It usually comes this time of year and with it comes a class of vehicle used by various types of people for various types of reasons. 

If you ever have the opportunity to stand on the shoreline of Lake George once it freezes completely over, you will see one of the snowmobile users whose sole purpose of using these vehicles is to go fast and I mean fast! These things can fly across the icy surface at 60 or 70 miles per hour or even faster.  Sorry, that’s just not  for me.

I learned as a kid when my ice skates came out from under me that the ice was as hard as my head, but the ice didn’t bleed. I can’t imagine challenging it at 60 MPH.

Others use snowmobiles for the more subdued purpose of exploring the back country, to get off the beaten roadways and enjoy the beauty available to us once we leave the more populated areas of our wilderness areas.

There is another such vehicle available to us that can be used for the same purpose.  It’s called and ATV or a 4-wheeler or a quad or simply “a machine.” But, these vehicles are prohibited from using the same roads and trails open to snowmobiles. 

There are communities in our area that have made an industry of inviting snowmobile riders to come and enjoy the open country around their town.  Oh and while you’re here, you can spend the night in our hotels and eat your meals in our restaurants and visit the stores on our main street.

Have you ever seen or heard an advertisement to attract ATV owners to “COME RIDE YOUR MACHINES IN OUR WOODS. HAVE A BALL. SEE THE DEER AND MOOSE AND...!”

Bet not and I’ll also bet that you won’t see one anytime in the future. 

Seems that because ATVs ride on wheels instead of a belt, they are looked upon as doing more damage to the trail ways than can be tolerated by the powers in DEC. For example, did you know that within the entire Adirondack Park - six million acres - there is not one, not a single trail, that ATVs are permitted on. Oh, there are a couple of dirt roads like the one that runs from Shelving Rock Road to Daisy Clearing on the east side of Lake George.

The only problem is that you don’t need an ATV to drive this road, it’s wide enough and maintained at a level where I could drive a VW Rabbit on it.

Why not ATVs? 

Noise?  Have you ever heard a snowmobile go zipping by at 60 MPH? Much louder than any ATV I’ve ever been on.

Trail damage? True, ATVs can and do tear up a muddy trail, but these can be repaired and maintained. Charge a fee. Money seems to be the solution to all other problems!

Danger?  What’s harder - ice or a tree trunk?

Speed?  Have you ever seen an ATV blasting through the woods at 60 MPH? I haven’t!

DEC spends untolled man hours monitoring game populations in areas heavily hunted close to roadways while preaching to us to “get off the road and go deeper into the woods.”

It’s easy to say if you never dragged a 150-pound dead deer a mile or two bushwhacking cross country. That’s when you find out that every direction you want to go in is up hill. Maybe some of those hours and dollars spent trying to “manage” the game population could be spent on the trails and allow us to “go deep.”

DEC and the governing leadership seem to have adopted a policy of “prevent and prohibit” instead of “protect and police.”  It’s much easier for them to manage the land by keeping everyone off of it than it is to monitor those who wish to access the back country.

If I take an ATV into the back country and I tear up a trail, give me a ticket or the opportunity to repair the damage I created, but don’t prohibit me from going back there.  Don’t tell me you are saving the land “for future generations” unless you show me exactly which generation it is that you are saving it for. 

See you outdoors!