Damage to the Backcountry and Private Property

Thousands of Americans responsibly use off-road vehicles (ORVs) for work and recreation. But the rapid, and unchecked, growth in ORV riding over the past decade has led to a growing backlash in communities nationwide against the damage of private and public property, disruption of hunting, fishing and other recreation, vandalism, and mounting deaths and injuries from ORV accidents -- particularly among children.

The number of off-road vehicles in the U.S. grew by 174% from 1993 to 2003, leading the Bush Administration to identify unmanaged recreation, particularly unmanaged off-roading, as one of the top four threats to America's forests. Private property owners are angry that riders tear up their land and cut down fences to ride where they want. These irresponsible riders tore down "No Tresspassing" signs and turned the field by Ron Knudsen's 150-acre property in Washington into "their play area." "If they want in, they'll cut the fence. If they want out, they'll cut the fence," said Knudsen, who lives in Spokane County, near the Washington-Idaho border. "They do whatever they want to do."