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A bit of good news. The trib has a balnced report of the efforts of Canyon Country 4x4 Club's efforts in the Hog Canyon area outside of Kanab.
Kudos to Don Black and the boys down south!
Come see this area at the U4WDA spring trail ride May 5 2007.
Educating ATV users pays off near Kanab
By Mark Havnes
The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated: 03/05/2007 12:19:00 AM MST
Click photo to enlarge
Kirk and Gayla Carpenter follow their dog, Ruby, and Robert... (Mark Havnes/The Salt Lake Tribune )
KANAB - Off-road enthusiasts are pleased to announce that fewer "pigs" are using, er, abusing Hog Canyon.
They're sticking to designated trails more and littering less, thanks to a grass-roots education campaign.
Two years ago, the Canyon Country 4x4 Club and the Utah-Arizona ATV Club banded with environmentally minded residents and the Bureau of Land Management to erect signs and barriers to keep off-roaders on roads and off other parts of the fragile red-rock landscape in southern Utah's scenic Hog Canyon, north of Kanab.
"These clubs have put a lot of money and volunteer hours into the [route] system and want to act as a unified front with the BLM and community to send a message that going off the designated roads will not be tolerated," BLM spokesman Larry Crutchfield says.
And that message is getting through - after some initial bumps.
Gayla Carpenter, who is under contract with the federal agency to patrol the roads with her husband just outside Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, says that when the barricades first went up in Hog Canyon, some were torn down or ignored.
No more. Damage is down, she says, and awareness is up.
"At first, I think the [damage] was done because people thought they were going to lose access [to the roads]," Carpenter says. "Now people realize that that is not the intent [of the BLM]." Even the litter she and her husband collect along the trails has lessened.
"It's always empty Bud Light cans and only Bud Light," she says. "I wrote the company [Anheuser-Busch] and asked that they educate their customers about the problem and they wrote back saying they are always working to educate the public about littering."
Education is key. Jerry Foote, president of the Utah-Arizona ATV Club, urges riders to take the state-certified ATV classes before venturing into the backcountry.
"We stress that riders stay on the trails and pick up after themselves," Foote says.
When they don't, the ATV clubs swoop in. In fact, the groups do a lot of road upkeep. Foote notes the clubs tapped a $10,000 grant from the Polaris recreational-vehicle company to put in culverts along Hog Canyon's runoff-threatened roads.
The roads in Kane County have been a contentious issue for several years as environmentalists, politicians and federal land managers have clashed in court over ownership.
Richard Jessop, a member of the Canyon Country 4x4 Club, blames much of the continuing off-road offenses on young riders who think they have something to prove and older residents who are unaware of new restrictions.
To help spread that awareness, the clubs, in conjunction with the BLM, have created a map for Hog Canyon that includes route-difficulty ratings - from easy to extreme. Copies are available at a kiosk volunteers built where the trail system begins, east of U.S. Highway 89 a mile north of Kanab.
Maps also are available at the BLM's Kanab Field Office, Grand Staircase visitor centers and the county's tourism office.
"Education is a continuous process," Foote says. "You can never stop learning."
To aid that effort, Tom Christensen, recreation coordinator for the BLM's Kanab office, is pursuing a $16,000 agency grant to steer toward further education efforts and road improvements. He says that money will be matched by in-kind contributions from the county, the clubs and Kanab.
The BLM's Crutchfield says his agency also is working on a cooperative agreement with the county sheriff's office to help patrol the roads.
"We hope to form a volunteer patrol with these [ATV] groups that will offer additional eyes out there for the BLM," Crutchfield says. "At first they can stop and talk to an offender and, if it continues, they report it to a BLM law-enforcement [officer]. These people do not want to lose the access they have."
mhavnes@sltrib.com
Kudos to Don Black and the boys down south!
Come see this area at the U4WDA spring trail ride May 5 2007.
Educating ATV users pays off near Kanab
By Mark Havnes
The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated: 03/05/2007 12:19:00 AM MST
Click photo to enlarge
Kirk and Gayla Carpenter follow their dog, Ruby, and Robert... (Mark Havnes/The Salt Lake Tribune )
KANAB - Off-road enthusiasts are pleased to announce that fewer "pigs" are using, er, abusing Hog Canyon.
They're sticking to designated trails more and littering less, thanks to a grass-roots education campaign.
Two years ago, the Canyon Country 4x4 Club and the Utah-Arizona ATV Club banded with environmentally minded residents and the Bureau of Land Management to erect signs and barriers to keep off-roaders on roads and off other parts of the fragile red-rock landscape in southern Utah's scenic Hog Canyon, north of Kanab.
"These clubs have put a lot of money and volunteer hours into the [route] system and want to act as a unified front with the BLM and community to send a message that going off the designated roads will not be tolerated," BLM spokesman Larry Crutchfield says.
And that message is getting through - after some initial bumps.
Gayla Carpenter, who is under contract with the federal agency to patrol the roads with her husband just outside Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, says that when the barricades first went up in Hog Canyon, some were torn down or ignored.
No more. Damage is down, she says, and awareness is up.
"At first, I think the [damage] was done because people thought they were going to lose access [to the roads]," Carpenter says. "Now people realize that that is not the intent [of the BLM]." Even the litter she and her husband collect along the trails has lessened.
"It's always empty Bud Light cans and only Bud Light," she says. "I wrote the company [Anheuser-Busch] and asked that they educate their customers about the problem and they wrote back saying they are always working to educate the public about littering."
Education is key. Jerry Foote, president of the Utah-Arizona ATV Club, urges riders to take the state-certified ATV classes before venturing into the backcountry.
"We stress that riders stay on the trails and pick up after themselves," Foote says.
When they don't, the ATV clubs swoop in. In fact, the groups do a lot of road upkeep. Foote notes the clubs tapped a $10,000 grant from the Polaris recreational-vehicle company to put in culverts along Hog Canyon's runoff-threatened roads.
The roads in Kane County have been a contentious issue for several years as environmentalists, politicians and federal land managers have clashed in court over ownership.
Richard Jessop, a member of the Canyon Country 4x4 Club, blames much of the continuing off-road offenses on young riders who think they have something to prove and older residents who are unaware of new restrictions.
To help spread that awareness, the clubs, in conjunction with the BLM, have created a map for Hog Canyon that includes route-difficulty ratings - from easy to extreme. Copies are available at a kiosk volunteers built where the trail system begins, east of U.S. Highway 89 a mile north of Kanab.
Maps also are available at the BLM's Kanab Field Office, Grand Staircase visitor centers and the county's tourism office.
"Education is a continuous process," Foote says. "You can never stop learning."
To aid that effort, Tom Christensen, recreation coordinator for the BLM's Kanab office, is pursuing a $16,000 agency grant to steer toward further education efforts and road improvements. He says that money will be matched by in-kind contributions from the county, the clubs and Kanab.
The BLM's Crutchfield says his agency also is working on a cooperative agreement with the county sheriff's office to help patrol the roads.
"We hope to form a volunteer patrol with these [ATV] groups that will offer additional eyes out there for the BLM," Crutchfield says. "At first they can stop and talk to an offender and, if it continues, they report it to a BLM law-enforcement [officer]. These people do not want to lose the access they have."
mhavnes@sltrib.com
