Tread Lightly

[Adventure North]

Let's talk about it, what it is, what it means, and where it applies.

Edit: Here are some tread lightly tips.

Travel responsibly on designated roads and trails or in permitted areas.

• Travel only in areas open to four-wheel drive vehicles.
• For your safety, travel straight up or down hills. Don’t traverse the face of a hill; you may slip sideways or roll your vehicle.
• Drive over, not around obstacles to avoid widening the trail.
• Cross large rocks and other obstacles slowly, at an angle one wheel at a time.
• Cross ravines slowly at a 45-degree angle.
• Straddle ruts, gullies, and washouts even if they are wider than your vehicle.
• Cross streams only at designated fording points, or where the road crosses the stream.
• When possible avoid mud. In soft terrain go easy on the gas to avoid wheel spin, which can cause rutting.
• Don’t turn around on narrow roads, steep terrain, or unstable ground. Backup until you find a safe place to turn around.
• Stop frequently and reconnoiter ahead on foot.
• Go easy on the throttle and avoid riding the brake or clutch.
• To help with traction, balance your load and lower tire pressure to where you see a bulge (typically not less than 20 pounds).
• Know where the differential or the lowest point on your vehicle is.
• Maintain a reasonable distance between vehicles.
• Comply with all signs and barriers.
• Travel with a group of two or more vehicles. Driving solo can leave you vulnerable if you have an accident or breakdown. Designate meeting areas in case of separation.
• Choose the appropriate winch for your vehicle size.
• Attach towing cable, tree strap, or chain as low as possible to the object being winched. Let the winch do the work; never drive the winch.

Respect the rights of others including private property owners and all recreational trail users, campers and others to allow them to enjoy their recreational activities undisturbed.

• Be considerate of others on the road or trail.
• Leave gates as you find them.
• If crossing private property, be sure to ask permission from the landowner(s).
• Yield the right of way to those passing you or traveling uphill. Yield to mountain bikers, hikers, and horses.
• Do not idly ride around in camping, picnicking, trailhead, and residential areas.
• Keep speeds low around crowds and in camping areas.
• Keep the noise and dust down.

Educate yourself by obtaining travel maps and regulations from public agencies, planning for your trip, taking recreation skills classes, and knowing how to use and operate your equipment safely.

• Obtain a map of your destination and determine which areas are open to off-highway vehicles.
• Make a realistic plan, and stick to it. Always tell someone of your travel plans.
• Contact the land manager for area restrictions, closures, and permit requirements.
• Check the weather forecast before you go.
• Prepare for the unexpected by packing necessary emergency items.
• Buckle-up! Seat belts are mandatory.
• Know your limitations. Watch your time, your fuel, and your energy.
• Take an off-highway drivers course to learn more about negotiating terrain in a four-wheel drive vehicle.
• Make sure your vehicle is mechanically up to task. Be prepared with tools, supplies, spares, and a spill kit for trailside repairs.

Avoid sensitive areas such as meadows, lakeshores, wetlands and streams, unless on designated routes.

• Other sensitive habitats to avoid unless on designated routes include cryptobiotic soils of the desert, tundra, and seasonal nesting or breeding areas.
• Avoid disturbing historical, archeological, and paleontological sites.
• Avoid “spooking” livestock and wildlife you encounter and keep your distance.
• Motorized and mechanized vehicles are not allowed in areas designated Wilderness.

Do your part by leaving the area better than you found it, properly disposing of waste, minimizing the use of fire, avoiding the spread of invasive species, restoring degraded areas, and joining a local enthusiast organization.

• Carry a trash bag on your vehicle and pick up litter left by others.
• Pack out what you pack in.
• Practice minimum impact camping by using established sites, camping 200 feet from water resources and trails.
• Observe proper sanitary waste disposal or pack your waste out.
• Protect the soundscape by preventing unnecessary noise created by a poorly tuned vehicle or revving your engine without need.
• Following a ride, wash your vehicle to reduce the spread of invasive species.
• Don’t mix driving with alcohol or drug

[Janster]

Some more....might be redundant....

http://www.lieblweb.com/tacoma/Gener...froadTips.html

[BillBrasky]

It just really upsets me when I do all I can, even going out of my way to make a difference, just to see guys (and gals) doing damage in the name of fun. I realize it may be a simple matter of education, but I think it goes deeper than that even. I think it is a moral choice to be a better human, as I have stated before.

And, again, this line of thinking, to me, transcends property lines and deeds. Just b/c one "owns" a piece of property shouldn't give them the right to destroy it. Notice I said destroy and not improve or build upon. The way I was raised, we never "owned" our land in the sense that it was here before us and will be here after we are gone. And nothing gives us the right to supercede that fact. Not paper, not words, not a handshake. The basic premise here is to take care of the environment so that others after us will have it to enjoy, as well. All it requires is a little understanding, compassion, education and selflessness.

I'm all for conservation. But I'm also all for being able to explore our world. I believe that the Tread Lightly concept is a very good compromise between the two. Remeber that every trail that is used has kept that/those same vehicles from damaging another area. Trials are an effort to contain the compromised amount of damage to the environment while still providing us a with a path to explore our world. Understand that ORV parks maintain their trails, keep them clean and protect them form uneccessary eroision and wear. Rogue OR, I feel safe in saying, doesn't extend these same courtesies.

Another point that folks need to understand is that rogue off-roading is killing this sport/recreation. When our opposition see's these types of things, it hurts us all. We have already lost Paragon and Livingston just this year alone, and now Tellico is on the chopping block. They are winning the war right now and the rogue off-roaders are simply supplying them with more ammunition. IMO, a very selfish act.

And please, please understand that there is a huge differnce between the educated OR community and Jimmy-Joe Bob in his K-5 on 44's with a case of beer, a come-a-long and a shotgun digging ruts in a field. Understand that MT tires, lifts and winches are used to mimimize damage done to the trails. I learned the hard way that if your vehicle is ill-prepared for the trails, it's harder on the trails than it is on the vehicle.

Use common sense. Be a better human by making less impact. Leave every outdoor area better than you found it. Contribute to the future of an unknown generation by being just a little less selfish.

[Jesse1983]

I agree with you Bill, this isn't something I had ever thought about until your back-and-forth with PT. While you made extremely good points, i think your anger over the pics posted, and devotion to this idea, got the best of you. I think a lot of good values can be learned from this, if communicated properly.

[Adventure North]

Excellent post BB. 4 wheeling is a most definitely a compromise. We use gas, a pollutant when burned and non renewable resource, not to mention the damage of spinning tires and such. As lightly as we may like to tread we still leave a mark no matter how hard we try not to. The concept of tread lightly is however the embodying ideal of a "small impact," to educate ourselves and others to human impact with the hope, of course, to preserve the natural beauty of our environment for future generations to enjoy.

As much as I hate to say it, I would rather have a trail closed to preserve that nature area then to continue to allow irresponsible patrons to destroy it. The idea of tread lightly certainly applies to all areas where motor vehicles traverse or can traverse, why destroy when there is no need too. Sure trees will regrow, and grassland will recover when stressed, nature is most certainly resilient, but we are the stuarts of our lands, public or private, we should do what we can to ensure we don't destroy, when it's clearly unnecessary.

The Native American Proverb "Treat the earth well: it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors, we borrow it from our Children" summarizes the reason for tread lightly well.