Off-road vehicles (ORVs) - ATV trails are well defined on hunt brochure maps and are open only from September 15 through February 28 each yearfor hunting and fishing access. ATVs are approved for use only at Hillside, Morgan Brake, and Panther Swamp NWRs.
Two executive orders regulate ATV use on federal public lands: Executive Order 11644, signed by President Nixon in 1972, and Executive Order 11989, signed by President Carter in 1977. Together these orders require that off-road-vehicle use on public lands must be managed to “protect the resources of those lands, to promote the safety of all users of those lands, and to minimize conflicts among the various uses of those lands.” The orders also require that when ATV routes are designated, federal land managers must minimize damage to soils, watershed, vegetation, and other land resources, minimize wildlife harassment and impacts to wildlife habitat, and minimize conflicts between ATV use and other uses of the land. To comply with the orders, Service policy requires all ATV use to be in conjunction with wildlife-dependent activities only, with ATV use confined to designated areas or trails.