When riding your ATV, try hard to avoid wetlands. What is a wetland? A wetland is ground that is constantly covered by shallow water, or with saturated soil. Wetlands are essential to nature, and provide the environment with important wildlife habitat, flood and erosion control, a kind of natural water purification, and more.
So, how do you tell when you're seeing a wetland? Some types of vegetation, such as marsh grass or cattails, are good indicators that an area is a wetland. However, there are some things that may look like wetlands that aren't, such as a puddle of rain on a hard surfaced trail. This is probably not a wetland, but be cautious just the same.
A large percentage of ATV trails have wetlands in their forests, so be careful when you ride, and keep your ATV on the trail. Most ATV trails try hard to avoid wetlands, but occasionally you will come upon one. Do your best to completely avoid the wetland.
Even if you don't care about protecting the forest or the environment, it is in your best interest to avoid wetlands while riding your ATV. If you abuse the wetlands or the forest in general with your ATV, you may loose the privilege of riding in that trail at all. Many ATV trails have been shut down over the years due to extensive abuse to the forest by riders.
If you do not respect the wetlands and the forest as a whole while you ride on it, you will not have anything to ride on after awhile, so please be respectful of the land and the other riders who love enjoying the same ATV adventures you do. And besides, if you are caught going off trail and violating the forest with your ATV, you could face some serious legal repercussions. So remember: Be safe, have fun, and respect the forest while riding your ATV.
