I find it interesting that our hunting community has drawn a very clear line between poaching and licensed hunting, and speaks out often and loud about the abuses by poachers, calls for stiffer penalties, and really gets upset (rightfully) that they are occasionally called hunters by the uninformed press.
To my knowledge, no such distinction has been drawn between the law-abiding ATV users and those that are trashing our public land. The uninformed public does not see a difference, and the law-abiding ATV users have not actively campaigned to draw a distinction. Therefore, whenever the question of restrictions on ATV users arises, the law-abiding ATV user groups rise in anger, and do not recognize the source of the problem.
We all need to help in addressing the problem of those trashing our public lands. Maybe we need a word like "poacher" to describe them, and a "Report A Poacher"-like hotline for their excesses.
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