The rise of illegal off-roading throughout Rhode Island's management areas is reaching a boiling point for many local residents. As a result, some are urging officials to take immediate action to curb the problem before it causes irreparable harm to the region.
As ecoRI News reported, the use of all-terrain vehicles and dirt bikes inside state-managed lands, such as parks, forests, and wildlife refuges, is such a large issue that it has become impossible to ignore.
Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management spokesperson Evan LaCross reiterated that Rhode Island law prohibits all-terrain vehicles from operating inside management areas. LaCross notes that the DEM's Division of Law Enforcement has received around 1,660 reports of illegal off-roading in the last five years.
However, Rhode Island residents say that nothing has stopped off-roaders. Andy Grover, an experienced hiker who enjoys exploring Rhode Island's scenic trails, described the growing concern with off-roading in these protected areas. According to Grover, the problem stems from a lack of enforcement.
"This stuff tends to be what happens when agencies are gutted," Grover said. "The General Assembly needs to see that if they have the manpower, then you can say, 'Why aren't you patrolling?' Between the off-roading jetting through here and the logging, the forest is being destroyed."
Off-roading in vulnerable management areas can cause untold damage to the landscape. Deep ruts left behind by all-terrain vehicles can lead to severe soil erosion and even habitat destruction for wildlife. Over time, this may disrupt vital ecosystems in the state.
An anonymous source shared two separate satellite images with ecoRI News that demonstrated just how prevalent the use of all-terrain vehicles has become throughout the region. The images revealed countless off-roading trails that not only affected Rhode Island, but neighboring Connecticut as well.
"Local officials are well aware of the activities that take place along these trails but short of patrolling them on a regular basis, there is not a lot they can do about it," the source wrote in an email sent to ecoRI News. "A good part of these activities occur in the evenings and on weekends when there are very few RI DEM staff available."
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