To the editor:
When a landowner grants permission to ATV and/or Snowmobile Club members to cross their property, they do so with the understanding that their rights and land will be respected. When someone leaves the designated trail, that exceeds the permission the landowner has granted.
Such is the case a couple of times over the summer. One incident resulted in a visit by a game warden to the violator. The other incident resulted in the landowner becoming very upset and threatening to close down all trails that run through his property. If this had happened, it would have crippled a major portion of our trail system.
Another issue is Irving lands. When you pay your membership to this or any of the other 21 clubs in Maine that have trails through Irving land, that entitles you to travel on roads designated by Irving as an ATV trail. It does not give you the right to travel any road you wish.
Always remember, there is a 8-foot wide limit on trails. If you go beyond that, you will be trespassing and a landowner has the right to detain you until proper authorities arrive.
So we can’t stress enough the importance of staying on the designated trails and respect the landowners.
Thank you so much for all the support of our members, landowners, and communities that our trail system runs through. After all, without all of you, we would not have any trails to ride on and have fun.
