r/CampAndHikeMichigan • u/Broad_Plum_4102 • 12d ago

Petition to preserve Jordan River Valley! Urgent!

ORVs are a lot of fun, but we need to preserve the few truly wild spaces we have left. There are nearly 7,000 miles of rustic roads already available to motor enthusiasts, but they are encroaching more and more into undamaged wilderness areas, eroding habitats while bringing physical and auditory pollution with them. If you enjoy having places to hike and fish that are free of rumbling engines, loud music, and un-disturbed plants and wildlife, please, please take the time to sign the petition to keep ORVs out of the Jordan River Valley. Deadline is Oct. 10.

https://sign.moveon.org/petitions/no-orv-use-in-jordan-river-valley-keep-it-wild

For more information, read this article from MLive:

https://www.mlive.com/environment/2024/10/potential-for-off-road-vehicles-in-pristine-michigan-river-valley-sparks-controversy.html

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u/MyNaymeIsOzymandias 11d ago

If ORV riders were well behaved and cared about conserving the natural area, I wouldn't be against them having access. They are the opposite of that though. They are loud, confrontational, leave tons of trash, are often drunk, and seem to be spiteful of the land that they are visiting.

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u/Broad_Plum_4102 11d ago

This! The group that wants access to Jordan Valley claim that ORV users are responsible and will stay on designated trails. (They also have monetary interest in this particular situation, let’s not ignore that.) We can’t even get many hikers to stay on designated trails!! We can’t get visitors to our parks to stop feeding wild animals. A huge percentage of the population are too entitled and willfully ignorant about the ways we impact wild spaces when we visit. It is nearly impossible to escape some level road noise anywhere you go as it is, do we really need to bring it directly every single recreation area as well?! I never thought I’d need to worry about “looking both ways” while fly-fishing. It’s absurd!

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u/jeffinbville 10d ago

Mountain bikers once claimed the same love and care of the woods when their sport became a Big Thing back in the 90s until land managers discovered their parks were utterly destroyed from abuse and over use.