Opinion by Alex Menard
Listen to the actual tapes of 911 calls involving the Boebert family and their neighbor’s response to reckless ATV driving. On YouTube, search for “911 Audio of Lauren Boebert Family HARASSING neighbors released” posted by MeidasTouch (www.bit.ly/BoebertATV). Listen now before reading on.
The incident is remarkable not just because of who is involved. Lauren Boebert, U.S. congresswoman for Colorado District 3, is our representative. Her family is highly representative of the attitudes and behavior exhibited by many ATV drivers. The attitude is: “I am an American and therefore can do whatever I want, regardless of the effects on others.” Republican values emphasize personal rights while discounting social responsibility.
These attitudes are on display in the tiny town of Marble, gateway to the south side of the Elk Mountains and the Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness. ATV-driving visitors are mostly from “Boebert Country” — Silt, Rifle and Grand Junction. Subconsciously, they know that they are impacting others and that many people do not welcome them. This makes them aggressive and assertive of their right to be there, which explains the display of Trump or Confederate flags, loud stereos, packing firearms, traveling in large groups and offensively bright lights.
The suggestion that an ATV education program can mitigate the impact is silly. It means that any area to be protected from impact must have physical barriers. It also gives the job of protecting the peace, the environment and property values to the residents, exposing them to confrontations just like the one involving the Boeberts.
One problem with ATVs is that they are often driven by kids, sometimes even sub-teens. Notice how Jayson Boebert jumps into his truck to defend his kid’s right to harass the neighbors with reckless driving and noise. Running over the mailbox with his truck is a mini Charlottesville maneuver. The neighbor feels threatened because he knows that Boebert may be packing. The police responded, but left with no action, stating that it was a neighborhood issue that they should work out themselves.
ATV use correlates with Republican values. In red Utah, all county roads statewide are open to ATV traffic. State laws even prevent local governments from any further restrictions. Many former visitors to Moab, Utah, have deleted that destination from their travel plans because the area is overrun with ATVs. By state law, Moab cannot protect its own town.
When people in Mesa County are not busy fixing their voting machines, they also can drive their ATVs on all county roads. Ditto in Delta County. The State of Colorado allows local governments to decide where ATVs are allowed. The counties which allow the most ATV use are poor and rural and seem to have nothing else going for them.
Since the days of dirt bikes and dune buggies, every town has had an off-road recreation area. Often adjacent to the landfill, these are areas which hold no values for anything else. You can identify them by the random eroded paths climbing up the hillsides. Denuded of native vegetation, these areas have only weeds and blend very well with the adjacent landfill. At least in these locations the drivers disturb only the landscape, since no one else is there. Do the ATV supporting counties consider their entire area to be devoid of any other value? Do they think that their entire county does not deserve any quiet zones?
Impacts from ATVs include: unhealthy levels of noise, dust, toxic fumes, intimidation of pedestrians by aggressive driving, increased erosion, disruption of wildlife, property value loss and damage to vegetation.
More enlightened counties, like Pitkin County, have eliminated ATVs almost completely in order to protect residents rights to peace and quiet, their safety and property values and environmental quality. Aspen and Pitkin County have chosen to emphasize sustainable, low impact activities. Google the Colorado Tourism Office to see their concept of sustainable tourism. The disproportionate impact of the small group of ATV users discourages the vast majority of lower impact visitors from enjoying natural areas like Marble. As visitation greatly increases, the best management policy is to reduce impact so that everyone can have a pleasant experience.
Both Carbondale and Pitkin County have adopted an environmental bill of rights, which protects the natural environment as well as residents from impacts to their quality of life and property values. This protection covers the Crystal Valley all the way up to the Gunnison County line, just before the Marble turnoff. The Gunnison County Commissioners have still not voted on whether to reauthorize ATV use on County Road 3. Why would the commissioners authorize such an impactful activity to the detriment of their constituents and the environment?
Email the Gunnison County Commissioners at: bocc@gunnisoncounty.org