ATV Damage to the Environment and Wildlife

Website: http://northstar.sierraclub.org/campaigns/forests/atvs/atvdamage.html

Summary:
ATV causes A great amount of damage to the environment these days. Not only does it impact the environment but also the wildlife living in these areas. Some trails are groomed for ATV use but it doesn’t take long before there are tire ruts formed causing erosion, the soil is torn up and vegetation is lost. As ATV's travel over an area so many times the soil becomes compacted causing the change in soil temperature and making it hard for plants to breathe and let water through.
Another big impact that ATV's have on is the wildlife. The noise pollution that these half a tone vehicles let out are extremely harmful on the wildlife. Caribou is one example of this. The noise from A ATV can cause a lot of stress to a caribou and drive it from its migratory habitat. As this occurs it raises the caribou’s heart rate and causes a lot of stress for this animal. Another example would be the Arctic Hare. The Arctic Hare rests during the spring, summer, and fall seasons because it needs to build up its energy to get through the winter season; if an ATV drives an Arctic Hare from its resting habitat then it is going to use up all of its energy and not be able to protect itself from predators in the winter season.

Opinion:
ATV use should only be allowed in areas where there is very few animals living and where it can do as less amount of damage as possible to the environment, like on a rocky surface. ATV's seem to be becoming more popular every year; it seems that more people are buying the bigger and better ATVs along with bigger and wider tires which cause a lot of damage to soils. If this trend continues then it could mean big trouble in the future for wildlife and vegetations.