The Free Press environmental reporter’s blog last week noted with some surprise that the Douglas administration, which usually bombards her with press releases, had almost slipped by a proposed rule change to allow ATVs on state land. The reporter notes that the rule had been filed two weeks prior and she only heard about it from a skeptic. “I do find it curious, in light of the divisiveness of the issue, that the Agency of Natural Resources wrote the rule after meeting only with the folks in favor, the All-Terrain Vehicle Sportsman’s Association.
The paperwork with the proposed rule outlines the potential economic benefits without discussing the environmental risks (beyond possible increased greenhouse gas emissions).”one skeptic is quoted as saying in the blog.
Today’s paper has a long article telling both sides of the issue.
The proposal criteria would allow Natural Resources Secretary Jonathan Wood for the first time, to designate ATV trails on state land. However it mentions nothing of the way the ANR handled the rule change proposal and glides effortlessly into a fair and excruciatingly balanced telling of both sides……
of the impassioned debate across a deep cultural divide.
On one side stand those who love the internal combustion engine and want to enjoy Vermont’s countryside from the back of a machine. Nearly 16,000 ATVs were registered in the state last year.
On the other side are those for whom motorized off-road travel spells trespassing, environmental damage and interrupted peace.
Kind of surprised that the soft opening the Douglas administration’s ANR gave this initiative isn’t a major a part of the story. The views of each of the two groups that have a dog in this fight and the fact that the ANR quietly tried to slide this proposal out is news that should make it into the papers. Doesn’t it promote a false sense that this is being weighed fairly by the state if the facts mentioned in the blog are left out of the article? If something is true and relevant in the reporter’s blog why not true and relevant for the same reporter’s article?