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Stunz
11-21-2001, 09:17 AM
Ban on bikers proposed for hiking trails
By Associated Press, 11/21/2001 08:04
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) Bikers and hikers are at odds over a proposed ban on motorcycling on hiking trails.

The state Department of Environmental Management is proposing to ban motorcycles in most of the 14,000 acres of state woodlands along the Connecticut border. The department would also limit races to using just 19 miles of gravel roads in the management area.

The new rules were proposed in response to hikers and others who complained motorcycles are tearing up trails.

''Like DDT and leaded gas, the practice of permitting motorized vehicles on a hiking trail is outdated,'' said Michael McLoughlin at a Warwick hearing Tuesday. McLoughlin and his wife, Nuala, starting lobbying for changes last summer after they said they saw trail damage.

Motorcycle riders argued that restricting their annual events could put the 50-year-old Rhody Rovers Motorcycle Club out of business.

''It's unfair that our club is taking the heat on this situation when you can go out to Arcadia on any given day and there are renegades -- anybody -- your sons. But it's not our club,'' said Paul Lussier, of West Greenwich. ''There are too many motorcycles out there when we're not around. We're not causing the damage that's being seen out there.''

Rich Seymour, 37, of Exeter, said he has been hiking, hunting, fishing and riding motorcycles in the Arcadia Management Area all his life, and he opposes the state's restrictions.

''Why can't our state manage the forests, which were put in place as management areas, not preservation areas?'' Seymour said. ''We're not asking for any other group to be eliminated. We just want to have our events, too.''

DEM officials will review all the comments before deciding whether to go ahead with the rules changes.