Riding Roughshod

UTV rentals are destroying the peace and quiet of East Broadway, Curtis Canyon, and Flat Creek Canyon. UTVs (commonly known as “side by sides”) are the noisy off-road vehicles with rollbars that have infested our valley. Renting these vehicles is becoming a popular way for tourists to “do” Jackson Hole. Our quiet, wild places are being subject to crass commercial destruction by these machines. If there are limits on the number of dispersed camping sites on the Forest to protect the resource, there should also be limits on the number of UTVs that can roar through these campsites. If there are limits on noisy helicopter tours flying over Jackson Hole, there should also be limits on noisy UTVs racing down our Forest roads. If there are decibel limits on snow machines in Yellowstone, there should also be decibel limits on UTVs in the Gros Ventres. If air traffic in Jackson Hole is required to take noise mitigation measures, UTV rental companies should also be required to mitigate their impact. There is currently no limiting factor on this invasive industry. Will our town, Elk Refuge, and Bridger-Teton Forest roads eventually be bumper to bumper with UTVs all summer? Will we take action to stop this destructive loophole in our regulations, and step up to honor our duty to protect Jackson Hole’s neighborhoods and wild places, or will we continue to let UTV rentals ride roughshod over us?

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