He amassed a scrapbook of outrages: marshy grasslands pocked by ruts and mud pools; a crushed turtle. Those responsible? He flips to a photo of an all-terrain vehicle churning its way up a streambed. Another shows a group of muddy riders who, Whiteford said, had rumbled past 17 no-trespassing signs.
"These people don't understand nature," Whiteford fumed. "They have no respect for other people's property."
Nationwide, municipalities, parks and environmental groups are wrestling with ways to manage an onslaught of ATVs onto public lands, creating what the Wilderness Society calls "trails of destruction." The vehicles have been blamed for damaging beach grass on Cape Cod, cypress woodlands in Florida, prairie grasslands in Montana, and tundra in Alaska.
In the Philadelphia region, with open land being built upon at unprecedented rates, any remaining space is a magnet for a growing number of ATVs, officials say.
Police say the problem gets worse in the summer, when days are long and school is out. In some areas, officers have taken to riding ATVs themselves to identify and apprehend trespassers.
"They just go and hope they don't get caught," Eric Osner, who sells ATVs at his shop in Upper Darby, said of some riders. "I've had spots where I used to ride, and now there are houses there."
Private property is but a small part of the larger concern - ATVs have torn up the Pine Barrens, scared endangered piping plovers away from beach nesting areas, and eroded public parks, critics say - but the issue most inflames the emotions of those personally involved.
Property owners and people like Whiteford, who are also concerned about environmental damage, are becoming increasingly aggressive in trying to track down, challenge and stop the onslaught.
Neither laws nor fences nor berms can keep riders out, critics say. As for little no-trespassing signs, forget it.
