Rental ATV Boom in North Country

[peakbagger]

Yes, the homes were there long before it turned into an ATV route. At one time it was the Boston and Maine dead end railroad spur to Berlin from Whitefield. My guess is that most of the affected homes were built during a 15 year period when the tracks were officially abandoned (they were rarely used long before). It took several years for the rails to be removed and more importantly a section of the railroad trestle was removed over the SLR railroad tracks to provide additional clearance. Approximately 10 years ago, the state purchased Jericho Lake State Park with intent of developing an ATV tourism base and at about the same time the connection to Berlin via the former B&M right of way was reestablished by building a raised bridge over the SLR track to reconnect the trestle. The pulp mill had closed, the papermill was on its last legs and state and local leaders were desperate to bring some sort of new business to Northern NH. Various small business's from Pittsburg to Berlin Gorham recognized a possible expansion of their traditional snowmachine business to ATVs. The communities and the state have been making up a lot of rules as the business grows exponentially. Initially it was privately owned ATVs but the rentals have come on strong given low interest rates and high public interest.

 

[maineguy]

Thanks for the info. I can see where the residents would be a little upset with the circumstances.

 

[Mike P.]

Snowmobilers. ATV riders, Off-ride bicyclist, off road motorcyclist, to some extent, the majority of them ride correctly, responsibly and where they are supposed to. Much like those who leave the bars at closing time, most of the drunks do make it home. (Disclaimer, typical bar hopping 18–23-year-old. Several times that should not have happened.)

It only takes a few to give their activity a bad reputation. How few? I suppose just one if they are really bad, however, I'm confident there is more than one.

Who drives what in the economy and what tourist drawing venture is better? That depends on what the people in a community want their community to be. How many people are employed locally with ATV rentals? Is it mostly an employer who also rents snowmobiles in the winter? That seems like a lot of money locked up in inventory. Do some of the ATV riders break local traffic laws and ride them on the streets? (Even here they do.) For every hunter who enjoys driving their deer, moose, bear, out of the woods instead of dragging, how many go in with several beers per operator?

In reading the F&G webpage, they seem to have several accidents on snowmobiles every weekend, many appear to be riders on rentals. Do the rental companies have a part of their fee go to F&G or some type of annual fee that goes to licensing their operation and where part of that fee goes to F&G?

The number of employees at a casino would be much greater, however, much like the Saddleback argument, they may not come if you build it. IMO, it's a poor plan if you are hoping they drive by five other places just like it that are closer to their homes.

Up close, the ATV's leave some impact, rutted out trails and while operating noise. There is a finite number of machines that can operate in a fun & (reasonable speed) safe environment without traffic jams or having the speed in congested areas. Much like bad hikers leave disposable water bottles and wrappers on trails, bad riders leave trash. When I'm driving by an area of trees at 40 MPH, unless they are riding along the road, all I see are trees.

As far as drugs and sex going on at these places, If, in winter you can go over frozen lakes where ice fishing happens and you can visit ice shanties.... (BTW, the OH Mayor resigned after making those comments)

 

[dug]

Do the rental companies have a part of their fee go to F&G or some type of annual fee that goes to licensing their operation and where part of that fee goes to F&G?

Hmmm....that's an interesting point. Not sure how it were possible (if not being done already), but that's a provocative idea! "A portion of your rental fee goes to the NH F&G for saving your butt"

 

[JoshandBaron]

Hmmm....that's an interesting point. Not sure how it were possible (if not being done already), but that's a provocative idea! "A portion of your rental fee goes to the NH F&G for saving your butt"

Those sleds/ATVs all have to be registered. A portion of that goes to F&G.

 

[dug]

Those sleds/ATVs all have to be registered. A portion of that goes to F&G.

I understand that, and maybe it's a double-whammy them. With the registered vehicles, the owner pays that fee. Having a fee charged to the renters would be similar (I guess?) as to your hike safe/parking fees?

 

[Andrew]

For operating guide businesses on state owned trails and/or land under management of the NH DNCR (Parks/Trails/F&L), they are supposed to get a Special Use/Guide Permit if they are. It is a relatively newer program built on the special use requirements for commercial use of state lands, that began somewhat with requiring it for hunting and fishing guide services. I worked with a number of outfits to draft the wording for some local interests, and it actually went rather smooth; as the rules had been developed with cooperation between the state and the groups. One of the requirements being with an annual or bi-annual permit is that you had to provide profit and loss reporting, which would be assessed and billed eventually out of the Concord office in some cases. I don't know if this is considered to the benefit of F&G, although I do believe there are already more over-reaching annual appropriations from DNCR to F&G to which it might be included. I always heard from the Parks Director that the F&G guys were constantly hot on their money.

It is a bit tough and unpredictable driving and mixing with the heavy ATV traffic on Gorham's main street, with the traffic out of the rental outfits often requiring added care. When you get a group of widely mixed age that is unfamiliar with the operation of the machines, herd mentality can trigger unsafe operating decisions and confusion by the younger riders. I often saw this played out unfortunately in front of me while traveling on the roads in my vehicle. Hopefully most of the expected increase in ATV rental traffic will occur out of the new lot as it keeps it limited on Main Street. There is already the Eastern Depot there (still open?), but it seems like a good spot for the ATV mall to develop.

 

[skiguy]

Thanks for the info. I can see where the residents would be a little upset with the circumstances.

Even if there is a payoff to the affected residents, they still live there and the ATV's are not going away. Short of building a sound barrier with the money what other choice do they have other than to sell and move away.

 

[NHClimber]

We could solve all these problems if we lived in the Matrix. Wait, maybe we do! Perhaps this is where we will end up when the metaverse expands -- we can all sit at home and not need to physically cohabitate.