Dirt bike riders lobby Mono to open trails
A group representing offroad motorcycle riders wants Mono to open some of its trails to dirt bikes.
Lisa Thompson of the Ontario Federation of Trail Riders (OFTR) asked Mono council when it met April 23 to allow access to what she called the Tower Hill portion of the Aikins Forest Tract.
Her group is a proponent of trail stewardship throughout the province. The group has been maintaining and building trails for 31 years.
And they have cultivated relationships with provincial government ministries and would like to extend that same focus to municipalities and counties.
And that’s what brought her to Dufferin County and before Mono’s council.
“Right now, Dufferin County does not provide any forest access to offroad vehicles at all,” she said. “We have access to the rail trail, which isn’t really an ideal trail for the offroad motorcycle community.”
Those riders prefer what’s called single track riding, which is a path through the woods that’s no wider than a motorcycle’s handlebars.
“We share these trails throughout the entire province with our equestrian partners,” Thompson said. “They like our single track because we clear it.”
Their only complaint is that the OFTR can’t clear single track paths higher to prevent tree branches from hitting riders on horses.
She said trail off-roading is a growing sport with a growing number of women and children taking part. They’re enjoying nature and learning respect for the forest and environmentally sensitive areas.
She said the OFTR is aware of some trespassing in the Tower Hill area by riders of offroad motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles.
“And we’d like to educate them (trespassers),” she said.
The OFTR comes with $15-million in insurance liability and they require all members to be properly insured and carry provincial license plates. The group also requires a trail use permit.
“That way we can have some sort of control on what they do,” Thompson said.
Trail agreements between the OFTR and other jurisdictions allow use only from May until December, she said.
“And we’re very hard on that,” she said. “So by working with us we hope there will be a reduction of trespassing and disturbances in the area.”
The group also enforces an acceptable noise level.
“We encourage everybody to behave properly,” Thompson said. “We don’t want this reputation that sometimes comes with us that we’re a bunch of yahoos. We’re not.”
Councillor Ralph Manktelow said all-terrain vehicle trail users are incompatible with hikers who walk the backwoods thoroughfares.
“They grind up the trails and they’re noisy and (walkers) wonder if somebody is going to come down and run them down,” he said.
“That’s a misconception about us grinding up the trails,” Thompson said. “That would be an ATV, not a dirt bike.”
“I understand the difference between an ATV and a motorcycle and I know they’re talking about motorcycles,” Manktelow said. “Quite clearly they say it digs up the trails. You can’t go on a motorcycle and gun it without digging up the trails. It’s so much harder on them than walking so I have significant concerns about his application.”
“Throttle control is very important,” Thompson said and added that the OFTR will repair any damage to trails. “That’s part of our remediation that we do when we notice it because ruts do sometimes happen.”
Deputy Mayor Fred Nix said he also has concerns about opening forests to offroad motorcycle use. You can’t have open protected land and allow dirt bike use there, he said.
Coun. Melinda Davie is a former dirt bike rider and she said the misconceptions about the sport is disheartening. The gas engine is on its way out and e-bikes are going to be quieter on trails.
“It’s going to be as quiet as walking in the woods when you’re on (an electric) motorcycle,” Davie said.
She said trespassing on trails is a problem and it would be beneficial to have the OFTR policing the trails.
Davie said municipal staff have repaired much damage caused by trespassers.
“Do we have a cost on this nuisance behaviour that we’ve got going on in our forest?” Davie said.
Kim Heaton, the town’s director of recreation, said there’s been a lot of damage done to the Aikins Tract.
“It is an on-going battle between the Recreation Department and the users of the Aikins Tract, the motorized users,” Heaton said.
Signage that informs users motorized vehicles are prohibited are regularly torn down the day after they’re erected, she said. The cost is in sign replacement, fencing repairs, and the maintenance staff hours to complete that work.
“It’s an ongoing issue that we are having as far as our parks bylaw stating that no motorized vehicles are permitted on this property,” Heaton said. “It doesn’t matter what we do. We just cannot get ahead of the challenge.”
Despite the trespassing and trail damage, Heaton said the town doesn’t get many complaints from nearby neighbours.
“My biggest concern regarding the trespassing is the liability that we are assuming,” she said.
“We do have $15-million liability,” Thompson said.
Coun. Elaine Capes said there’s a duty to protect the health of the forest tract.
“This, to me, is what Mono stands for,” Capes said. “It has nothing to do with your organization at all. It is just what I believe in my heart.”
No decision was made by council.
-30-
James Matthews, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Orangeville Citizen
