Off-roading is the activity of
driving
Driving is the controlled operation and movement of a vehicle, including cars, motorcycles, trucks, buses, and bicycles. Permission to drive on public highways is granted based on a set of conditions being met and drivers are required to fol ...
or riding in a vehicle on unpaved surfaces such as sand, gravel, riverbeds, mud, snow, rocks, and other natural terrain. Types of off-roading range in intensity, from leisure drives with unmodified vehicles, to competitions with customised vehicles and professional drivers. Off-roaders have been met with criticism for the environmental damage caused by their vehicles. There have also been extensive debates over the role of government in regulating the sport, including a
Supreme Court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
case brought against the
Bureau of Land Management
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior responsible for administering federal lands. Headquartered in Washington DC, and with oversight over , it governs one eighth of the country's la ...
in the United States.
Off-road vehicle
Travelling over difficult terrain requires vehicles capable of off-road driving such as
ATVs
ATV may refer to:
Broadcasting
* Amateur television
*Analog television
Television stations and companies
* Ràdio i Televisió d'Andorra
* ATV (Armenia)
* ATV (Aruba), NBC affiliate
* ATV (Australian TV station), Melbourne
* ATV (Austria)
* ATV ...
. These vehicles have features designed specifically for use in off-road conditions such as extended ground clearance, off-road tires and a strengthened drive-train. Some manufacturers offer vehicles specifically designed for off-road use.
Recreational off-roading
Some examples of recreational off-roading include the following:
Dune bashing
Dune bashing is a form of off-roading on sand dunes.
A large
sport-utility vehicle
A sport utility vehicle (SUV) is a car classification that combines elements of road-going passenger cars with features from off-road vehicles, such as raised ground clearance and four-wheel drive.
There is no commonly agreed-upon definitio ...
such as the
Toyota Land Cruiser
The (also sometimes spelled as LandCruiser) is a series of four-wheel drive vehicles produced by the Japanese automobile manufacturer Toyota. It is Toyota's longest running series of models. , the sales of the Land Cruiser totalled more than ...
is used (however, light weight vehicles often fare better in the extremely soft sand found on sand dunes). Vehicles driven on dunes may be equipped with a
roll cage
A roll cage is a specially engineered and constructed frame built in (or sometimes around, in which case it is known as an exo cage) the passenger compartment of a vehicle to protect its occupants from being injured or killed in an accident, pa ...
in case of an overturn; Similar to auto-racing, experience and skill is required to maneuver the car and prevent accidents. Before entering the desert in an everyday-use SUV or pickup, it is essential to reduce the tire pressure. This is done to gain more traction by increasing the footprint of the tire and, therefore, reducing the
ground pressure
Ground pressure is the pressure exerted on the ground by the tires or tracks of a motorized vehicle, and is one measure of its potential mobility, especially over soft ground. It also applies to the feet of a walking person or machine. Ground pre ...
of the vehicle on the sand as there is a greater surface area (much like a person wearing snowshoes can walk on a soft surface without sinking, but a person without them cannot). For example, tires with a recommended pressure of 35 psi would be reduced to approximately 12-15 psi.
A common modification is to fit
bead lock rims, which allow tire pressure to be lowered even further, without risking tire and rim separation. Upon entering the desert, it is common to meet with a pack of vehicles and a group leader before proceeding. The group leader then leads the pack through the stunts in single file. The main reason for this technique is to prevent vehicles from losing track of direction and getting lost.
Off-road racing
Desert racing
High-speed racing in the open desert includes chases and racing on a rough desert
terrain
Terrain or relief (also topographical relief) involves the vertical and horizontal dimensions of land surface. The term bathymetry is used to describe underwater relief, while hypsometry studies terrain relative to sea level. The Latin word ...
with numerous pots and bumps at the maximum speed. Drivers mostly use
Rear Wheel Drive and 4 Wheel Drive trucks with long-travel suspension, wide stance on the front and large tires which allows maintaining optimal stability at the high speed. This type of trucks are often called Prerunner. These events, depending on the specific event, can last days, even possibly spanning across hundreds of miles.
Rock racing
Rock Racing is very similar to rock crawling in the fact that the vehicles are driven over rocks, the difference is that there are no penalties for hitting cones, backing up or winching as is done in rock crawling. Rock racing also involves a degree of high-speed racing not seen in typical rock crawling.
Rally
''See article:''
Rally
Rally or rallye may refer to:
Gatherings
* Demonstration (political), a political rally, a political demonstration of support or protest, march, or parade
* Pep rally, an event held at a United States school or college sporting event
Sports ...
Mudding and mud plugging
Mudding is off-roading through an area of wet mud or clay.
The goal is to drive through as far as possible without getting stuck. There are many types of tires that are recommended for this activity. Some tires are balloon tires, mud-terrain tires and paddle tires.
This activity is very popular in the United States, although it is illegal on public land due to the environmental impact.
''Mud plugging'', as practiced for instance in the United Kingdom, refers to the old motorsport of
classic trials
Classic trials, or colloquially mud plugging, is one of the oldest forms of rallying or off-road motor sports, dating from the beginning of the 20th century. Originally, the challenge was just to complete a long (challenging) road course. All thre ...
, where again, the main objective is to complete a challenging course of (mostly unpaved) roads and (often muddy, and frequently uphill) off-road terrain.
This form of motor sport is one of the earliest to survive to this day, dating back at least to the 1920s.
Rock crawling
Rock crawling
Rock crawling is an extreme form of off-road driving using specialized vehicles ranging from stock to highly modified to overcome obstacles. In rock crawling, drivers typically drive highly modified four-wheel-drive vehicles such as trucks, Jeep ...
is a category of off-roading. Vehicles used for rock crawling are usually modified with different
tires
A tire (American English) or tyre (British English) is a ring-shaped component that surrounds a Rim (wheel), wheel's rim to transfer a vehicle's load from the axle through the wheel to the ground and to provide Traction (engineering), t ...
, suspension components that allow greater
axle articulation
Ramp travel index or RTI, is a way of measuring a vehicle's ability to flex its suspension, a property also known as axle articulation. The RTI rating is used mainly in the off-roading industry to test and describe chassis limits of modified vehi ...
, and changes in the
differential gear ratio in order to obtain characteristics suitable for low speed operation for traversing obstacles. It is common for a rock crawler to have a "
spotter", who is an assistant on foot by the vehicle to provide information to the driver about the areas out of sight to the driver.
Competitive trials
All progress is made at low speed and the emphasis is on skill, rather than finishing first although trialing can be highly competitive. There are three traditional forms of off-road trailing.
RTV trialing
RTV (Road Taxed Vehicle) trialing is the most common form of trialing. As the name suggests, it is for vehicles that are road-legal (and thus required to pay
road tax
Road tax, known by various names around the world, is a tax which has to be paid on, or included with, a motorised vehicle to use it on a public road.
National implementations Australia
All states and territories require an annual vehicle registra ...
). This excludes vehicles that are highly modified or specially built. RTV-class vehicles can carry a wide range of suspension modifications, as well as off-road tires (provided they are road-legal), recovery winches, raised air intakes etc. Vehicles on RTV trials are usually best described as "modified from standard"—they use the standard chassis, drive-train and body that the vehicle was built with. Whilst modification is not necessarily required for an RTV trial, at the very least the vehicle would be expected to have some under-body protection such as a sump guard, differential guard and solid sills. RTV courses are intended to be non-damaging and driven at little more than a walking pace and a course properly laid out would be drivable without damage. However, the terrain usually includes steep slopes, water, side-slopes, deep ruts and other obstacles that could potentially damage a vehicle if mistakes are made or poor driving technique is used, and vehicle modifications increase the chance of success.
RTV trials usually take place on farmland, a quarry site or at a dedicated off-road driving center, and are usually organized by a dedicated trialing body (such as the All Wheel Drive Club or The Association of Land Rover clubs in the UK), or by a vehicle owner's club. The course consists of 10 to 12 "gates" marked by two garden canes (sticks), vertically placed. The gates are just wide enough to get a standard vehicle through. One vehicle at a time attempts the course, and is deemed to have cleared a gate if at least one of the front wheel hubs passes between the canes. The vehicle's attempt ends when it comes to a stop (depending on the exact level of skill the trial is aimed at any stopping may end the attempt, or a few seconds may be allowed). Long-wheelbase vehicles are usually allowed to perform a three-point turn if needed, providing the driver declares where the turn is going to be made before they attempt the course (this puts a strong emphasis on ground-reading ability).
This can also be called a "shunt", where the driver has to attempt a gate and then shout shunt. they are then allowed a space of 1 and a half car lengths to reverse and line the car better to enter through the gate
The course between the gates is a "section": between the start line and the first gate is "Section 1", the part between the first and second gates is "Section 2" and so on. An RTV course is often laid out so that each section is progressively more difficult, although this is not always the case. If a driver fails to complete Section 1 they are given 10 points. If the attempt ends in Section 2, 9 points are awarded etc. A clear round results in gaining only 1 point. A day's event will consist of many different courses and the driver with the lowest score is the winner.
Since the terrain covered in RTV trials should be well within the capabilities of any reasonably capable vehicle (even in standard form), these trials place the emphasis on driver skill and ground-reading abilities. A good driver in a standard specification vehicle can easily win over a modified, highly equipped vehicle driven by a less competent driver.
CCV trialing
Cross Country Vehicle (CCV) trialing is the next step up from RTV trialing and is open to non-road-legal vehicles, which greatly increases the scope for modification. The terrain covered will be of greater difficulty than that found on an RTV trial, and will usually require more judicious use of speed to get the vehicle across certain obstacles, so increasing the risk of vehicle damage. Whilst no trial is intended to be vehicle-damaging mistakes and accidents are inevitable. A standard-specification vehicle would not be expected to be able to complete a CCV course.
The event is run along the same lines as RTV, with a course made up of cane-marked gates. The rules are also the same as an RTV trial.
CCV trialing differs greatly from RTV trials in the vehicles used. Since "anything goes", CCV trials rely on having the correct vehicle to a much greater extent than in an RTV trial. Competitors are able to design and build vehicles that are much more optimized for off-road use than in the lower ranks of trialing. CCV vehicles have powerful engines, high ground clearance, light, minimalist bodywork and good
approach and departure angles
Approach angle is the maximum angle of a ramp onto which a vehicle can climb from a horizontal plane without interference. It is defined as the angle between the ground and the line drawn between the front tire and the lowest-hanging part of the ...
. For many years, in the UK, the ultimate CCV vehicle could be built by taking the chassis of a
Range Rover
Range may refer to:
Geography
* Range (geographic), a chain of hills or mountains; a somewhat linear, complex mountainous or hilly area (cordillera, sierra)
** Mountain range, a group of mountains bordered by lowlands
* Range, a term used to i ...
, removing the body, cutting the chassis down to an 80-inch wheelbase and mating it to the body of a
Series I Land Rover, retaining the Range Rover's V8 engine and coil-spring suspension in a light, easy to maneuver body. In recent years the value of early Land Rovers and Range Rovers has risen to the extent that this is no longer practical. CCV trailers now usually base their vehicles around
Land Rover 90s or a standard 100-inch chassis from a Range Rover or
Series I Discovery. The
Suzuki SJ series of vehicles also make good bases for CCV-spec vehicles. Some vehicles are specially built, taking the form of light "buggies" with tractor tires and "fiddle" brakes for the best performance.
Vehicles are required to meet certain safety regulations. Roll-cages must be fitted and be built to a suitable standard, recovery points must be fitted front and rear and fuel tanks must meet certain standards. A 4-point harness for all occupants is required and a fire extinguisher is recommended.
Off-roading events
In some countries off-road activities are strictly regulated, while others promote cross country
off-road endurance events like the
Dakar Rally
The Dakar Rally (or simply "The Dakar"; formerly known as the "Paris–Dakar Rally") is an annual rally raid organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation. Most events since the inception in 1978 were staged from Paris, France, to Dakar, Senegal, ...
,
Spanish Baja
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...
,
Africa Eco Race
Africa Eco Race is an annual rally raid, organised in France and run in North and West Africa, launched after the cancellation of 2008 Dakar Rally, and the subsequent moving of the rally to South America.
The rally claims to have innovated to gi ...
,
Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge
The Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge is an international rally raid race held in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi of the United Arab Emirates since 1991. The race is points scoring for the World Rally-Raid Championship and is organized by the Emirates Motorspor ...
,
Russian Baja Northern Forest
The Northern Forest (Северный лес) is an off-road race in St. Petersburg, Russia. The event is part of the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Bajas, and is part of the Russian national season. It is a rally raid event run on ice and snow ...
,
San Felipe 250 The SCORE San Felipe 250 is a 250-mile Mexican off-road motorsport race that takes place near San Felipe on the Baja California Peninsula. It was first held in 1982 and is sanctioned by SCORE International.
The 2016 edition was the 30th anniversa ...
and
Baja 500 & 1000, which are a test of navigation skills and machine durability. off-road parks and
motocross
Motocross is a form of off-road motorcycle racing held on enclosed off-road circuits. The sport evolved from motorcycle trials competitions held in the United Kingdom.
History
Motocross first evolved in Britain from motorcycle trials competi ...
tracks also host several events and maybe the only legal place to off-road in the area.
Criticism of ORV use
Environmental impact
Off-road vehicle use on
public land
In all modern states, a portion of land is held by central or local governments. This is called public land, state land, or Crown land (Australia, and Canada). The system of tenure of public land, and the terminology used, varies between countrie ...
has been criticized by some members of the U.S. government
and environmental organizations including the
Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is an environmental organization with chapters in all 50 United States, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. The club was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by Scottish-American preservationist John Muir, who be ...
and
The Wilderness Society.
[http://www.sierraclub.org/policy/conservation/offroad.asp]
[http://www.wilderness.org/OurIssues/ORV/index.cfm?TopLevel=Home]
They have noted several consequences of illegal ORV use such as
pollution
Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the ...
,
trail
A trail, also known as a path or track, is an unpaved lane or small road usually passing through a natural area. In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, a path or footpath is the preferred term for a pedestrian or hiking trail. Th ...
damage,
erosion
Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is distin ...
,
land degradation
Land degradation is a process in which the value of the biophysical environment is affected by a combination of human-induced processes acting upon the land.
It is viewed as any change or disturbance to the land perceived to be deleterious ...
, possible
species extinction
Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...
,
and
habitat destruction
Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...
which can leave hiking trails impassable.
[http://www.mnresponsiblerec.org/Library/reports/Off-roadvehicledamageinDuluth.htm]
ORV proponents argue that legal use taking place under planned access along with the multiple environment and trail conservation efforts by ORV groups will mitigate these issues. Groups such as the Blueribbon Coalition advocate Treadlightly, which is the responsible use of public lands used for off-road activities.
According to the
U.S. Forest Service
The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages of land. Major divisions of the agency in ...
the use of old-style
two-stroke engine
A two-stroke (or two-stroke cycle) engine is a type of internal combustion engine that completes a power cycle with two strokes (up and down movements) of the piston during one power cycle, this power cycle being completed in one revolution of t ...
s, previously common in vehicles designed for off-road use, also causes concerns about
pollution
Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the ...
. This is because "two-stroke engines emit about 20 to 33 percent of the consumed fuel through the exhaust" (as the engine lubricant is a "total loss system" and is emitted by design) and "discharge from two-stroke snowmobile engines can lead to indirect pollutant deposition into the top layer of snow and subsequently into the associated surface and ground water".
[http://www.fs.fed.us/r10/chugach/forest_plan/FEIS_VOLUME_1/chapter3_p1feis.pdf]
/ref>
Noise pollution
Noise pollution, also known as environmental noise or sound pollution, is the propagation of noise with ranging impacts on the activity of human or animal life, most of them are harmful to a degree. The source of outdoor noise worldwide is main ...
is also a concern and several studies conducted by Montana State University
Montana State University (MSU) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Bozeman, Montana. It is the state's largest university. MSU offers baccalaureate degrees in 60 fields, master's degrees in 6 ...
, California State University
The California State University (Cal State or CSU) is a public university system in California. With 23 campuses and eight off-campus centers enrolling 485,550 students with 55,909 faculty and staff, CSU is the largest four-year public univers ...
, University of Florida
The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...
and others have cited possible negative behavioral changes in wildlife as the result of some ORV use.[ur]
http://www.wildlandscpr.org/node/258
Some U.S. states have laws to reduce noise generated by off-road and non-highway vehicles. Washington is one example: "State law requires off-road and other non-highway vehicles to use specified noise-muffling devices (RCW 46.09.120(1) (e) maximum limits and test procedures). State agencies and local governments may adopt regulations governing the operation of non-highway vehicles on property, streets, or highways within their jurisdiction, provided they are not less stringent than state law (RCW 46.09.180 regulation by local political subdivisions)".
Mojave desert controversy
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior responsible for administering federal lands. Headquartered in Washington DC, and with oversight over , it governs one eighth of the country's la ...
(BLM) supervises several large off-road vehicle areas in California's Mojave Desert
The Mojave Desert ( ; mov, Hayikwiir Mat'aar; es, Desierto de Mojave) is a desert in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the Southwestern United States. It is named for the indigenous Mojave people. It is located primarily in ...
.
In 2009, U.S. District Judge Susan Illston
Susan Yvonne Illston (born June 24, 1948) is a Senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. She was nominated by President Bill Clinton and confirmed by the Senate in 1995. She ...
ruled against the BLM's proposed designation of additional off-road use on designated open routes on public land. According to the ruling the BLM violated its own regulations when it designated approximately 5,000 miles of off-road vehicle routes in 2006. According to Judge Ilston the BLM's designation was "flawed because it does not contain a reasonable range of alternatives" to limit damage to sensitive habitat, as required under the National Environmental Policy Act. Illston found that the bureau had inadequately analyzed the route's impact on air quality, soils, plant communities and sensitive species such as the endangered Mojave fringe-toed lizard
The Mojave fringe-toed lizard (''Uma scoparia'') is a species of medium-sized, white or grayish, black-spotted diurnal lizard in the family Phrynosomatidae. It is adapted to arid climates and is most commonly found in sand dunes within the Mojav ...
, pointing out that the United States Congress has declared that the California Desert and its resources are "extremely fragile, easily scarred, and slowly healed".
The court also found that the BLM failed to follow route restrictions established in the agency's own conservation plan, resulting in the establishment of hundreds of illegal OHV routes during the previous three decades. The plan violated the BLM's own regulations, specifically the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976
The Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA) is a United States federal law that governs the way in which the public lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management are managed. The law was enacted in 1976 by the 94th Congress and is ...
(FLPMA) and the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969
The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) is a United States environmental law that promotes the enhancement of the environment and established the President's Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ). The law was enacted on January 1, 1970.Un ...
(NEPA). The ruling was considered a success for a coalition of conservation groups including the Friends of Juniper Flats, Community Off-road Vehicle Watch, California Native Plant Society, The Center for Biological Diversity, The Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is an environmental organization with chapters in all 50 United States, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. The club was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by Scottish-American preservationist John Muir, who be ...
, and The Wilderness Society who initiated the legal challenge in late 2006.
Roadless area conservation
Many U.S. national park
A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...
s have discussed or enacted roadless rule
Roadless area conservation is a conservation policy limiting road construction and the resulting environmental impact on designated areas of public land. In the United States, roadless area conservation has centered on U.S. Forest Service area ...
s and partial or total bans on ORVs. To accommodate enthusiasts, some parks like Big Cypress National Preserve
Big Cypress National Preserve is a United States National Preserve located in South Florida, about 45 miles (72 kilometers) west of Miami on the Atlantic coastal plain. The Big Cypress, along with Big Thicket National Preserve in Texas, becam ...
in Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
, were created specifically for ORVs and related purposes. However, such designations have not prevented damage or abuse of the policy.
Public statements
In 2004, several environmental organizations sent a letter t
Dale Bosworth
Chief of the United States Forest Service
The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages of land. Major divisions of the agency inc ...
, and described the extent of damage caused by ORV use, including health threats to other people:
It is well-established that the proliferation of off-road vehicle and snowmobile use places soil, vegetation, air and water quality, and wildlife at risk through pollution, erosion, sedimentation of streams, habitat fragmentation and disturbance, and other adverse impacts to resources. These impacts cause severe and lasting damage to the natural environment on which human-powered and equestrian recreation depends and alter the remote and wild character of the backcountry. Motorized recreation monopolizes forest areas by denying other users the quiet, pristine, backcountry experience they seek. It also presents safety and health threats to other recreationists.[http://www.naturaltrails.org/pressroom/releases/2004/bos-rec-final.pdf]
/ref>
In 2004 the Supreme Court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
Justice Antonin Scalia
Antonin Gregory Scalia (; March 11, 1936 – February 13, 2016) was an American jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1986 until his death in 2016. He was described as the intellectu ...
listed several problems that result from ORV use in natural areas. From th
Environmental News Service
article:
Scalia noted that off-road vehicle use on federal land has "negative environmental consequences including soil disruption and compaction, harassment of animals, and annoyance of wilderness lovers.
A number of environmental organizations, including the Rangers for Responsible Recreation, are campaigning to draw attention to a growing threat posed by off-road vehicle misuse and to assist overmatched land managers in addressing ORV use impacts. These campaigns in part have prompted congressional hearings about the growing impact of unmanaged off-road vehicle use.
The House Natural Resources Committee Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands held an oversight hearing on "The Impacts of Unmanaged Off-Road Vehicles on Federal Land" on March 13, 2008. A second hearing on off-highway vehicle (OHV) management on public lands was held by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on June 5, 2008. The Senate committee hearing was convened for the purpose of finding out why the agencies are failing to grapple with the negative impacts of off-road vehicle use on US public lands and what the agencies might need to start doing differently. For the first time in perhaps a decade, members of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee grilled leaders of the Forest Service and the BLM about why off-road vehicle use is being allowed to damage America's national treasures.
Taking center stage in the discussion was the "travel planning process", a complex analysis and decision-making procedure with the aim of designating appropriate roads and trails. Both the Forest Service and BLM have been engaged in somewhat similar travel planning processes now for years, but some of the committee members didn't seem to think those processes were going along so well. "The BLM has identified travel management on its lands as ‘one of the greatest management challenges’ it faces," stated committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman
Jesse Francis "Jeff" Bingaman Jr. (born October 3, 1943) is an American politician who served as a United States Senator from New Mexico from 1983 to 2013, for 5 terms. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as Chairman of Committee Outreac ...
, D-NM. "Likewise, the Forest Service has identified unmanaged recreation — including ORV use — as one of the top four threats to the management and health of the National Forest System. Despite these statements, it seems to me that neither agency has been able to successfully manage off-road use."
"Existing rules for managing off-road vehicles are not being enforced," Bingaman added, and the agencies are ignoring unregulated use "with significant consequences for the health of our public lands and communities, and adverse effects on other authorized public land uses."
File:Motorcycle-Forest-Damage.jpg, Negative environmental effects caused by a motorcycle to a portion of the Los Padres National Forest
Los Padres National Forest is a United States national forest in Southern California, southern and central California. Administered by the United States Forest Service, Los Padres includes most of the mountainous land along the California coast ...
.
File:Orv-damage.jpg, Damage that occurred when vehicles left the posted trail. Anza-Borrego Desert State Park
Anza-Borrego Desert State Park (, '' AN-zə bə-RAY-goh'') is a California State Park located within the Colorado Desert of southern California, United States. The park takes its name from 18th century Spanish explorer Juan Bautista de Anza and ...
.
See also
* Amphibious vehicle
An amphibious vehicle (or simply amphibian), is a vehicle that is a means of transport viable on land as well as on or under water. Amphibious vehicles include amphibious bicycles, ATVs, cars, buses, trucks, railway vehicles, combat vehicles an ...
* Baja Bug
* Game viewer vehicle
A game viewing vehicle or safari vehicle is an off-road vehicle that is converted or modified to carry many people, seated in positions in which they can view game in game reserves. These vehicles are usually open and do not have roofs, the reas ...
* Mud bogging
Mud bogging (also known as mud racing, mud running, mud drags, or mudding) is a form of off-road motorsport popular in Canada and the United States in which the goal is to drive a vehicle through a pit of mud or a track of a set length. Winner ...
* Ramp travel index
Ramp travel index or RTI, is a way of measuring a vehicle's ability to flex its suspension, a property also known as axle articulation. The RTI rating is used mainly in the off-roading industry to test and describe chassis limits of modified vehi ...
* Suspension (vehicle)
Suspension is the system of tires, tire air, springs, shock absorbers and linkages that connects a vehicle to its wheels and allows relative motion between the two. Suspension systems must support both road holding/ handling and ride q ...
* Off-road tire
Off-road tires (Off-road tyre) are a category of vehicle tires that use deep tread to provide more traction on unpaved surfaces such as loose dirt, mud, sand, or gravel. Compared to ice or snow tires, they lack studs but contain deeper and wider ...
* Breakover angle
Breakover angle is the maximum possible supplementary angle (usually expressed in degrees) that a vehicle, with at least one forward wheel and one rear wheel, can drive over without the apex of that angle touching any point of the vehicle other ...
* Approach and departure angles
Approach angle is the maximum angle of a ramp onto which a vehicle can climb from a horizontal plane without interference. It is defined as the angle between the ground and the line drawn between the front tire and the lowest-hanging part of the ...
* Ground Clearance
Ride height or ground clearance is the amount of space between the base of an automobile tire and the lowest point of the automobile (typically the axle); or, more properly, to the shortest distance between a flat, level surface, and the lowest p ...
* Overlanding
Overlanding is self-reliant overland travel to remote destinations where the journey is the principal goal. Typically, but not exclusively, it is accomplished with mechanized off-road capable transport (from bicycles to trucks) where the principal ...
* Adventure Motorcycle
* Dirt Bike
The six main types of motorcycles are generally recognized as ''standard'', ''cruiser'', ''touring'', ''sports'', ''off-road'', and ''dual-purpose''. ''Sport touring'' is sometimes recognized as a seventh category or integrated with the ''touring' ...
* ATV
* UTV
* MTB
Further reading
Environmental Hazards of Dune Bashing
Sand Duning and Off-Roading in the Desert
References
Notes
Bibliography
*
External links
The National Trust (UK)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Off-Roading
Outdoor recreation
Human impact on the environment