This has been going on for a long time now and it is becoming very serious. I'm not sure how many people are from or around the Forest City area in NEPA but Rails to Trails has been making the D&H and O&W trails into bicycling, walking/jogging, and snowmobiling ONLY. Gates and patrols have been put up and are completely wiping out ATV riding. Newspapers make ATV riders out to be rule-breakers and vandalists and it doesn't seem like these views will be changing anytime soon [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif[/img] I can't ride from a trail to a gas station and back without being chased or yelled at even when I am driving 10 mph and minding my own business.

 

How are you making out with riding since you last posted. I actually ride in Dickson City and everyone waves at me when I go by. I would like to see the rails to trails in NEPA a little more accepting of ATV's. The only problem I have in my area is a few trouble makers that we have to pick up after.

 

Im from Pennsylvania too, the problem why everybody hates ATV's is because of the few atv riders that are troublemakers, they litter, drink beer, destroy property, vandalize construction equiptment, pollute water shed areas, ride thru state game lands chase wildlife, running thru stocked trout streams.

BUT !!! This happens cause YOU responsible atv owners DO NOTHING about it!
The few bad riders ruin it for you and everybody!

What you can do is when you see a troublemaker causing damage and watching him throwing his beer cans around, I say go over and punch him in the mouth and take the rest of his beer and dump it down his pants.

I caught one guy in the woods pouring motor oil in his atv and he took the remainder of the oil left in the container and threw it on the ground, I asked him nicely to pick it up and put it back in his rack bag and take it home with him, He told me - &)@# YOU! So I picked up the oil, opened the container and poured the oil down inside his shirt.

 

Thats what you have to do,,DON"T LET PA TURN INTO A police state like New Jersey.

 

I am from west central pa we have the same issue I posted the following in another thread



Here in Pa we used to use the old rail road tracks to get from town to town for 30yrs. It was great, hundreds of miles of totally unused trails. Now the state has used our atv registration money to turn these tracks into WALKING TRAILS! Now you will recieve a hefty fine if you get caught on them. Ive been riding the tracks for about ten yrs. now and my father before me and we have never ever seen anyone walking on them, unless someone was broke down on them. Some of the tracks are so far out in the woods you would have to be a marathon runner to walk/run that far. Now where do you think the state would have made out better, doing what they did or making everyone who wants to ride the tracks pay a yearly fee.


I just dont see the logic in it. I live in South Fork Pa. a few miles outside of johnstown. I used to be able to ride to about 12 different towns using theese tracks, now I cant get out of Southfork. I can watch the workers who are making the old tracks into walking trails from my porch. It makes me nuts. The trail is open for people to walk now and have been for a few months. I still have yet to see anyone on it. WTF!!!! The trail is part way up on the side of a mountain, they have spent tons of money (our money that we pay in registration) for water run off control. As far as I know, no one in town really complains about atv's. In fact I am willing to bet that 25% of people in town own one.

IT IS BULLSH!T