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| from fat-bike.com |
ATVs are being
used illegally in the park and there isn’t a lot that Park Officials can do to stop
them, besides issuing tickets. ATVs were banned from state land, however many
ATV owners are trespassing on trails made for other sports, like hiking and
snowmobiling. Many snowmobiling trails cross wetlands, which freeze in the
winter and are unaffected by the snowmobiles; however, when these trails are
used by ATVs, the ecosystem is altered or destroyed. The vehicles go around
gates or cut through locks and chains to reach these trails that were blocked
off by the DEC. The heavy machines compact the soil that they drive over with
their wide tires, and compacted soil does not drain as well as the undisturbed
soil does, so the trails flood and get muddy. The ATVs then drive through the
mud and create deep ruts in the trail, making it unusable for other sports. The
vehicle wheels also tear up the vegetation on the sides of the trail, widening
the trail and destroying the protected forest. ATVs are loud, gas-guzzlers that
destroy trails in the Adirondack Park for other sports, and Park Officials have
little power over them.
Mountain bikes
have a smaller impact on the Adirondack State Park than ATVs do, but mountain
bikes are not harmless. Mountain biking is not allowed on all state-land hiking
trails, but it isn’t illegal in the park, like ATVs are. Mountain bikes impact
the trails the same manor that ATVs do, in that they compact and erode the soil
and create ruts in the trail. The ruts from bikes are narrower and less deep
than ruts from ATVs because bike tires are not as large as ATV tires, and bikes
weigh less than ATVs. If bikers start using Fat Bikes on the trails when they
aren’t covered in snow, the trails will be impacted more than with a regular
mountain bike, but hopefully bikers will only use fat bikes for the snow and
sand.
I was aware that ATVs have a negative effect on the park's trails, though I was unaware of the mountain bike's impact in the Adirondacks. Although, as you mention, it is difficult for Park Officials to monitor and deal with the situation, I would be interested to know if there are efforts in place to enforce (or suggest) the use of these fat bikes in the snow and sand. From your article, it appears that greater use of the fat bikes would be beneficial to the park (as a substitute to ATVs), and I am curious to learn more about how Park Officials are working towards enforcing more sustainable recreation.
ReplyDeleteFat bikes are more often used in the sand and snow because they are so large and heavy that peddling them though mud or on packed dirt would be more difficult than using a normal mountain bike. So for now, the sport is monitoring itself in a way, and not impacting Adirondack trails. I have a feeling that there are some people who like fat bikes who also like muddy sports, so I can see an outcome this spring where more fat bikes are used. It seems like Park officials have to enforce the trespassing rules less with mountain bikers than they do with ATV owners, and in my research for this post I did not come across any damage to park property done by bikers. Your suggestion to keep fat bikes on sand and snow is a good one Ben! I am interested to see what happens in the upcoming mud seasons.
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