As a 17 year veteran of the U.S. Army, I have recently been stationed here in West Palm Beach, Florida, about a month ago. It was a long move from NY, for sure.

Shortly after arriving here, I located a nice place to rent; a 3 BR/2 BA on 1.25 acres in a "country" setting; off a dirt road, near a park, and very rural for West Palm Beach. I decided one day to take one of my quads out for a ride to scope out the local trails. Keep in mind that I grew up on the West Coast of Florida, and was always able to find places to ride. So, I put on my MX boots, helmet, goggles and gloves and head out.

Not far away I was able to find some trails in the woods near a canal, as well as some trails on some empty lots also; I refrain from riding on private land without permission, but obviously others in this area do not. The trails I did ride on were on County property. After about 15 or 20 minutes, I decide to head back to the house, as it is starting to rain. As I leave a trail and come back onto a dirt road, I find a police officer waiting for me. We have a nice discussion (he was very professional and gave me only a warning - he could have given me a ticket for trespassing, which is $500 and considered a FELONY in Florida, after I explained the circumstances), and I was informed that there is no Off-Highway Vehicle use allowed AT ALL on public property within Palm Beach County! Riding is only permitted on private property. The area in which I live (the "acreage" it is called) is also a very large equestrian area (horses), and I have seen people riding their horses all over; this is apparently legal.

So I talked with a number of people at the local bike shops, only to discover that there are no riding areas at within Palm Beach County, public or private; the closest areas are easily an hour away. This is not very good at all! I did some research, and found this online petition , which I obviously signed right away. As you can see, there's only 85 signatures, with a goal of 50,000! So I'm trying to spread the word and get some signatures so that maybe something will happen. If you can help out by supporting this cause and sign the petition, that would be great! If you can spread the word to your friends and family, co-workers, online buddies, etc. and encourage them to do the same, even better!

Thanks for your support ATV Connection Members!

 

Welcome to the forums.

Thank you for your service to our country, and hope you get the signatures you need.

 

Damn, I used to live in Delray Beach and ride the construction sites. They didn't care if we didn't hit the survey markers.

 

Used to live in Jupiter Farms and you are not going to get those folks in Florida invilved. For mud in your area go to L Cross Ranch, Plant Bamboo or Triple Canopy Ranch. The only good trail ridin I found was at 3 lakes Wildlife Management Area State Road 60 and 441. I have a thread on here with pics of the area.

http://s202.photobucket.com/albums/a...Three%20Lakes/

 

I have read this story about West Palm Beach and No Trails.......for ATV's that is.
First of all.....The State of Florida Wildlife and Forestry Divisions have a lot to say in this matter. Oh yeah....almost forgot the Fish and Game....how could I do that......that division is pushing the other divisions....go figure!
Any way.....The U.S. Forestry has a bite on this too. Supposedly.....just saying it was said in type.....The People of Florida were notified of the proposed changes that were to come about Public Access to "Public Land" . Don't you remember reading about it in the newspapers? I don't think you did.....it wasn't in there. Oh YES.....the departments mentioned are to notify the Public for Comments. Also after Comments then Appeals. Every one done this right? NOT.!!! Because it was done so fast, very quite, and signed into Law as well as Regulations.
Now wait a minute you say........how can this be? Well.....it can be. The US Forest Service ( a division of USDA) can and does close areas when the "say" that it is to the best interest of the wildlife and water quality. It will be done FAST.....it is called an Emergency Closure. If some one should ask as to "when" it may re-open than the comment is usually something of the nature (no pun intended) of....."Due to conditions the area requires sustainability of the wild life and water shed. Upon the studies completion than the considerations for Public Access and use will be submitted for which may take ONE to TEN years to finalize." For another words.....once CLOSED......once Access Denied.......a real battle begins.
I don't have a target on my back.....I am sure of this. As I am an Advocate - Ambassador - and a Consultant of trails in the USFS Region #8.
Any person may request from the departments that have control of an area the information as to WHY a certain area has become CLOSED to PUBLIC ACCESS. Not saying you will get it in hand right then but you may be given some "working web site" that just might give some insight on the subject.
Okay.....now you are asking....."How can this be done when it belongs to The People to start with?" Very good question.
Yes....Public Land does belong to The People.....> BUT <.....her it comes.....it is controlled and managed by the department that also closed it. Of course with much help from those environmentalist groups. Let's not forget about the local representative, the senator, the governor, and any other politician that has his campaign donation from those environmentalist. Yes....they have much more money donated to them from corporations ( Billions....YES.....Billions) that believe as long as they donate to environmental groups that the Public will see them as "Helping The Public" . You make your own decision on this one.
So it comes down to this.....if YOU want to be able to recreate on Public Land.....it would be a very good idea to :
Form a Club
Become a member of Blue Ribbon Coalition
Write all of your Politicians
Attend meetings about the subject

and here ya go

Even become a member of those opponents of your cause.

Keep your enemy even closer.....become them......be just as informed....know them as much as you can.....maybe even more so than they even know.

There is much information available across the web to help. My web site Home also has information to help lead an Advocate in the right direction. Del Albright - BRC Ambassador - Western area of USA - has information on his web site that just may have a person say...."I never knew of this" and he has a course that really puts you in the right perspective of Advocating and Volunteer use.
So don't shoot me.....I try to help in any way I can. Go to my web site and check out the information......USFS and USDA and BLM and Fish an Wild life as well as many others sure do. You can even e-mail me from the web site.
We need to unite.....come as one......participate in our Public Land Decisions from our elected officials........make some noise......Do IT!!!!

( Not intended here to step on any ones toes, to offend any one, or to make it seem it is a sales pitch. My comment was hopefully helpful....even motivational - maybe....but if WE don't get out there and be involved.....WHO will?)

 

THis is sad just sad dont these people realize there doing democracy an freedom a great injustice.What do these people want 1st they dont want any 1 in the forests shut em all down.Then next breath they wonder why kids are so fat and sitting around an we have to find a way to get em out in the great outdoors.GOd forbid they find out about dirtbikes and quads :O.! This too me is unconstitutional how they do things even within the law.

 

This state just dosen't get it! I live in Brevard County and we are down to one place to ride and the way things are going, that won't last much longer. The County keeps trying to shut everything down. A few months ago, there was a County meeting, where the County attourney proposed to shut down all unincorporated areas and wanted to even charge private land owners $5.00 for each OHV for each time they ride on thier own land, to be paid to the Sheriffs department. There were over 60 people signed up to speak on this proposal, so they held off on any decisions at that time. The ignorance of these individuals and those who don't even use the outdoors, but want to stop us that do is absurd. I was at Three Lakes WMA a few weeks ago to check out what was there to ride. You can ride the roads and there are unimproved roads that are allowed. I ran into a couple of WMA employees and our discussion wound up discussing this same mentality. The WMA's have no hunting for about 5 months and they have even suggested to the State to open these areas up during that period, charging a small fee to generate revenue. They were saying how inexpensive it would be to make and then maintain the trail systems for riders to use and estimated that the revenue brought in that first year would nearly cover the initial costs. But as we all know, we can't get anywhere with these people. What do we do????