Q. What are ORVs?

A. Off-road vehicles include motorbikes, four-wheelers, and any other motorized vehicle that operates “off-road.” ORVs are also referred to as ATVs (all-terrain vehicles) and OHVs (off-highway vehicles).

Q. Do ORVs affect hunting?

A. Yes. Because they are easier than walking, increasing numbers of people are hunting from their ORV rather than on foot. The noise and smell of an ORV can alert game animals from a long way off, so the odds of seeing game from an ORV are much reduced. In addition, the same noise and smell that is chasing game away from the ORV user is also chasing them away from any other hunters in the area. This can create very hard feelings among hunters who used stealth and stalking skills to get into good habitat only to have the deer and elk scared off by ORVs.

Q. Won’t vegetation grow back?

A. When an ORV goes off a trail or a road it creates travelways that tempt other recreationists to follow, resulting in those faint tracks through the meadow becoming a full-blown road. In addition, often times soil compaction and air, soil, and water pollution often make it impossible for the same vegetation to return. These disturbances often lead the way to another problem: the invasion of exotic and noxious weed species.

Q. How do ORVs affect wildlife?

A. Off-road vehicles are responsible for four main types of impacts to wildlife: direct mortality, disturbance, noise, and habitat impacts. ORV use fragments available wildlife habitat, dramatically reducing suitable homes for many wildlife species.

Q. I’m an ORV user – what can I do to help?

A.

• Know the vehicle-use regulations for the area in which you are riding. Contact the local BLM Area, Forest Service Ranger District or State Department of Lands office for travel management information before you go hunting.
• Stay on existing roads or trails. Do not contribute to big game habitat fragmentation by creating new travelways for others to follow. If existing ORV routes are poorly located (e.g., straight up a hillside) and causing erosion problems, don’t make the problem worse by continuing to use those routes.
• Get off your ORV to hunt. It will increase your chances of success and cause fewer disturbances to the other hunters around you.
• Have respect for other users. Slow down or stop your ORV when you approach hikers or riders on horseback.
• Limit your use of ORVs in wet areas or during wet conditions. ORVs can do serious damage to wet areas, roads, and trails.
• Keep your ORV properly tuned and muffled to reduce exhaust noise.
• Don’t widen single-track trails by forcing your ORV down the trail.

Q. I’m a concerned citizen – what can I do to help?

A.

• Whenever you’re in an area where ORVs shouldn’t be, keep your eyes peeled and, perhaps more importantly, your ears open. Report infractions of the law to the appropriate authorities. Additionally, you can look for illegal ORV routes and trails.
• In some areas there are groups you can join that task themselves with monitoring illegal ORV activities. If such a group doesn’t exist in your area, start one!
• The Wildlands Center for Preventing Roads has resources to help you.