Boondocks No. 30

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Environmentalists Opposition to A.8551. Below is the strong opposition memorandum on Morelle's ATV Economic Impact Study Bill from the environmentalists:

Adirondack Mountain Club / Environmental Advocates of New York / New York-New Jersey Trail Conference / Scenic Hudson / Sierra Club - Atlantic Chapter

Memorandum in Opposition

The above listed organizations strongly oppose this legislation as currently drafted.

This legislation requires the Commissioner of Economic Development in conjunction wit the Commissioner of the Department of Motor Vehicles, the Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation, and the Commissioner of the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation to contract for an independent study of the economic impacts of the use of all terrain vehicles (ATVs) and off road, trail motorcycles in New York State.

This legislation is fatally flawed in many respects.

This legislation should include the Adirondack Park Agency which is responsible for long-term planning and policy for both and private lands in the Adirondack park. ATV tresspass on both public and private lands in the Adirondack Park is a very serious problem.

We believe that this legislation is a one-sided approach to evaluating the economic impacts of ATV riding in New York State. The legislation, as drafted, focuses principally on the positive economic impacts of ATV riding but fails to equally address the many negative economic impacts of ATV use in New York State today.

While the legislation calls for a qualitative analysis of the impacts of ATV-related recreation including damage to private property and the environment, the legislation fails to also require a quantitative analysis of the costs associated with ATV use. These costs include: enforcement of illegal ATV use on the approximately 4.25 million fails to ion acres of state-owned public land; the remediation costs of damages to the environment from ATV trespass on public and private lands; incurred health care expenses related to injures sustained from many ATV-related accidents (see attached Newsweek article); and the decreasing number of vistors to public lands and parks where ATV use is prevalent due to serious user conflicts.

Further, the qualitative analysis provided for in this legislation is deficient in that it does not specifically require said analysis to examine important issues including: ATV-related damage to public lands and parks, and the actual and potential user conflicts between ATV users and other outdoor enthusiasts who now regularly use public lands and parks. The proposed study fails to identify as a critical issue to be evluated - the negative impacts on tourism relating from the displacement of existing non-motorized, passive users of state lands and parks such as birdwatchers, walkers, hikers, and equestrains. A recent meeting held by the DEC regarding ATV use on the populaar Taconic Crest Trail revealed how damaging AQTV use is to the environment and setting of this hiking trail and how dirsuptive ATV use is to the enjoyment of the trail by the hiking community. The proposed study fails to require the careful examination of the physical destruction to public trails making them unattractive and unsuitable for hiking and other forms of passive recreation.

The qualitative analysis should also study the impact of ATV carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions on the state's air quality. It is well-known that two-stroke engines are notorious polluters. Many ATVs, especially older models, are equipped with these engines. Even newer ATVs with four-stroke engines may pollute more then a car because catalytic converters have not been required for these vehicles. New York has made a commitment to reducing greenhouse gases through the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and it is only good public policy that the effects of ATV and trail motorcycle emissions are throughly studied.

It is important to note that off-road trail motorcycles are included in the defination of ATVs under New York State law. these motorcycles are smaller than three or four-wheel ATVs and therefore can more easily venture off-trail due to their smaller size and superior maneuverability. This legislation fails to specifically address the impacts of and costs-associated with off-road trail motorcycles and the very negative impacts of their use on public and private lands.

Any study of economic impacts of ATV use in New York must be a truce cost-benefit analysis.

For all of the above reasons, we strongly OPPOSE this legislation.

Cowboy's Thoughts. If this wasn't a serious memorandum that many Assemblymembers will believe as the truth, then it could be quite entertaining. Like the carbon dioxide impact of ATVs? Won't the truck that tows the ATV to the forest or the field use far more gasoline or diesel then an ATV will ever use? Or the issue of air quality—I kind of doubt that they'll be allowing ATVs in Central Park anytime soon.

Then they go on about how ATVs destroy trails, make hikers unhappy, scare the little deer in the woods, and so forth. Not that these are arguments against the bill—they are just the same arguments against ATVs that the environmentalists have been making for a long time.

The sad thing is I personally know the person who wrote this memo, and many of the people who make up these groups. And indeed, these people do a lot of good and their advocacy for the environment is important. Yet, it's a study bill. We shouldn't be trying to hide from knowledge. P'Link