ORVers raise $25,000 to fight $300 fine

ORV groups have raised $25,000 to fund the court costs of a man who was ticketed for purposely leading a group of 9 ATVs into a Wilderness Study Area. The Canaan Mountain area, part of the Zion-Mojave proposed BLM wilderness in southwestern Utah's canyon country, has been closed to motor vehicles since 1980. However, some ORVers apparently feel that no one has the right to keep them from driving on anything they consider a road. Not surprisingly, the trail in question is claimed as a county "highway" under RS 2477.

Apparently, the ATV rider is planning to fight the ticket on two precepts: first, that the "road" he drove on is actually a county highway under RS 2477; and second, that the BLM does not have the legal authority to manage Wilderness Study Areas in order to keep their wilderness character.

Since both of these are extremely broad charges that have previously been defeated in court, it seems unlikely that the ORV crowd will prevail here. However, this case does provide an interesting snapshot of ORV issues in Utah. The underlying cause of the conflict, of course, is stated best by the ATVer himself in an article in the Salt Lake Tribune: "'I've been driving on that road for 35 years, and [no one] is going to tell me not to drive there.'" The article goes on:

"If the OHV groups prevail--and the judge tosses Jessop's criminal misdemeanor charge--they figure they will have ammunition against other off-roading tickets and what they see as an escalating crackdown against all-terrain vehicles on federal lands."

Click here to see the Salt Lake Tribune article.

Click here to read WCPR's article explaining RS2477.