Illegal off-roading is a growing issue that has a long term affect on our environment. Illegal off-roading can be defined as irresponsible and illegal off road vehicle use in which the driver of the all-terrain vehicle drives off the designated route. The most popular place that illegal off-roading occurs is within the desert biome, specifically the Arizona deserts. This causes a threat to the habitat and wildlife. An off-road vehicle is any type of vehicle capable of driving on paved gravel surfaces. All-terrain vehicles are more specific types of off-road vehicles, such as, quads or four-wheelers. They travel on low pressure tires with a seat straddled by the operator, along with handle bars for steering control. They operate very much like a motorcycle. While ATV’s are in growing popularity because of their enjoyment, they are often misused and destroy the desert biome. Many people fail to realize how much harm they are actually doing to …show more content…
the environment. Illegal off-roading occurs mostly in the Arizona deserts, over twenty years ago a growing demand for ATV’s started, there has been a huge environmental impact as well as an impact to humans, and undoubtedly there are fines and penalties in place to stop illegal off-roading. The desert biome can be very beautiful with diverse wildlife. The Arizona deserts consist of more than one million acres of land dedicated to agriculture. Although over half the year is dry with few rain showers, the plants and animals have adapted to live in such harsh conditions. During monsoon season, starting early July and lasting through to mid-September, Arizona deserts receive plenty of rain. The air is generally dry with low humidity with a very high percentage of sunshine. The plants need very little water, because during the monsoon season, they harvest the water and store it to make it last through the dry months. Within the desert, you can come across wildlife such as wild turkey, mountain lions, coyotes, snakes, and other small animals. The Arizona deserts are very diverse with many plants and animals. The desert has many natural wonders, some only available to fine with the use of off-road vehicles. Many people abuse their right to take all-terrain vehicles to see the natural wonders in the deserts. It is undeniable that Arizona has many beautiful places that have yet to be discovered. Whether you are looking for hidden swimming holes over the summer, or even just great hiking spots with a beautiful view, you will probably need to take an all-terrain vehicle. It is crucial to be responsible when exploring as you always run the risk of ruining a defenseless animal’s home. Over twenty years ago, the issue of illegal off-roading became clear. As vehicles became bigger and faster, they became more destructive. There is a growing popularity on off-road vehicles as more people are realizing they can go places they couldn’t before. There are always new places to discover that normal cars simply just cannot get to. With many different types and styles, all-terrain vehicles are becoming more and more common. They are fairly inexpensive and built to last. Many people disregard the laws and end up hurting the environment. Everyone is in such a rush to ride freely around the desert and don’t pay any attention to the laws in place. While it is nice to explore and have the ability to drive an off-road vehicle to some wonderful places, it is important to remember all the laws set in place. When exploring, you should always have the mindset that you are in someone else’s home and be cautious to not damage it. The laws are there not only to protect their health, but humans’ health as well. Undoubtedly, all-terrain vehicles have a lasting impact on the environment. ATV’s hurt not only the environment, but the animals within the environment. When the vehicles drive off of the designated routes, they compact and erode the soil, destroy plants while riding over them, and overall just degrade the wildlife habitat. The pollution they emit transfers into the water making it unsafe for the animals to drink. Not only does it make water undrinkable, it also fills streams with sediment that kills fish and aquatic plants. Unknowingly, people are sending animals towards extinction. These people are slowing reducing the biodiversity in these deserts. It is evident that the health of our beautiful Arizona deserts is decreasing. If the greater biodiversity truly implies the greater health, then the deserts are quickly going to become a barren wasteland. Illegal off-roading degrades the environment and makes it unsuitable for wildlife. ATV’s destroy the animals’ natural habitat and food sources. Even just the sight, sound and smell of ORV’s frighten the animals. Many people don’t respect nature and just run over animals, injuring or even killing them. People are sending animals towards extinction without realizing it. By off-roading illegally, people are ruining these animals’ habitats leaving them with nothing to eat, poisoning their water supply, and even directly killing these animals. Some people disregard the responsibility they need with riding an all-terrain vehicle. As they are riding off the designated routes, they run so many potential risks of hurting animals. Because they are going so fast, they may not notice a hole in the ground where an animal is sleeping inside and run it over. This fills the hole with dirt and the sleeping animal is unaware of what just happened and ends up getting trapped inside. It is crucial that everyone stays on the designated routes when operating an all-terrain vehicle to help protect our environment. Pursuing this further, illegal off-roading not only has an impact on the environment, but has an impact on humans as well.
Many people wander off the designated roads; they wind up onto private lands and can be charged with trespassing. These off-road vehicles are destroying private residence land. The owners are outraged and demand for the police to put a stop to illegal off-roading. All land owners encourage everyone to report and illegal off-roaders at WWW.Riversidesheriff.org/rove/. They say it is a disturbance and causes damage to their property. It is clear the off-roaders are not wanted or welcomed. When you drive off the designated trails, you are driving onto someone’s private land. It is important to keep in mind that if you are on someone’s land, you are trespassing and causing a disturbance. When you are driving behind houses in the desert, you need to be cautious in case a pet got loose, how would you feel if your companion got out and someone that was trespassing ran them over because they were being
reckless? Furthermore, there are actions in place to put an end to illegal off-roading. There are currently fines and penalties for anyone caught off-roading on undesignated roads. There are report websites and hotlines available to try to stop anyone. When you see any type of vandalism done by off-roaders, you are encouraged to report a description of the vehicles, people, license plate numbers, time and date to Arizona’s Game and Fish departments twenty-for hour hotline at (800) VANDALS, or (1-800-826-3257). Patrol cars go by but it’s not always enough to catch everyone. Helicopter patrol is too expensive and doesn’t allow pursuit in an open desert. A huge problem with illegal off-roading could be just a simple fact that they are not aware of all the rules. Arizona State Parks rules consist of small things like, stay on designated routes, do not make new trails, do not harass wildlife, and avoid creating dust. Even though these rules should be common sense, people disregard them. The law states, you should leave fences how you found them and don’t cut any fences because that’s what holds livestock in. People that cut fences are just a blatant disregard of state laws. You can find a full list of rules and regulations on Arizona’s Game and Fish Departments website. Illegal off-roading is quickly destroying the Arizona deserts. As more people ignore the law and driving off the designated trails, the more biome diversity we lose. Biodiversity is the degree of variation of life forms within a given biome. This measures the health of an ecosystem, meaning the greater biodiversity implies greater health. As more people off road illegally, they are unknowingly pushing animals towards extinction. Many of these people are driving on private lands and owners are outraged. They encourage everyone to report illegal activity in hopes of putting an end to illegal off-roading. The poor defenseless animals are living in agony waiting for someone to help them and protect them. Everyone is waiting and hoping for someone to put a stop to illegal off-roading. Please, help protect our environment and together we can put an end to illegal off-roading.
The western style 2013 Australian feature film Mystery Road centres around indigenous detective Jay Swan as he investigates the murder of indigenous teenager Julie Mason. Swan’s continued struggles to convince the rest of the local police – who all happen to be white males – to help him to solve the case lead him to find a drug ring. Sen represents the idea that indigenous people do not receive justice through the construction of Jay Swan and the unjust way the rest of the Indigenous community are treated by the white community and predominately white police force, encouraging my empathetic response. Sen also explores the police as corrupt and apathetic. In recent years, all over the world, but particularly in Australia in the 1980’s onwards,
The U.S. Department of Interior’s, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) was appointed to carry out the Act and given the task of managing the herds of wild horses and burros. Consequently, BLM’s management of wild horse herds has been highly criticized by animal rights activists, horse advocates, news media, as well as members of Congress. There have been numerous lawsuits filed against BLM regarding their management practices and their appalling wild horse round-ups. However, unimpeded BLM continues with the controversial issue of wild horse round-ups, resulting in the death and injury of many wild horses and burros. The vast majority of these round-ups occur in Nevada, where an estimated sixty percent of the remaining wild horse herds reside....
"California Roads and Highways." California @ AARoads. AARoads, 14 Jan. 2012. Web. 8 Mar. 2014.
As expressed in Southern Cotton Oil “one who authorizes and permits an instrumentality that is peculiarly dangerous in its operation to be used by another on the public highway is liable in damages for injuries to third persons caused by the negligent operation of such instrumentality on the highway by one so authorized by the...
‘Road Respect’ is an attempt to educate Massachusetts drivers on the dangers of aggressive driving and enforce its decline. The Governor’s Highway Safety Bureau (GHSB), the State Police and over 255 local police departments are participating in the ‘Road Respect’ campaign to make it a success.
Harvey Parnell once said that “[at] one time public roads in Arkansas were so bad that the wild geese, honking southward, would go around them.” In 1927, Parnell, as Lieutenant Governor, helped get the legislation for the Martineau Road Plan passed in the State Legislature. This legislation dealt with the improvement of the state highway system. Parnell also proposed the building of roads in the rural areas connecting outlying communities with the main state highway. Parnell, and Martineau before him, worked to make sure that the new highway system would not be paid for by personal property taxes but by the taxes on gasoline and vehicle licenses. This way the people paying for the new highway would be the people who actually use it. As ...
Dangers on roadways is an issue that describes the discrepancy between perception and reality of road rage. The media, for some odd reason, tends to make road rage a huge controversial issue. As seen on talk shows from Oprah Winfrey to CNN, they reveal to people that road rage could happen at any time and to always be looking over your shoulder. These talk shows and news programs also put fear into our minds by explaining that most roadragers often use guns to kill or injure their victims. Glassner contradicts the media's speculations by stating that out of approximately 250,000 people killed on roadways between 1990-1997, AAA attributed that one in one thousand was an act of road rage (pg.5).
The job of the game warden is very important. For instance, they have to protect the wildlife and serve as a specialty police officer. Unfortunately, there is a lot of land to cover for a game warden so they have to cover a lot of land. Also, wardens must enforce the laws involving our vast ecosystem as well. That could range from pollution laws all the way to disposal of trash. Typically, game wardens will spend their time patrolling assigned areas (“Summary” para.4). They will patrol these areas by many sources of transportation; boat, vehicle, foot, or even by airplane. This transportation is vital to a game warden because hunting and fishing laws can happen at any place. While most of the work is outdoors, the officers will have to file reports on accidents. In addition to giving tickets and warnings, game ...
White tailed deer are the largest game animal in North America. This is due to their over abundance and annoyance to farmers. An average of 300000 deer are hunted down each year. A tragedy has been another 3000 are hit by cars every year. Many human efforts have been made to prevent these accidents, such as fencing and deer repellents near freeways, but many seem to think that hunting and controlling the population is the best way.
Millions of people all over the United States choose motorcycles over automobiles for the thrill, speed, and high performance capabilities. On the other hand, motorcycles are not at all the safest way of transportation. Motorcycles do not provide the passenger with the outer protection that cars provide, therefore, when one crashes, the results are usually much more serious. Injuries to the head are responsible for 76% of fatalities when dealing with motorcycle crashes many of which could have been prevented had the rider been wearing a helmet. For this reason, many states have adopted the motorcycle helmet law. The law states that every passengers must wear a helmet at all times when riding on a motorcycle. This law has created a great deal of controversy. One side supports the law, believing that it protects motorcyclists from danger and saves the economy a great deal of money. The other side argues that the law is unconstitutional and it violates our right to freedom. However, statistics show overwhelming support in favor of the motorcycle helmet law. Although wearing helmets cannot prevent motorcycle crashes, they can greatly reduce the number of deaths caused by head injury as well as lowering taxes, insurance rates, and health care costs. Therefore, the helmet law should be put into effect in every state across the United States.
West Virginia is a land of natural beauty. Often described as “wild and wonderful,” the state’s fall foliage, scenic rivers, and abundant wildlife inspired the composition of a ballad. The song, “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” portrays West Virginia as “almost Heaven,” and the phrase is difficult to refute (Danoff, Denver, & Nivert, 1971). According to the West Virginia Department of Commerce (2009), the state ranks among the lowest in the nation for the cost of living, the employee turnover rate, average home prices, and instances of violent crime. Nestled among the rolling hills and winding rivers, one could certainly be convinced that West Virginia is simply a modern day Garden of Eden. However, the mountain state is not without its share of problems. Just as the deceitful serpent perpetuated Adam and Eve’s banishment from paradise, mountaintop removal poses a serious threat to the ecosystem and economy of West Virginia.
Mead, H. K. (2002, June 22). Office of the Inspector General. Retrieved Feb 12, 2014, from US Department of Transportation: http://www2.oig.dot.gov/sites/dot/files/pdfdocs/cc2002180.pdf
Years ago, killing animals for food was part of the average man’s everyday life. While, now a days, hunting is questioned by many across the world because it is commonly viewed as a recreational activity. Many residents have a problem with the dangers that come with hunting. Not to mention, as time goes on, society seems to feel differently about animals and how they should be treated. One of the biggest debates is the harvest of white tailed deer. All over the United States, white tailed deer thrive because of the few predators that feast upon them and the large forests and habitats that these deer can flourish in. However, as buildings and subdivisions pop up left and right decreasing the white tailed deer natural habitat, the debate grows stronger. The heart of the debate is centered around ethical issues, human and deer conflicts, safety, and the benefits hunting has on the economy.
“The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status, or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we all believe that we are above-average drivers” -Dave Barry, comedian. The number of accidents over the last ten years have drastically increased, drivers are paying less attention to the road itself. Many individuals behind the wheel of a car believe that their driving does not affect the road conditions, however it always will. The driving habits of today are catastrophic due to the reasoning that the driving will affect other lives through reckless or distracted driving, and disobeying traffic laws.
Chris's friend from work recommended the campsite so we decided to follow him since he had the directions. We traveled up interstate 84 east bound over the Newburgh Beacon Bridge and made our way to the State Taconic Parkway. Now, this is where Greg and I looked at each other in agreement that the trip was going to go only down hill from there, the parkway that we had gotten ourselves onto by following Chris was for passenger cars only. We both had commercial trucks. About fifteen minutes on the highway we passed a State Trooper, thank God he didn't budge from where he was sitting. Through that hour on the parkway we must have passed four Troopers, none of whom pulled us over. Finally, and I mean finally, we arrived two and a half hours later at our campsite.