By WILLIE HOWARD
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Saturday, June 14, 2008
The use of all-terrain vehicles will be strictly limited beginning July 1 at several public hunting areas in South Florida, including the Everglades, Francis S. Taylor, Holey Land and Rotenberger wildlife management areas - 1,170 square miles of public land in all.
Hunters will be allowed to use ATVs during the hunting seasons and for scouting two weeks before the archery season and one week before muzzleloading gun and general gun seasons.
Unrestricted use of off-road vehicles has damaged the terrain and has cost taxpayers money when Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission officers and sheriff's deputies are forced to search large areas for ATV riders who break down or get lost while exploring sections of the Everglades.
"I've seen four to five truckloads of ATVs come out here at midnight, and I get calls at three or four in the morning saying we've got ATVs lost," said FWC Lt. Dave Bingham, who patrols the Everglades.
FWC helicopters are sometimes dispatched to search the area for missing off-road vehicle riders, Bingham said.
FWC commissioners approved the restrictions on the Everglades wildlife management areas in February following a report by the agency's Division of Habitat and Species Conservation that found a dramatic increase in off-road vehicle use during the past three years, particularly along the L-5 Levee on the Palm Beach/Broward county line near the Rotenberger and Holey Land wildlife management areas.
"Unlike fishing and wildlife viewing, ORV use involves heavy machinery that inflicts extensive damage on the landscape and compromises the experience for others," the FWC report said.
Loss of organic soil in the marsh, changes in water flow patterns created by ruts, destruction of native vegetation and muck fires were attributed to the use of off-road vehicles in the marsh, which has been dry in many places because of the drought.
Hunters, too, complained that ATV riders disturbed game near their hunting stands.
Riders come from as far as Miami to explore the Everglades trails of southern Palm Beach and northern Broward counties, Bingham said. The FWC plans to increase patrols along the levee to enforce the new restrictions during the Fourth of July weekend.
ATV rider Jason Bedgood of Hollywood brought his wife and daughter to ride the family's four-wheeler near the L-5 Levee in late May. Bedgood knew the Everglades areas would be closing to ATVs on July 1 and said he plans to obtain a permit allowing him to use his four-wheel-drive Arctic Cat at Big Cypress. He also plans to explore private off-road vehicle tracks near Okeechobee.
The good news for off-road vehicle enthusiasts: Florida still has many tracts of public land where ATVs are allowed if riders abide by rules for each area. Among them are parts of Big Cypress National Preserve, the Ocala National Forest and other state and national forests.
For a map showing places to ride ATVs on public land, go to the Florida Off Highway Vehicle Recreation Advisory Council Web site at
www.Floridaohv.org.
