Yukoners' love for their back country has become destructive due to the misuse of ATVs.

That was the general sentiment at a public meeting organized by the Trails Only Yukon Association (TOYA) Thursday night.

"Most Yukoners agree that some places are best left unharmed by ATV trails,” said Ken Taylor, a member of the TOYA steering committee and a self-proclaimed ATV enthusiast.

"The challenge is coming to an agreement about which places those are and how to provide appropriate protection.”

TOYA is a coalition of Yukoners who are concerned about the effects of ATVs on the territory's wilderness and wildlife.

The more than 100 TOYA members are calling for legislation that imposes elevation limitations, a designated trail system for ATVs and appropriate enforcement and education.

Approximately 200 people filled the room Thursday night at Jack Hulland Elementary School, and both sides of the debate were represented.

In addition to Taylor, Vern Peters, Dennis Peters and Tony Grabowski of the TOYA steering committee were present to provide information on their goals, concerns and solutions.

During his opening remarks, Taylor projected a photo of a pristine Yukon landscape onto a screen.

"I guess the question you have to ask yourself is: would you prefer a beautiful, pristine landscape like that? Or would you prefer a rutted trail?”

Taylor changed the display photo to a grassy ridge embedded with ATV tracks.

"We have to protect the future interest, both economic and personal, of our Yukon people, and in order to do that, we have think seriously about what we are doing to this territory.”

Most of the comments from the audience reflected TOYA's anxieties.

Jodi Giesbrecht has been living in the Yukon for more than 20 years. Recently, she has noticed the trails expanding, huge muddy bogs caused by ATV use, and she says she doesn't see sheep where she used to see them.

"I would like to see the animals undisturbed and the wetlands preserved the way that I remember it,” she said.

Murray Martin, a former Ontario conservation officer, approached the microphone and pointed to the photo Taylor had displayed on the screen.

"That photo tells a whole story. That now is a waterway that is draining the vegetation,” said the Star's Friday outdoors columnist.

"That tells a story and that tells more words that I could possibly say.”

Wolf Riedl said that when he went to Haines Junction in 1977, he wound up in an outdoorsman's paradise.

"In 33 years, I've seen it become one of the most restricted areas of the Yukon,” he said.

"As much as we are Yukoners and we don't like to be regulated, I think it's that time, the evidence is out there and we have to start asking ourselves, ‘What if we don't do anything?'”

Bob Downey, a certified ATV trainer with the Main Street Driving School said, "If you see an ATV on a road or on a trail, and they do not have a licence plate on, they are breaking the law. They must be licensed and insured.”

He went on to blame unregistered ATV users for the damage to the back country.

"It's your fault and it's their parents' faults because they just give them the keys to the ATV and then say, ‘Here, get out of my hair and go.'”

In an information packet distributed to everyone in attendance, TOYA cited a report titled Off-road Vehicle Use and Issues by long time Yukoner Dave Loeks. The Yukon Fish and Wildlife Management Board commissioned the report in 1996.

Loeks made five suggestions in the report, but the government chose to do nothing, an option that Loeks considers short-sighted and irresponsible.

"I've got to say, 14 years have come and gone and things haven't gotten any better,” Loeks told the meeting.

While conducting research for the report, he consulted with a number of jurisdictions about their ATV legislation. Most said they wished they had regulated the machines earlier.

"It takes 10 minutes to tear the living daylights out of something and you can throw money at it until you're blue in the face,” and it won't repair the damage, he said.

But not everyone in attendance was on the side of legislation

Some audience members raised the issue that it is impossible as human beings not to leave an impact on our environment.

Others were concerned about acquiring all the information that is needed for the legislation.

Who would survey all the trails around the Yukon to determine whether they should be allocated for hikers, motorists or both? A number of attendees asked who would make sure ATV users stay on designated trails.

TOYA members said they are not legislators and could only make suggestions on how to deal with those problems.

Brian Edelman, owner of Lister's Motor Sports in Whitehorse, said legislation is unnecessary. Most ATV users are responsible, and more legislation would only discourage economic growth in the territory, he said.

"We've barely grown, and one of my reasons for thinking we haven't is way too much legislation. We as Yukoners have to open our doors a little bit,” he said.

"More legislation, in my view, will have the mining companies say, ‘I don't think we'll come to the Yukon; we'll go to the Northwest Territories or Alberta.' We've got to be very careful.”

Edelman added: "You can't legislate stupidity. These people going out and doing things like that are never going to stop.”

Circulating during the meeting was a petition to be tabled in the legislature. It expresses the concerns of TOYA members and asks for the necessary legislation, policy and programs as recommended by TOYA, consisting of designated trails, ATV legislation and effective enforcement and education.

Taylor said he does not yet know how many signatures they received, but more information is to come.

An all-party committee of the legislature has been created to explore the issue of ATV legislation, but has yet to begin public consultations.