Park trespassing raises flags. By Daniel Person. Bozeman Chronicle Staff Writer
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Ralph Maughan
Dr. Ralph Maughan is professor emeritus of political science at Idaho State University with specialties in natural resource politics, public opinion, interest groups, political parties, voting and elections. Aside from academic publications, he is author or co-author of three hiking/backpacking guides, and he is President of the Western Watersheds Project.
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An article in today’s Missoulian about ORVs mentions that the Forest Service and BLM regard illegal ORV abuse as THE number #1 problem on public lands, so bubbleheads on snowmobiles flaunting the rules in Yellowstone comes as no surprise.
It’s bizzare that the same agencies try to minimize the damage done by ORVs by talking about “user created trails” instead of saying the ORV crowd is breaking the law and running amok on public lands so much that the scumbags have pounded in thousands of miles of their very illegal roads and trails. Illegal. Illegal is the key word here, and it’s crazy that the BLM and Forest Service are trying to hide it.
The excuse for not doing anything meaningful about illegal ORV use is always the same for all federal agencies: money. If the Forest Service didn’t subsidize timber sales, it would have plenty of money for law enforcement to stop the ORV thugs. If the BLM didn’t subsidize grazing fees for ranchers, it would have lots of money for law enforcement to stem the tide of illegal ORV use. If Yellowstone Park didn’t spend 100s of thousands of dollars chartering helicopters and dropping bombs on Sylvan Pass all winter to keep the pass open for snowmobiles, the NPS would have more than enough money for law enforcement personnel to patrol the park’s West Side to keep out illegal incursions by bubbleheads on snowmobiles.
It’s all about priorities.