(Leah Hogsten – the city, February 19, 2021.

By Bret Blosser | The public forum

The day and night ATV noise in Moab is frequent, loud, and annoying enough to make families who have lived here for decades to leave. The ATV noise season is most of the year. The only solution is to give Grand County an exemption from the state designation of these vehicles as “road legal”.

State lawmakers said they had made ATVs “street legal” (in cities where most lawmakers are based) so farmers could get from home to the bottom 40.

Moab has no more farmers. It is time for the state to make an exception for cities whose economies are based on tourism. ATV noise and pollution are driving non-ATV tourism out of Moab.

Locals working with tourists have heard from non-ATV tourists, including many who have been visiting regularly for years, that they will not be returning to Moab because of ATV noise and pollution.

Our economy is built on a solid foundation of various ways to experience this world-class landscape, including rafting, hiking, biking, paddling, jeeping, dirt biking, canyoning, skydiving and base jumping.

Driving away non-ATV tourists makes our economy less diversified and therefore less resilient. ATV tourism has damaged Moab’s reputation as a family vacation destination for non-motorized heads. Do state lawmakers value Moab’s five ATV companies above any other tourist service?

Here’s a solution that will enable ATV businesses to thrive and not prevent ATV owners from accessing local trails.

1. Change “Roads Law” to allow Grand County to ban ATVs from our roads.

2. Adequate funding to build large parking lots on BLM lots at ATV departure points.

3. Authorize Grand County to place private or rental ATVs between town and starting points.

Bret Blosser, Moab

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