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| Rage about Utah's New OHV Laws; New Requirements for Motorcycles | |
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| Topic Started: Sun Mar 1, 2009 9:54 am (187 Views) | |
| WarHawk | Sun Mar 1, 2009 9:54 am Post #1 |
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Hi Fred, A bunch of us are coming for your CMC and I just read about the new Utah laws for motorcycles on the ADVrider forum. Please shed some 'bright' light on these new OHV requirements from your perspective, because there is a rage going on in NM Colo and Wyo. 1. If your bike is plated for street use, being off-road the $30 OHV sticker is not required BUT you NEED front and rear turns signals, and at least 1 mirror. {This doesn't make any sense as these are breakable items for the inevitable!!} 2. If your bike is not licensed/plated (2 strokes and ATVs) you need a OHV sticker, but turn signals or mirror NOT required for off-road. 3. Jeeps and rock crawlers strip their vehicles of mirrors and other parts and they seem to be 'legal' when off-road. I hear the local LEO, Grand Co. Sheriff Dept and BLM officers are harassing and ticketing licensed/plated riders without mirrors and turn signals when off-road, and even ticketing them when a bike is loaded on the back of p-u trucks. Can you help us out on this confusing HOT topic?? Tourism is a BIG moneymaker for Moab, but why chase/scare away $$$ ? KLR-XR Storm |
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| moabmc | Sun Mar 1, 2009 8:42 pm Post #2 |
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Hello, I don't know what "light" I can shine on these activities because I am not directly effected. I am no expert by any means. The problem as I see it, is that this land around Moab is getting loved to death. There are many thousands of visitors that come here each year and don't have a clue what it takes to get along with the desert. I am not defending the no access stance but the LEOs that are making their presence known now are just doing their jobs. I don't know what to tell you about all the new state and federal laws that are now in effect. It looks like if you are legal (meaning Utah legal) then there shouldn't be any problems. You can't expect to take your laws from your state and be legal in Pakistan or Mongolia so why would you think that would be any different here? Utah, as I am sure most other states, has a temporary permit system in place and if you are not a resident, then you can purchase a temporary OHV permit and get along just fine. It's too bad that that we don't have reciprocity any longer but that is just the way it is currently. We have lost many places to ride because of all the visitors we have now. We will never have the same riding areas we once used to take for granted. It sounds like the new BLM Land use rules have changed from Legal to ride unless posted closed to Not legal to ride unless posted open. This really sucks and will change the way of riding around here for a very long time. I am sorry it has come to this and I don't see any easy way out of the mess we are in today. I think there is a misconception that Moab has some way created these new laws and doesn't need the revenue from the visitors. That is not correct on both fronts. There are many business's in town that make their living from the visitor so that they can have a quality experience here. Firstly Moab has had no control over the new state and federal laws. I personally think that most folk that live here would rather have less laws than more laws but that is just me. It has become more difficult for the local tourist related business's to provide the quality experience that was available just a few years ago. Moab is not of one common mind. There are many different voices and that is what makes Moab such an alive place to live. I personally would like to see fewer of everyone here but that is just me. You have to understand, rightly or wrongly, that when you break the laws of the land you are in, you will have to pay the price. I accept that someday I will get a ticket for what I have done and if I get caught, then I will pay the price. It is better to not break the laws but if you do, you better be aware of the consequences. I have a very interesting letter that was posted to me today from the head of the local OHV access club, Ride With Respect. If you would like to see this message, send me an email and I will forward this message to you. I hope I have shed a little "light" on how this one Moabite feels. I may have different feelings from some or most others, but you asked. Everyone is entitled to an oppinion and this is just mine. |
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| moabmc | Tue Mar 3, 2009 7:27 am Post #3 |
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Here is a copy of the message I received from the director of Ride with Respect. Clif writes: Ride with Respect is busier than ever with trail maintenance, education, and land-management negotiations. Here are a few items that warrant everyone's attention. (1) prosecuting a thief at Chimney Rock riding area (2) supporting RwR by working an aid station at C'lands Half-Marathon on 3/21 (free lunch & ride!) (3) orienting Moab visitors to the new BLM travel maps (and providing context of the planning process) (1) If you've experienced theft around the Chimney Rock area (between Green River and Price), you can help keep the criminal in jail, and possibly recover stolen items. A mentally-unstable resident of Woodside has been vandalizing equipment of OHV riders, campers, and ranchers for years. Last weekend, members of the Sage Riders motorcycle club caught the bandit in the act and literally ran him down. But now police need help establishing the scope of his crimes. If you have information about this case, please contact Detective Barnett at the Emery County Sheriff's Office (435-381-2111). (2) As an alternative to donating money or participating in RwR's trail crew, you can lend a hand by passing out Clif Shots to runners. Promoters of Canyonlands Half Marathon will donate $150 to RwR for working an aid station during their race, in the morning of Saturday, March 21st. By noon we'll have lunch, then head for a motorcycle ride up Sovereign Trail and further north. If interested, contact me for details. (3) The BLM's Moab Field Office recently released a series of forty maps that define every route permitted for motorcycles, ATVs, and full-size vehicles. http://www.blm.gov/ut/st/en/fo/moab/recreation/motorized_routes/travel_management.html You can also purchase 11x17" copies of these maps for $1.50 each at the BLM office in Moab. Regardless of signs, if a route is absent from the map, it's closed. It will take the BLM years to mark the open routes, but they can start citing unauthorized travel once entrance signs refer to the map of designated routes. These maps are the result of a seven-year planning process, which incorporated a pretty small portion of the input from OHV stakeholders. Don't get me wrong, there are a few thousand miles of roads to enjoy, many of which are primitive doubletrack. But the agency wasn't nearly so generous with motorcycle or ATV trails. Across almost two-million acres, only 171 miles are designated as motorcycle trails, and 39 miles as ATV trails. At least 22 miles of the motorcycle trails are actually roads of little value, so that means less than 150 miles of actual singletrack. Trails around Dubinky (aka White Wash or Dee Pass) faired pretty darn well. Only half of the Westwater (aka Bitter Creek or Utah Rims) trails were spared. Beyond these two networks, virtually all the connector routes (like Thompson Trail) are now closed. As you may know, RwR submitted roughly 500 miles of OHV trails in a very sensible plan which also would've provided more non-motorized opportunities for a win-win situation (http://ridewithrespect.org/plan66.php). BLM didn't consider this proposal much more than any other comments on the draft RMP. It's a shame not just for motorized and non-motorized recreationists, but also for the agency which would've found this sort of pro-active plan far more manageable in the long run. As a motorcyclist, conservationist, and supporter of BLM's mission, the whole thing is hard for me to stomach. On the other hand, I'm proud to have GPSed every motorcycle and ATV trail that's still permitted, with strong support from Blue Ribbon Coalition, Bookcliff Rattlers Motorcycle Club, and various others across Utah and Colorado. We were most effective around Dubinky, where I was involved early on, before the RMP process even began. If we motoheads had mapped Westwater and Thompson Trail back on 2001, perhaps it would've become the BLM's idea, and thus survived. Land-use planning happens so slowly that most people don't even recognize the cause-and-effect relationships. As recreationists we need to get involved and stay involved. A decade later, it'll pay off in spades. RwR is already working with various constituents and proposing amendments to make this new travel plan work. If location is the key to real estate, persistence is the key to advocating shared-use recreation. Now please allow me to vent about implementation, too. When expanding the Sovereign Trail System, RwR gets ground conditions just right to handle high use before mapping or advertising the new sections. Likewise, the Rattlers, State Parks, and others have offered a few hundred-thousand dollars of help to adopt OHV trails in the Moab Field Office. The BLM declined these offers with the rationale that a complete travel plan should be finalized first. Never mind that maintaining existing routes is categorically excluded from NEPA planning. Well here we are with a travel plan, and maps on the worldwide web to steer thousands of visitors to the last bastion of singletack. To the agency's credit, they're applying for a few hundred-thousand dollars of OHV fuel-tax grants to sign the routes. But signs are one small part of trail work. And I fear it'll be too late, as the cart has been put before the horse. Without proper design and maintenance, the routes will degrade and become in jeopardy of closure. This is the self-fulfilling prophecy of "ignore and restrict." The fate of these trails is not only in BLM's hands. We are at a crossroads. Motorcyclists can play right into their hands and refuse to comply with the new rules, thereby ensuring that their children will have no place to ride. Or we can take the high road, and spread the word on treading lightly to conserve the quality of routes that remain. Simultaneously, we can add routes that are more fun and more sustainable than the scraps we've been fighting for. But that takes organization, and widespread support. Above all, do not use the weakest aspects of this travel plan to rationalize violating all closures. Some of the closures are well founded, whether to protect riparian areas where the vast majority of species live, or to designate an area where bicyclists are guaranteed to find some peace and quiet. This is especially the case for well-balanced trail systems like Dubinky. We need to prove that providing diverse opportunities achieves compliance. If people respect the rules at Dubinky, we'll be in a lot better position to reopen parts of Westwater, Thompson Trail, etc. If you don't like a closed sign, don't ride over it. Instead, channel the frustration constructively by joining recreation groups at the local, state, and national scale. Spread the word about participation and trail ethics, as these are indispensable for our future. Let's get every motorcyclist to either pony up or go buy an equine and ride wherever the heck they want. Then the world will forget about "abuse from ORVs," and start worrying about OREs. ha ha ha -Clif program director Ride with Respect |
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| WarHawk | Wed Mar 4, 2009 10:09 am Post #4 |
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Fred, Can you answer why turn signals and mirrors are required for 'off-road' riding (for licensed bikes, i.e. XRs, DRs, GSs, KLRs) whereas NOT required for nonlicensed (2 stroke MX) bikes and atvs?? Will the LEO and BLM boys hassle us out-of-state riders if we've taken the mirrors off our KLRs? (BTW, this is the word that is spreading around.) These are breakable items for the inevitable. What have you heard about this being a 'ticketing issue' from the local enforcement? What statue states off-road riding requires mirrors and turn signals? thanks. |
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| moabmc | Wed Mar 4, 2009 2:41 pm Post #5 |
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The BLM says you need to be either legal for off road riding or legal on road. You can always use one of those small plastic fold down mirrors to be legal. Off road bikes didn't use to need to the street legal stuff to be legal to ride off road. I believe that is changing or at least what I have been told is that off road bikes will need turnsignals and a mirror along with a head light and tail light. The law used to state that if the bike was originally made with turn signals, then they had to be attached and working. That is how a lot of off road bikes got by this law because they never had turn signals. You will have to contact the Moab BLM office to see what the BLM rangers are looking for. I don't make the rules here. I just have to abide by them now that these rules are being enforced because of all the visitors we are getting. You can contact the Moab BLM office at: Moab Field Office 82 East Dogwood Moab, Utah 84532 (435) 259-2100 Utah OHV regulations can be found here: http://www.atvutah.com/utah_ohv_laws.htm |
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| Nibis | Mon Oct 19, 2009 5:20 am Post #6 |
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Can you still ride the white rim trail |
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| moabmc | Tue Oct 20, 2009 4:43 am Post #7 |
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The White Rim trail is in Canyonlands National Park. You have always needed a street legal machine to be in Canyonlands NP. |
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7:36 PM Nov 24
