Kate - Grants Pass, Or

June 4, 2010

Dear United States Forest Service and Working Group Members,

My name is Kate Bretl. My husband and I typically attend the working group meetings in support of OHV riders but are unable to participate in person at the June 5th meeting.

My husband and I are avid ATV enthusiasts and spend the majority of our free time riding in the Oregon Dunes. We recently moved from north of Seattle to Grants Pass and are thrilled to be closer to our favorite recreation area. In fact, we gave up two very good jobs in Seattle specifically so we could move to Oregon to be closer to the dunes. During the years we lived in the Seattle area, we visited the Oregon Dunes AT LEAST twice a month. We frequently saw vehicles with Oregon ATV permits during our commutes to and from work in the Seattle area. While at the Oregon Dunes we frequently met other OHV riders from the Seattle area and beyond.

We have spent and will continue to spend a significant portion of our allotted budget for “fun” on ATV’s, ATV parts, camping equipment, riding necessities, food, and gas in Florence, Winchester Bay, Reedsport, North Bend, Coos Bay as well as the towns we travel through along the way. We come from small businesses and realize the importance of supporting local business. We are more than happy to spend our money to support businesses in the towns mentioned above. We have invited non-OHV friends to spend time in the dunes with us. In a handful of times, they enjoyed riding the dunes so much they bought ATVs of their own.

My husband and I have multiple ATV’s. We even bought a child ATV prior to conceiving our baby who is due in December because of our passion for this sport. Through ATVing, we have met amazing friends and families from Oregon, neighboring states, across the United States and Canada. We love seeing families out enjoying the dunes, teaching their little ones how to ride and to respect the dunes.

We participate in annual organized dune clean-up efforts and often clean up garbage we come across during our rides. Of course there are individuals who are not responsible from a riding perspective and an environmental perspective but this is true for ANY group of people. No matter what the group or interest there are always irresponsible members. We witness and clean up an astounding amount of garbage in non-OHV campgrounds in Oregon, Washington or wherever our travels may take us.

The Oregon Dunes are extremely unique and precious. They are dying due to the impact beach grass and the other vegetation that has been allowed to grow. Research supports that ATV use helps keep the spread of some of this vegetation at bay to a certain degree, significantly more than in non-OHV areas of the dunes. The dunes are blowing away will be gone soon if measures are not taken to severely reduce the amount of beach grass. The beach grass prevents sand from the ocean as it traps it and does not allow sand to blow in and replenish the dunes. ATV use also helps protect Snowy Plover habitats.

The OHV community was given a certain area to enjoy the sport we love. This area continually reduces in size due to legislation and vegetation. With the popularity of the sport steadily growing, there are more and more riders on the dunes. How can you expect safety to prevail when our available riding area gets smaller and smaller? The majority of the dunes are closed to OHV use. Other users of the dunes have the lion’s share of this precious resource to enjoy yet continually encroach and limit the area set aside for OHV use. This isn’t right. There is no valid reason for our community to be punished and discriminated against.


Kate Bretl, Grants Pass, Oregon