For those that didn’t see the article in the Idaho World about “An Unpleasant Experience on Garden Mountain,” scroll to the bottom to read the article, then scroll back up to Haden’s Letter to the Editor. Appreciate Haden’s time in responding to the article–let it be a reminder to all of us to be safe and portray responsible riding. Thanks again, Pauline.
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Haden’s Reponse:
I am sending this letter on to the editor of the Idaho World in response to the article described
with a cc to the President of the Idaho State ATV Association, David Claiborne.
Letter to the Editor:
Dear Editor:
I am a past President of the Boise ATV Trail Riders and a member o the Idaho State ATV Association.
I am writing you concerning the article in your paper of July 25, “An Unpleasant Experience on Garden Mountain”.
We urge all ATV and UTV Riders to join an active ATV Association in your area.
We pride ourselves in educating our members on the safe and responsible manners of ATV riding. What happened to these folks was very unfortunate for them and our local ATV communities. We DO NOT condone this type of conduct by our riders. Irresponsible riders like these should be reported to the proper authorities. It is against the law to operate ATVs on federal forest service land or BLM land without proper permits and even then egress on the properties is limited to designated trails only. Please do not chastise all ATV riders because of a few bad apples. Let’s lay penalties upon those deserving of them. Report these kinds of goons to the proper authorities. When they land up in court I hope the judge will require them to take an ATV safety course and compel them to attend a local ATV club at their monthly meetings for a full year as well as fining them. Let us not punish those law abiding, considerate and responsible ATV riders belonging to the Idaho State ATV Association and their sub chapters located in various cities throughout our great state. This was a very unfortunate (and I might add, unusual) incident. Hopefully this article in your newspaper will assist us in increasing our membership throughout the State of Idaho. We appreciate the opportunity to educate ATV riders on safe and responsible rules of ATV operation and conduct. Check out our clubs on line at http://www.idahostateatv.org/.
Haden Claiborne, Board of Directors, Boise ATV Trail Riders Association
Ph. 208-869-2640.
From: Thomas Glass [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Thursday, August 02, 2012 1:24 PM Subject: ATV Letter to the Editor
Below is a retyped copy of an letter in the July 25 Idaho World, the official newspaper of Boise County. I had to re-type it as we no longer have a scanner and I couldn’t find an on-line version.
Tom
To the Editor:
RE: An Unpleasant Experience on Garden Mountain:
It was 9:30 PM; July 3rd, when my mother and I were enjoying the beautiful meadow and the view from the top of Garden Mountain. Three ATVs, lead by a local Garden Valley resident,passed us at high speed, with the third one choosing to cut across the fragile meadow. My mother and I decided to talk to this group about the damage to the meadow, but I was called a “long haired, tree hugging, Democrat, mother fu%&*$,” and that I had no idea what I was talking about. A man in the group said that this was BLM land and he could do whatever he wanted. As we walked away he repeatedly tried to intimidate me, asking to fight and making more foul comments. The last thing he said as the drove by us was “Have fun reporting me to the authorities fu#%head and flipped me the finger. I contacted BLM in Boise and was told if this type of behavior continued they would close Garden Mountain to motorized vehicles. Sadly their irresponsible attitude could cost our community both recreationally and financially.
Ben Bollich Garden Valley
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