[at-l] Trip Report (off trail)

[Bob C." <ellen@clinic.net (Bob C.)]

Coastal  Maine  had  3.5 inches of snow Thursday night. We experienced the first
part  of  the  storm while driving 45 miles home from a Ray Charles Concert -- a
belated  Xmas  gift from my wife. However, like most spring snows it disappeared
quickly.

Our  land  trust  has been in a running feud with ATV users for years.
Next Friday we are hosting land trusts around the state who are attending a near
by land conference.

As the snow had pretty much melted, I spent tbis morning repairing a bridge over
a  stream  in one of our preserves that had been ripped up by ATVers. I sawed an
ancient  and  somewhat  decayed hemlock board (left over from a composting frame
project  of  "X"  years ago) into two foot sections, packed the boards, a hammer
and  a few nails, bundled it all into my 1985 vintage backpack, hiked a mile and
a  half,  and  fastened the hemlock boards to the log bridge over the stream.

MY  goal? to keep our visitors from tipping the logs and falling into the stream
-- thus destroying our land trust's reputation for wise management of our lands.

It  was  a  pretty  easy project -- once I found my saber saw and assorted other
tools  and  gear  --  but  one I had been pondering for weeks. What do they call
that? Attention deficit disorder?

Well,  having used the two-foot boards and most of the nails, I had a light pack
--  and  my wife was at work -- so I decided the complete the 4 mile loop around
the perimeter of the preserve.

I  walked  a  mile  to  a ditch I had dug a few weeks ago to drain a deep puddle
created by spinning ATV wheels. I discovered that some prankster (ATV user?) had
dammed the ditch.

No  problem.  I  found  the shovel and pick axe I had stashed in the bushes, and
removed the dam -- and deepened the ditch.

A  question,  though:  If  I  deepen the ditch enough so that the next time, ATV
wheels  fetch  up  and  the illegal driver catapults out of the machine and gets
killed, am I liable? What if a few hundred yards earlier had been a sign saying,
"no ATVs?" What if the guy killed had removed the "no ATVs" sign or someone else
had, shortly before he was killed? What else should I have done? Even if I don't
lose  my  house,  my wife and woodlot as a result of such an "accident" should I
feel guilty?

Feel  free  to ignore the questions. It was a delightful morning walk. I suppose
some  might  argue, that ATV ruts, like humans, like the proposed wind towers on
Redington,  are  all  part  of  the  natural scene and shouldn't bother rational
folks.

And nature was certainly there. I spied fresh signs of beaver; spotted a muskrat
slipping  down  the outlet stream, even the flashing white of a deer as I worked
my way around the loop trail.

However,  a final question: Can irrational folks like me -- folks who think that
wildness is important -- truly communicate anything meaningful these days?

Weary