I don’t know how we’re going to do it, but we have to try something.
I’ve been hunting in the alpine areas of the Yukon for about 15 years now and the damage being done by unrestricted access of off-road vehicles is deeply saddening.
Tracks through wetter areas won’t heal in my lifetime, I’m afraid, and it is a shame that those who come after me won’t see the land in the same condition I’ve gotten to experience it in. In areas where ATVs have damaged the thin layer of vegetation that insulates the permafrost, whole hillsides have started to slump and ooze. The damage in some areas is mind blowing.
I’m not against ATVs, mind you; I’ve used them to get into some beautiful spots that were just not practical to travel to by foot. But there are already so many existing trails from mining and hunting that there just isn’t a great need to go off them. Not to justify the damage being done, in my opinion. I used to own an Argo when I lived and hunted near Faro and I always found it most productive to use the machine to get to base camp and hunt on foot from there.
I think the time has come to give the land a break, by enforcing rules that protect it from unrestricted ATV use.
No, I was mistaken à those rules are 10 years overdue. I’ve heard we are one of the last jurisdictions in Canada with no rules protecting the land, which is crazy when there are so many people up here who love it so much.
Mike Prawdzik
Whitehorse