tabs on with a budget that has declined about 10 percent in the last three years and a work force that has shrunk 14 percent in the last two years. DCR, which operated on a budget of $180 million last year, has identified $750 million in repairs and maintenance that are needed within its forest and park system. In the current fiscal year, it will have about $46 million to spend on these projects.
"We've got an aging infrastructure. So we have to prioritize the most critical needs, such things as roof repairs and potholes and water system breaks," said Priscilla E. Geigis, director of parks and recreation for the state.
However, the list may be growing rather than shrinking, she acknowledged. "The $750 million is deferred maintenance that we've been unable to do in the past. Obviously, it's not a stagnant situation."
Joseph S. Larson of Amherst, professor emeritus of natural resources conservation at University of Massachusetts and a member of the state Wildlife Board, said, "One of the concerns I have is that there is a link between the facilities that make money and the amount of money that is available to run those forests and parks. If that is one of the guiding principles, that creates a problem."
It may be that smaller or less visited parks, many of which are in rural Western Massachusetts, are being allowed to languish, he fears.
There is also an apparent link between how much is spent on a park and how close the park is to the governor's office and the Statehouse. Indeed, in its fiscal 2005 report, DCR listed its 18 key capital projects completed from July 2004 to July 2005 and only one was undertaken west of Interstate 495, a flood control project in October Mountain State Forest in Lee.
In the Connecticut River Valley, state forests and parks vary in size from the two-acre Lake Lorraine State Park in Springfield to the 4,479-acre Erving State Forest.
Richard L. Harris of Westfield has hiked a good portion of the state trails throughout the valley. He said the damage being done by ATVs has become very noticeable on some of the state lands.
"You can find places where big ruts have been put into the trails by ATVs and dirt bikes. You also see some places ATVs have made trails that aren't supposed to be trails. In some places, the ATV trails are more noticeable than the actual hiking trails," he said.
"In rural areas, people use ATVs on their own property and then go off on other lands as well. Trying to catch them is nearly impossible. They're supposed to have tags on them, but most don't. Some fold the tag up under the seat so you can't see it," said Harris, who is president of Friends of the Mount Holyoke Range.
"One of the things a trail does is provide a way around sensitive environmental resources, but if you can't control the trail, you have a problem," he said.
Capt. Bruce A. Bennett of the Massachusetts Environmental Police, an agency that has seen its own budget and labor force cut in recent years, said, "The illegal use of all-terrain vehicles is the number one complaint we receive. We get the complaints from both private and public land owners."
All-terrain vehicles are allowed in none of the state forests or parks in the Connecticut River Valley, but they are allowed in portions of four in Berkshire County - Tolland State Forest in Otis, Beartown State Forest in Monterey, October Mountain State Forest in Lee and Pittsfield State Forest in Pittsfield.
They were allowed in the Savoy State Forest until this year, but the damage to trails there was so great that Savoy has been put off limits to the vehicles.
Jesse W. Romeo of the Western Massachusetts ATV Association says the illegal use of ATVs is tarnishing the reputation of law-abiding riders.
"It's hurting us big time. It will shut us down. The majority of the people buying these things don't have a clue what the laws are," said the Lee resident.
He laid the blame for the problem on the state for not putting enough enforcement people into the field and for not making the penalty for illegal riding stiffer. "Without law enforcement, there is no way to control it."
Geigis of the Department of Conservation and Recreation said a study is under way to determine if ATVs should be allowed in any state lands at all. However, catching illegal riders remains a problem.
"We have four full-time rangers for the entire state park system. You can do the math. We work closely with the environmental police but it is something they can't even handle, because it is so widespread," she said.
She believes the current $50 fine for taking an ATV illegally on to state lands is insufficient. "The fine should definitely be increased. It is not really enough of a deterrent right now."
Some have also suggested the environmental police be allowed to confiscate the vehicles when they are used on posted state lands.
Geigis said the damage to trails that the vehicles do outpaces efforts to repair that damage. "We can't sustain it. In many places, we have volunteers organizations to help us rehabilitate the trails, but it's gone beyond what can really be maintained with hand tools."
Ricci, of the Massachusetts Audubon Society, said maintaining the state forests and parks adds to the quality of life of the state and contributes to tourism.
"We have this tremendous forest and park system that is wonderful and beautiful and full of all sorts of resources. We're lucky to have these lands and we should be taking care of them," she said.
Copyright, 2005, The Republican Company, Springfield, MA. All Rights Reserved.