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North Country Towns Will Vote On Banning ATVs on Local Roads

Todd Bookman / NHPR

Three towns in New Hampshire's Great North Woods could signal disapproval for ATVs on local roads at their town meetings Tuesday.

Pittsburg, Colebrook and Stewartstown have non-binding resolutions on their warrants that would suggest banning ATVs from municipal roads.

Beth Bissonnette works for the town of Pittsburg. She says selectmen would have the final say on any changes regardless of Tuesday's vote.

She says she's concerned keeping ATVs off local roads – limiting them to trails – would be bad for her town.

"I think that it would be detrimental to the economy, not just in Pittsburg but in the North Country in general,” she says.

Other residents argue the seasonal influx of ATVs brings noise, dust and dangerous behaviors to their towns.

One Facebook user, Aaron Cobb Hutchinson, said in a recent discussion about the potential ATV bans that he feels the “heavy traffic flow” has precipitated break-ins and crashes at his family’s property in Stewartstown.

“I own 52 acres with no posted signs,” Hutchinson wrote, referring to signage that would bar the public from using his property. “That might change well quick.”

The resolutions come as state lawmakers consider a set of bills that would add other controls for ATVs in the region.

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Annie has covered the environment, energy, climate change and the Seacoast region for NHPR since 2017. She leads the newsroom's climate reporting project, By Degrees.
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