Debate over ATVs in north Georgia forests returns to Legislature

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Posted 1:50PM on Sunday, March 9, 2003

ATLANTA - A simmering debate over all-terrain vehicles in the north Georgia forests has returned to the Legislature, with the House expected to vote in coming weeks on whether four-wheelers should be allowed on dirt roads in protected lands. The off-road issue has left lawmakers inundated with emotional pleas from both sides _ ATV enthusiasts who want more freedom and environmentalists who fear ATVs are ruining plant species and creek beds in areas intended for protection. Tempers flare quickly on both sides. "I've been up here all my life," said Blue Ridge resident Mike Thomas, a retiree who lobbies for ATVs in his spare time. "We've been using our ATVs for 20 or more years on forest roads. ... This is discrimination." At center of the debate are license plates. For years, some county tag offices would sell plates to ATV owners. That practice stopped in 2000, when state officials directed the counties to stop issuing tags because small ATVs aren't legal on roads. The U.S. Forest Service requires vehicles to be licensed on their roads, so Georgia ATVs havent been allowed on Service-owned roads for three years. Forest officials provide 130 miles of trails for ATV use in Georgia _ but the other 1,600 miles of Forest Service roads are off-limits. A north Georgia lawmaker has introduced a bill allowing the ATVs to get tags for use on unpaved roads only, and only within state or national forests. It would still be illegal to run three- or four-wheelers on trails not designed for motor vehicles. "We're not saying let's let these run all over," said Rep. Ron Forster, R-Ringgold. "We're saying let's get them registered so you can drive your ATV on an unpaved road and ticket people who take them where they're not supposed to be." The problem, according to environmental watch groups, is that there aren't nearly enough park rangers to make sure ATVs aren't plowing through protected lands. Fewer than 10 Forest Service officials oversee the Chattahoochee National Forest, which covers much of northeast Georgia. "If they think licensing ATVs is going to reduce the number going through the national forests, that's an absurd argument," said Brent Martin, executive director of Ellijay's Georgia ForestWatch group. "They're already riding illegally all over these roads and trails. To think this is good for the Forest Service, thats a sham," he said. Lawmakers have considered new rules for ATVs for several years, but no laws have passed. The House last year voted in favor of four-wheelers, but the proposal was narrowly defeated in a Senate committee. House members are weary of taking the matter up again. In a meeting of the agenda-setting Rules Committee, chairman Calvin Smyre recently asked the few dozen lawmakers whether they wanted to take up the ATV bill. Representatives from both parties groaned. Smyre joked, "What, y'all getting a few calls on this?" Everyone laughed. At least one powerful Democrat is fighting the proposal. Rep. Nan Orrock, the Democratic Whip from Atlanta, challenged Forster when he brought his bill for consideration. "I wonder if youve contemplated the impact this will have on national park land," she asked Forster. But the north Georgia lawmaker remains optimistic the rules will change. "This is something the people of Georgia support," he said. "For every two calls I get against it, I get an easy 100 more in favor of allowing ATVs."