I can see where they are coming from here and do not want local wildlife to be disturbed, but older people are going to suffer from this and not be able to get outside like they once did on ATV's. I don't know many people over 60 who would be willing to jump on a horse or walk these 200 miles... but i guess the other half is that there are parts besides these 200 miles they can drive through.

I guess to many people are using the area irresponsibly. Or they are getting ready for another Montana fire season.

Clinton did a lot of this too, declaring large tracts federal land off-limits to wheeled vehicles. I am on the fence on this issue.

I've spent a lot of time riding quads and bikes through the Adirondacks and the woods of northern Michigan.

I'm not convinced that the engines scare off wildlife long-term. They might be initially spooked, but they become desensitized to the noise. some of the closest encounters I've ever had with deer were on a quad. I suspect they don't recognize the outline as human and think you are some sort of very strange animal.

In my opinion the real problem with quads and bikes is erosion. I've seen places where the trail has worn itself 4 or 5 feet into the surrounding topography. This forms an artificial stream gully and the problem just gets worse even if no one is riding. A lot of that dirt ends up in trout streams and can kill trout eggs.

If trails are placed along routes specially chosen for the region's topography and then annually maintained erosion can be almost entirely stopped. The problem is that very few trails are maintained by clubs / land owners. Even fewer still had their routes chosen by someone with the knowledge of erosion. (the usual method is to pick the route that requires you to cut down the fewest trees)

I wonder if this whole issue will die away in a few years if electric bikes and quads become available and popular? It wouldn't do anything to solve the erosion problem, but most people seem to be primarily concerned with the noise. Electric motors certainly eliminate that problem.

I'm not saying I have a solution, just offering my two cents.

I agree with HogBlog, don't like the things and would be fine if they were more limited. They are too often abused rather than properly used.

Last Monday, when I contacted Congressman John Boozman Office about the Ammunition Accountability Laws and by the way what I was told there is no legislation on the Federal level at this time, only at the state level. You can check it out at http://www.ammunitionaccountability.org/Legislation.htm
I asked about the closure and off limits to National Forests. I was put thru to a the Congressman’s Office that handles this and was told the Forest Department has become to put in simple terms overzealous with the need to shut down ORV’s all together.
What I’ve found that, Government/Public Lands has become land locked by the only access is thru private property thus making that an area a private resort to those land owners and to do whatever they want. Last deer season I hiked up on top of a ridge that is land locked and herd several shots by one of the land owners on Forest Property downing 4 deer. His other bodies showed up quickly to claim the deer. They also accused me of being on private property that they discovered I knew better and scurried off. I called Fish and Game and because I did not see it, I couldn’t prove it. Also that area is doe’s by permit only and I find it difficult to believe each one of them having permit.
This ATVs Banned on 200 Miles of Montana Trails sounds like the poster child for what happened what happened in Kaibab in 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt established the Grand Canyon National Game Preserve on the Kaibab Plateau. His intention was to protect the mule deer from overhunting by humans and predation by natural enemies. He knew that human activities had depleted wildlife species throughout the country, and only a few locations in the West still contained the numbers that had flourished a few decades earlier. Roosevelt hoped that future generations of wildlife enthusiasts would be able to visit the Kaibab Plateau to witness an abundance of wildlife not remaining elsewhere.

Read these links about the Kaibab and it will change the way you think and give you factual knowledge in conservation.

http://depts.alverno.edu/nsmt/youngcc/research/kaibab/kaibab.html

http://depts.alverno.edu/nsmt/youngcc/research/kaibab/story1.html

http://depts.alverno.edu/nsmt/youngcc/research/kaibab/story2.html

http://depts.alverno.edu/nsmt/youngcc/research/kaibab/story3.html

What does shutting down legit trails really do?
One thing for sure it makes it hell on us Disabled Vets!