Ample land for off-roaders

Re. “Off-road group wants increased fees to pay for trail maintenance,” May 26

The Alberta Off Highway Vehicle Association spokesperson complains about a large loss of dirt-bike/quad/4x4 trails from public lands.

What he doesn’t mention when he highlights the new Castle Parks, in which the government says it will phase out OHVs by 2021, is it’s only one-quarter of one per cent of the province’s total area.

Off-road motorized use on Alberta’s public lands remains permitted, mostly with no designated trail systems, meaning OHVs can go almost anywhere on just over 90 per cent of Alberta’s remaining public lands, outside national parks. Even half our wildland provincial parks presently allow OHVs.

The current government deserves credit for being the first to act so comprehensively to protect the outstanding ecological wild lands of the Castle and Livingstone-Porcupine Hills areas.

Management plans for Livingstone-Porcupine will still allow off-highway vehicles on designated routes. The remaining trails still have negative habitat impacts on use of the area by grizzly bears and on trout streams.

Substantially reducing the use of OHVs in wild areas is in the public interest. The tax dollars off-roaders want for their trails would be better spent paying for a fraction of the cost of enforcing and preventing their illegal and destructive activities. Peter Lee, Edmonton