Thanks to Aero Methow
Dear Editor:
Like many before us, Steve and I send our deepest gratitude to Aero Methow Rescue Service! On Sept. 6, Steve went from feeling a little tired to septic in under two hours. Medics Jeff, Colton, Meg, Marissa and Stephanie immediately responded and recognized how rapidly he was deteriorating. Their decision to air lift him to Wenatchee Confluence hospital may well have saved his life. This personal, alarming event confirmed all the praise I’ve heard about Aero Methow for more than 20 years. We are eternally grateful!
Carol and Steve Cassella
Bainbridge Island
ATV issues
Dear Editor:
A committee was recently formed to gather information on the effects of allowing ATV use on public roads in the Methow Valley, including within the towns of Twisp and Winthrop.
There are three areas of concern with allowing ATV use on the public roads in the Methow: safety, resource damage and nuisance. Safety is the most important of the three. Making ATVs street-legal does not make them safe on paved roads. The Consumer Product Safety Commission strongly advised against riding ATVs on pavement, as over half of all fatal ATV crashes occur on paved public roads. It was the politicians in our state who decided that ATVs should be legal on paved public roads, against the objections of the Washington State Department of Transportation and the State Police. ATVs have very low-pressure tires and are made to operate on dirt and gravel roads, not pavement. Many ATVs do not have a rear differential, which makes them hard to steer smoothly on paved roads, leading to a high risk of tipping or sliding. Experienced riders can compensate for such problems, but there is no course requirement for an inexperienced rider to operate their ATV on paved roads.
Part of the committee’s assessment will be the viability of ATV use on public roads leading from the towns to areas of the forest where ATV use will be allowed. In order to accommodate ATV use, speed limits on many of these roads will need to be reduced to speeds lower than what they were designed for. Our county Department of Transportation opposes such practice due to the increased danger from more cars passing the slowed down vehicles.
Resource damage and noise nuisance are problems that are associated with ATV use. People move to and recreate in the Methow to enjoy nature in a quiet setting, the antithesis of ATV recreation.
Eleven years ago, the citizens of Twisp overwhelmingly decided against a proposal to allow ATVs in the town of Twisp. This decision should again be made by the citizens of the towns instead of a committee that could be influenced by special interest groups.
Dave Hopkins
Twisp
