Back in the early 1980s, when I had my summers off, I'd go riding all summer. There were lots of places to ride. I couldn't cover all the area in a day. Fast forward to today. I can go riding now, and cover just about every trail from Westernport to Frostburg in a day. At first I couldn't put my finger on it. I thought, hey, I must be getting pretty fast. But just yesterday I figured it out. The riding area is shrinking.

Way back in the day coal companies owned most of the land around here. There wasn't a lot of activity on the land owned by the coal industry. It was prime land for riding. Sure, you weren't "supposed" to ride on it, but most of it wasn't marked and to be honest, most coal companies didn't mind the occasional biker riding on their land. Lawyers and liability laws have since changed that. While the owners themselves may not mind, these liabilities convince them otherwise.

As the coal is stripped from the land, the land is reclaimed and then sold off. Recently, several large plots of land have been sold by various coal companies to private individuals. These plots of land were some of the better riding areas in this area. The private owners of these lands have made it known that they do not welcome the occasional trespass by off-roaders. I have personally spoken with a few and pleaded my case to no avail. I will grudgingly respect the wishes of the new private owners. This may seem a bit callous on my part. After all, I do respect the right to own property, but I don't have to like the property owner. Especially when it's land that the owner is only going to use for hunting on occasionally. However, that's another issue and it is not my land. So I'll stay off.

With the shrinking acreage owned by the coal industry, and increasing private ownership, another land grabber is entering the scene. The state has seen fit to start grabbing land. Of course it only has "our" best interest in mind. The recent "rails to trails" land grab in frostburg has decimated some of the best riding areas. The trail area grabbed by the state was already a perfectly ridable area. It was already being enjoyed by bicyclists, motorcyclists, horse back riders and hikers. It was the perfect example of what "public" land should have been. Now it will be turned into a politically correct, perfectly smooth and policed by big brother drain on the tax payers of Allegany County.

Finally, we come to the "public" land already owned by the state. The vast amounts of "public" land in Garrett County appear to be going largely unused. There are a handful of token ORV trails available for use by approved ORVers. However, these trails are actually nothing more than roads that can be accessed by just about any car on the road today. In other words, they suck. I can already ride my dual sport on every "public" road in the US. I want single-track. I road through several of the parks yesterday and didn't see a soul. I saw one couple, driving around in their car, obviously stoned. (not that there's anything wrong with that.. but that's another rant.) All the so call ORV trails had the yellow gate closed, as they ALWAYS do when I ride by. (Are they EVER open?) I was tempted to ride past them, but refrained. It was rainy out, about 50 digress or so. Nobody was out. What harm would have been done if I'd have ridden on the land. It's public land.. isn't it?

I had a lively conversation with a down state tree hugger one day on one of these ORV trails. I was unable to start my Husky (formerly Barbers Husky.. :) ) after popping out onto an approved ORV trail (road) from an unapproved, but well worn and uneroded trail. Well in my condition I wasn't going any where since the Husky refused to crank. The eco hugger confronted me about my choice of riding area. The eco hugger was walking on the road by the way and had not ventured into the unimproved areas of the woods. A true eco weenie, wanting to save the woods, yet never venturing into the woods to see how the woods work. After she voiced her abhorrence for motorized vehicles, and her complete lack of understanding regarding erosion and a few other basic concepts the husky finally started and my accomplice and I left the scene.

Shouldn't the land use of the local state lands be dictated by the local inhabitants of the area? I have met very few local inhabitants that would have a problem with some single track trails being opened in the local state parks. In fact most local area people would welcome a place to ride.

I suppose it's pointless for me to rant about it. The people in the urban areas have ruined their natural resources, and now they want to keep us from enjoying ours. Policy for this area will not change. "Public" land will continue to be a mythical notion and most ORVers will continue to be outlaws. Just learn to ride fast, and stop for no one.