Jan 14, 2007
ATV Riders May Be Denied Access To State-Owned Land
SEBRING — It’s a beautiful sunlit Sunday afternoon in a remote section of Highlands County, the Carter Creek Scrub.
A group of 25 family and friends alike are tailgating off the road. Smoke billows as hot dogs and hamburgers burn on a portable grill.
This isn’t any average picnic.
ATV riders nearby are leaving a cloud of dust in their wake and making for a noisy atmosphere, so noisy it’s difficult to even have a conversation.
ATVs are a favorite pastime for many Highlands County residents. Many ATV riders are found at the scrub on any given Sunday. But they’re not popular with everybody.
Environmentalists and Florida Fish and Wildlife officials say ATVs riding in certain Highlands County wildlife habitats are endangering many unique species. They said denying ATV riders access to the Carter Creek Scrub is their top priority.
About 80 percent of the scrub sits on state-owned land, meaning county officials can do nothing to regulate what goes on there.
FWC biologist Michael Wichrowski said species most threatened include the Florida scrub jay, the Florida black bear, the blue-tail mole skink, the sand skink and many unique plants.
County and state officials are quick to say most ATV riders are decent people who obey the rules and respect their nearby environments.
“About 99 percent of riders in Highlands County are very responsible. Then there’s that 1 percent that ruins it for everyone else,” said Highlands County Parks and Recreation Director Vicki Pontius.
Highlands County Sheriff’s Capt. Paul Blackman said last year that he received complaints about ATV riders from all over, specifically Leisure Lakes, Orange Blossom Estates, Avon Park Estates and Avon Park Lakes.
Those are among the many reasons ATV riders want county officials to build a park exclusively for them. Pontius said she and other county officials want to build that park. A similar one can be found in Ocala,150 miles away.
But it’s not so much a question of Highlands County having enough money to build the park. Pontius said it’s a question of available space.
‘Nothing for Young People to Do’
Sebring resident Steven Handley, 26, has been riding his ATV at the Carter Creek Scrub every Sunday afternoon for more years than he can count.
He said anywhere from between 70 to 80 people can be found at the scrub at any one time. He said many are from Highlands County, while some visit from nearby Polk County.
Internet buzz surrounding the Carter Creek Scrub has attracted riders near and far. Other ATV riders interviewed said riders also come from as far away as Miami.
Handley said “it’s horrible” that FWC officials and other environmentalists want to deny their access to the area.
“Would you rather have people out here on their ATVs or would you rather they were out here selling dope?” Handley asked.
“There’s nothing in this town for young people to do,” said Handley.
“You go in the middle of the street and race, then you get in trouble. You come out here in the middle of the woods and do the same thing and you also get in trouble,” he added.
Handley’s brother, Alex, 18, also rides ATVs and is quick with his own response to complaints that ATVs are endangering wildlife.
“So does building homes. If we weren’t out here riding all people would do is build homes and clear this area out anyway,” Alex said.
Steven Handley said county officials should give them their own ATV park if the state closes off access to Carter Creek.
“What do you want to do, accommodate the complaints of some old people? Or would you rather accommodate your kids to keep them out of trouble?” he asked.
A Different Kind of Terrain
ATVs keeping Highlands County’s young people out of trouble was a theme repeated by Avon Park resident Sheldon Ishmael. Ishmael said he’s ridden his Yamaha at the Carter Creek Scrub every Sunday for two years.
“This place is so big. There’s so many loop-de-loops and trails. They have mud holes if we want to get dirty and just have a good time,” Ishmael said.
He said he’s made many new friends at the scrub.
“We have friends that come here all the way from Miami, stay the weekend and rent motel rooms just to ride out here. Doesn’t that help the county get more tax money?” Ishmael asked.
He said a county ATV track is “a great idea.”
“These guys want to come out and have fun on their weekends, not sit in their garage and catch cobwebs,” Ishmael added.
Jason Dunford lives two streets down from the Carter Creek Scrub and also rides his ATV there.
He said area riders will come to the scrub regardless of what state officials do.
“How are you going to stop it? You can’t catch everybody out here,” Dunford said.
He said he’s witnessed the scrub grow in popularity among ATV riders throughout the past three years.
Many ATV riders interviewed said street racing with ATVs is a more significant problem.
“Law enforcement needs to focus on all the street racing taking place around here, not us,” Dunford said.
FWC Lt. Dale Knapp recently said his agency is ticketing anyone seen racing their ATVs on nearby paved roads.
One rider who didn’t want to give his name said he was from Polk County but said he had to leave when asked for further comment.
That same rider was later seen riding his ATV up and down the paved Riverdale Road.
An ATV Park?
A 640-acre ATV park recently opened in Collier County. An ATV track for Highlands County is a possibility, if only a remote one.
Pontius attended a workshop on public ATV tracks in environmentally sensitive areas this past spring and learned a lot about the one in the Ocala National Forest, a state facility.
She said it would only make sense to build an ATV track in Florida’s Heartland, adding there’s a huge concentration of ATVs sold in Central Florida.
She said there are plenty of government grants available to pay for an ATV park in Highlands County – but not enough land.
“We talked to Highlands Hammock State Park, we talked to South Florida Water Management District, the Southwest Florida Management District and even private residents with large acreages of land that might make that suitable. No one seems interested. Plus, you have so many protected wildlife species in this area,” she said.
Pontius said an ATV track for Highlands County is at the top of her department’s priority list.
“It’s simply a matter of finding a parcel of property where we can do it fair, square and legal,” she added.
Highlands County Administrator Carl Cool said last year that any designated area must have clear-cut rules about what’s permitted and not endanger the county’s native wildlife.
“These ATVs have a reputation for just mowing plants over,” Cool said, adding any ATV park will serve a as a “huge asset to the county,” given the demand.
“But unfortunately there isn’t a group organized well enough around here to make a good enough presentation before the county to help make it happen,” Cool said.
Economics
Highlands County’s Natural Resources and Advisory Committee member Mike Waldron has been one of the most outspoken people opposing ATVs in the state-owned Carter Creek Scrub and other environmentally sensitive areas.
But he’s quick to point out he’s not against the use of ATVs, adding his own son drives one on his family’s private property.
He’s also quick to add he’s speaking on behalf of himself and not other NRAC members.
“I’ve seen these motorcycles firsthand. The people who live in these areas are probably a little bit tired of hearing motorcycles going back and forth,” Waldron said.
He said at a gathering of county and state officials two weeks ago that the state should put a fence around the scrub to keep ATV riders out.
Meanwhile, Wichrowski said earlier this month that acquiring the 20 percent of privately owned land in the area is difficult because of nothing more than economics.
“Right now the state can only pay fair-market value to buy conservation land and that’s one of our biggest problems. Most landowners can’t even tell you where they own their land. When they’re approached to sell, they learn real estate prices have shot up and try to get as much money as they can.
“But there’s absolutely no economic value in conservation land,” Wichroswki said.
This story can be found at:
http://highlands.tbo.com/MGBQZT1LWWE.html
