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Paul Brewster, Forest Supervisor May 3, 2002 Dear Mr. Brewster: I am the Green Mountain Club shelter adopter for the Peru Peak Shelter on the Long Trail. On Sunday, April 21, I hiked up the Old Job Trail from FR 30 for my first inspection trip of this season. I discovered that a four-wheel-drive truck had been driven all the way from FR 30 to Griffith Lake, apparently the day before. The truck had churned deep ruts in the mud on much of the trail. Two days ago I went in to Griffith Lake again, this time to repair the outhouse door at the Griffith Lake tent site. On that trip I hiked north to the lake from Porky Point, and found that the truck had traversed the entire trail from FR 30 to Porky Point (or in the other direction). I have since learned that Jocelyn Linnekin, a Green Mountain Club trail adopter, was camped at Peru Peak Shelter on the night of April 20, and she heard the truck go past that night. The Green Mountain Club urges hikers to stay off trails when they are soft, to avoid promoting erosion. I think this is a worthwhile goal, but it seems laughable to worry about hikers' feet when motor vehicles continue to run roughshod over the Green Mountain National Forest. I almost never go into the forest without seeing motorized vehicles or their fresh tracks where they do not belong. Every time I have skied to Griffith Lake and Bourn Pond, they have been completely covered with snowmobile tracks, and as far as I know, the ponds are not part of designated snowmobile routes. I have seen ATV tracks on the Long Trail and the Old Job Trail in summer and snowmobile tracks on the Long Trail in winter. I have seen the scratches of snowmobile tracks on the rocks on the Long Trail in Glastenbury, far from the mountain summit. I have seen four-wheel-drive trucks and their ruts on the shore of Wallingford Pond. I could go on. Illicit motorized incursion is not occasional; it is continuous. I have reported the April 20 incursion to Joan McCloud at the Manchester District office, but I wanted to tell you about it, to urge you to budget more resources for enforcement of rules governing motorized use of the Forest. I also urge you to keep in place the Forest Supervisor's order limiting motorized vehicles to designated routes. It amazes me that motorized recreationists have the nerve to push for greater ìaccessî to the Forest when they so continually ignore regulations. Until their activity is controlled, their scope of action should be curtailed, not expanded. Thank you for your attention. Yours truly,
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