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In Saybrook, Best ATV Defense is ATVs

OLD SAYBROOK - Attacking the problem of all-terrain vehicle (ATV) intrusions of public land using ATVs may seem counter-intuitive, but it's worked for the town's enforcers.

Several years ago, the town's public land stewards-the Conservation Commission, the Parks & Recreation Commission, and the Old Saybrook Land Trust (OSLT)-noticed a troubling new pattern: increased use of ATVs on town-owned land, public open space, and on OSLT-owned lands. Town ordinance provisions bar motorized vehicles from the trails, paths, and dirt roads of public lands, but the rules didn't stop the intruders.

"There was a lot of the abuse of the trail systems," said Barbara Guenther of the OSLT's land stewardship committee. "Just by using an ATV on a walking trail, it erodes out the surface and presents a liability situation for walkers."

The two commissions and the land trust already met twice a year to discuss common land stewardship issue and pool their efforts. It was in one of these meetings where the issue of ATV-abuse arose and the idea of working to step up enforcement of the rule was suggested.

"We're out there to protect and preserve the standard of our trail system. We all work together," said Guenther. "Police Chief Michael Spera [then deputy chief] was very much behind the initiative to pursue enforcement once he was alerted to the problem."

But chasing and catching the violators on foot was a tough task. A new tool was needed. So the town's Conservation Commission agreed to buy two ATVs for the town's police department that officers could use to pursue intruders more effectively.

"It was a collaborative effort," said Chief Spera. "The Conservation Commission purchased the two ATVs for the police department. The police union bought the helmets, riding boots, and other equipment to ride the ATVs safely. The town paid to train the officers."

In that first summer, the police department set up a patrol schedule for the Old Saybrook trail system. To most ATV-driving violators the department caught, the officers issued warnings to deter the behavior.

"We will take enforcement action, but our goal was to have voluntary compliance," said Spera.

The first season of patrols proved successful and trail abuse by ATVs now has been mostly eliminated. To make sure the problem doesn't recur, the police department still conducts periodic patrols of the public trail system.

Perhaps unexpectedly, the town's ATVs also proved invaluable in other public safety situations. In the Chalker Beach area after storm Irene, the police department used the ATVs to patrol the beach and prevent looting of storm-surge damaged homes. A department ATV also was used to find and rescue a hiker who became lost in the woods as darkness fell.

A solution designed to protect public lands from vandals, the purchase of two ATVs has also proven to be a solution that has protected public safety.