Setting triggers to curb illegal off-road vehicle use

I was intrigued and pleased to see an article in the Spokane, WA Spokesman-Review the other day highlighting potential snowmobile closures as a result of illegal activity.  Since beginning to research off-road vehicle enforcement issues nearly 5 years ago, Wildlands CPR is always on the lookout for off-road vehicle enforcement changes that impose real consequences for bad behavior.  In our Six Strategies for Success Enforcement Report, for example, we discussed the importance of setting triggers for closing areas based on illegal activity:

Set triggers for closure orders based on violations.
Especially for routes through sensitive areas or where illegal activity is a problem, set and publicize parameters for keeping routes open.

While it makes a lot of sense theoretically, land managers have not been quick to take such action – often blaming problems on “a few bad apples.”  (We've previously researched the fallacy of the "few bad apples" argument.) In order to increase peer-pressure within the off-road community to reduce illegal activity, one approach may be to close the legal areas or access routes that lead to the illegal use.  In practice, then, not only would those who violate the rules be impacted by the closure, but those who don’t violate the rules would be as well.  This should encourage law-abiding off-road vehicle riders to pressure their fellow riders to also follow the law.  While we think this is a smart approach, we know of very few examples, if any, where it’s been tried.  The point of an approach like this is to tie responsibility to recreational access.  If the off-road vehicle riders want access, then they have to follow the rules and ride responsibly, if they don't, they'll lose their access.

Lo and behold, the Colville National Forest seems about to try it.  According to the Spokesman-Review article:

Only a few rogue snowmobilers willfully ride into off-limits areas of protected Selkirk caribou habitat, organized snowmobile groups say.

But the actions of a few are jeopardizing access for the law-abiding majority.

…

For the past two years, snowmobiles have illegally used the closed Onata Creek Road to reach the north side of Molybdenite Ridge. If tracks are found on Onata Creek Road for a third winter, Forest Service officials said they’ll also close off Harvey Creek Road, which provides snowmobile access to the area.

As we described in our enforcement report, for this strategy to work, land managers have to notify users up front.  And the Colville is doing just that - warning all snowmobile users that if the bad behavior doesn’t change, then everyone will be impacted and the area will be closed.  We’ll be very curious to see if this stops the illegal trespass, or if the Colville is forced to follow through on the potential closure.