A new project added this week to ABRA’s Conservation Hub highlights the growing threat off-road-vehicles (ORVs) pose to the environmental integrity of public lands. Sponsored by the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, the project includes an interactive online map to help educate the public and legislators regarding the impacts on West Virginia’s public lands. The project’s web page points out that

“there are universal effects and severe environmental impacts on many fronts” if ORVs are permitted to operate on public lands, citing a comprehensive study on the issue conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The USGS study discusses the negative impacts that often result from ORVs being permitted to be used on public lands, including effects on soils, vegetation, wildlife habitats and water quality.

Example of damage caused by illegal ORV use on National Forest lands.

Concerns over the environmental damage that can result from ORVs being operated on certain lands is not limited to West Virginia. On January 19, the Virginia Mercury ran a major story on the environmental damage that ORVs are causing to a system of trails in Southwestern Virginia. The article reported on the three-year fight that a local citizens group, the Clinch Coalition, has had with the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality over erosion and sediment control problems caused by ORVs to the trail system.

Off-road vehicles pose threat to public lands

ABRA CONSERVATION HUB

ABRA’s Conservation Hub program promotes responsible resource management by providing access to critical information needed for effective public involvement in environmental review and oversight.

Following the defeat of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline in 2020, ABRA initiated the Conservation Hub to support informed public engagement with the broader range of environmental issues confronting the Allegheny-Blue Ridge Mountain region. The Conservation Hub builds on the analysis and information sharing capacity achieved through ABRA’s Pipeline CSI project during the years of ACP opposition.

The Conservation Hub is based on the use of GIS mapping to provide details and context for land development projects and management practices that involve risk of environmental harm, as well as for environmental preservation and restoration initiatives. The Conservation Hub also provides access to regulatory documents and assessments related to specific projects or issues.

Multiple Conservation Hub sites, focused on individual projects or issues, have been developed collaboratively with ABRA’s partners and allies. Going forward, we invite conservation groups, individuals, and communities to provide ideas for new Hub sites and GIS mapping that can contribute to informed public engagement on behalf of environmental integrity in the Allegheny-Blue Ridge region.