Southwest ATV Restrictions Delayed

Restrictions on hunters' use of motor vehicles will not be expanded in the Southwest Region in 2006 hunting seasons. The Idaho Fish and Game Commission put off for a year a regional staff proposal to apply existing motor vehicle rules to additional game management units in the Southwest Region. The motor vehicle rules apply only to hunters, not other types of users. The Commission met in Boise March 1-3, primarily to set 2006 big game hunting rules and seasons. The commissioners, at the suggestion of Southwest Region Commissioner John Watts, decided to let him try to work out a solution among the Department of Fish and Game, federal land management agencies, and hunters-both hunters who ride all-terrain-vehicles and those who want to restrict their use. Restrictions already apply to Units 32 and 32A in the Southwest Region. Proposed restrictions would have applied to Units 22, 31, 39 and 40. Watts and Clearwater Region Commissioner Alex Irby will work on pilot projects in those two regions to resolve conflicts between hunters and ATV users. If successful, the solutions may be applied statewide. But if they cannot resolve the issue within a year, the Commission will take up the proposal to apply Fish and Game's motor vehicle rule to additional units in the Southwest Region. The rule governing all motor vehicle use in hunting, including ATVs, has not changed for several years. Motor vehicles may be used as an aid in hunting only on established roads capable of travel by and open to full sized vehicles. The rule is applied in selected units throughout the state. But complaints from hunters led the Southwest Region officials to look at applying the rule to additional game management units.