For the week of March 26 - April 1, 2003

Visualize peas and quiet

Guest opinion by Dave Harrison

Dave Harrison and his wife are past publishers and owners of Canoe and Paddle. They are now residents of Hailey.

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I smile when I see those "whirled peas" bumper stickers and suspect the author is teasing us about making much of a dent in the global scheme of things, but here’s a problem right in our back yard: the Wood River Valley is being turned into a noise park.

On any weekend, in any season, an axis of evil unleashes its assault on our most basic resource. Tranquility is the target; the enemy’s ordnance is noise; the delivery system, battalions of ATVs, jet skis, and snowmobiles. If you are a hiker, trail runner or horse trail rider, birdwatcher, paddler, or cross-country skier; think about it, don’t you plan your itinerary to avoid the war zones created by this invasion.

They invade our "commons," which includes the air we, breathe, the sky above us, our water; in general, the resources or natural endowments that belong to all of us. This is the basis for night sky ordinances, noise limits and a host of protective regulations, which have come into being in recent years. Thirty years ago we bathed in the smoke of a million butts, on planes, in restaurants, and other common areas, but today we’ve been given back at least a portion of our rightful air.

And what about those machines? Don’t they have their rights? Certainly, as vehicles used in commerce, safety, evacuation, utility, land management, or transportation, they can serve a function: an ATV to service far flung farming assets, snowmobiles used in safety and rescue, or access to otherwise snowbound private property.

On the other hand, vehicles which have no destination, but are driven primarily for thrills, speed, or the auditory stimulation, have no place in the natural outdoors. High marking snow machines in mountain goat habitat, or jet skis doing "doughnuts" on our tiny alpine lakes are not transportation. These contraptions also tend to travel in groups, multiplying their impacts, be it noise or habitat destruction.

They also permit access to remote places where activities which would be prohibited elsewhere are enabled far from the eyes of the keepers of the peace.

In the late summer of 2001, my wife and I, on horseback, were emerging from the trailhead at Vienna. We were greeted by the drone of six ATVs. As we moved through, a few of them dismounted to study (ironically) the "Leave no trace..." signs. Three of the riders were wearing pistols, four carried lighted cigarettes, and three were drinking beer. This was the weekend of the Atlanta fires, and to the North we could see the mushroom cloud from the Yankee Fork fire. Not an ideal venue for guns, burning cigarettes, and unregulated internal combustion engines. Nature lovers, in search of peaceful enjoyment of our wild spaces? Not likely.

Recently, we attended the annual meeting of the Nordic & Backcountry Skier’s Alliance, attended by over 100 persons. Deserved credit was given to the coalition responsible for the Snow Pact that partitioned the valley between snowmobiles and skiers, but the written comments submitted by over half of the attendees elicited an overwhelming response: no snowmobiles in the valley.

There appears to be an acceptance of the inevitability of an occupying army of noise toys, but if the community at large wishes to prevent the fouling of our commons, it can do so.

The public lands belong to all of us, but unfortunately, "shared use" does not work when the self-propelled outdoor person must compete with the motorized recreationalist, since the very presence of their machines preempts the quiet enjoyment of an area by others. No skier ever ruined a snowmobiler’s day, nor a bird watcher’s, an ATVer’s. The converse is not true,

The solution: a poll or referendum of the county’s residents. I believe that a majority would agree that this valley’s environment and its tourist attraction would be greatly enhanced by severe restrictions, even an outright ban on noise toys. If that is correct, the county needs to pass the appropriate ordinances. Despite the many enthusiasts, these machines don’t belong in our uniquely beautiful and tranquil valley.

 

The Idaho Mountain Express is distributed free to residents and guests throughout the Sun Valley, Idaho resort area community. Subscribers to the Idaho Mountain Express will read these stories and others in this week's issue.