Class 6 road BS/problems

[Spud]

So me and my wife found us an awesome piece of property about four years ago. Searched for years and finally settled on this piece in Unity NH. Beutiful little farm town with basically nothing but a single convenience store. We have worked long and hard to afford and errect this dream of ours.

The piece is out about a mile on a class 6 road. Tough to get to and rather secluded. No power, closest neighbor 1/4 mile away, hermit type guy.

Spent 3years building our little paradise of a cabin. Lovin the road for wheelin, Snowmobile trails for XC skiing, mountain bikeing, hiking all over etc.

Of course you have to take the good with the bad and expect some issues with people partying etc. Well, we had no major issues untill this spring.

Started off with some jerks coming through Very late at night wheeling...Which I have no problem with, except, they were not just passing through. They are coming in groups and going off the road onto peoples property and sitting in one spot, spinning the tires and purposefully making a mudbog. Did I mention the open headers at midnite/2am. Sitting in one spot for an hour or more. So there are several places now where they tore it all up, off on peoples property.

Next came the vandalism to my wifes car, 06' Matrix like new, which was parked near the end of the road in the driveway of a friend of ours cabin. Yeah, they rammed the bumper with a vehicle, threw a rock through the harchback and kicked a big dent in one of the doors.

Then I arrive this weekend to find they had a big ol' bonfire right in front of my driveway and used the fence that we had assembled from logs as firewood. Along with that were 2 tires and rims all burned up, of coarse a bunch of trash. My two no trespassing signs on either side of the driveway entrance, one all burned up the other hacked up with an axe.

Did I mention all the trash that has been randomly dumped on the road. No problems up untill this season.

Well, I have talked to a bunch of people up there and turns out this crap is going on at several class 6 roads up in the area.

This is why I am hesitant to go on a wheeling trip down a class 6 because there are a lot of local people that are extremely pissed off and armed, ready to extract vengence. Just be aware that if you are going to go "legal" wheeling...some people may be prejudice and group any wheelers in among the scumbags that are pulling this crap. Pisses me off cause' I wanna go wheeling too but I cant imagine that folks would just go off the road "wherever they want" with the sole purpose of spinning their wheels in mud.... Burning and destroying other peoples property....Bull s***!

 

[Sporin]

Man that sucks..... the term "locusts" is applied here, non-affiliated wheelers who vandalize and destroy public and private 4x4 areas.

You should definitely notify the Sheriff, the Town Police and Fish & Game... put this stuff on record.

 

[RTrac1]

I wouldnt even call them wheelers. theres a few other names that comes to mind.


sorry about your trouble.

 

[JJS]

Spud, I saw spike strips for sale in a law enforcement catalog. Maybe you could buy a few sets to teach these a$$holes a lesson.

I'm sorry to hear this, and I hope things work out for the better. These idiots don't deserve to drive, let alone wheel.

 

[rapovt]

I live across the Connecticut river from Charlestown. We get the same stuff over here. It is probaly locals that resent your out of state plates. It is only a few that spoil it for everyone. Keep after the police, and talk with your neighbors about gating off their land. I am a land surveyor and I testify in court on a lot of road lawsuits. What happens over here is the property owners close down the roads(when they legally can not), the police don't want to get involved, and the poor little guy does not have the money to fight it in court. It happens over and over again. I am working on a parcel, the owner put in a real good gate(probaly $1500) and it was destroyed in 2 weeks.
This sucks for you Spud. Maybe the punks will get sick of it and move on to something else.

 

[rblank]

I am a land surveyor and I testify in court on a lot of road lawsuits.

Registered in MA? The NEA could use your help on Old Florida Road.


That sucks though man. WTF is worng with people these days? They just don;t care about things, and it's not just in the cities any more either. I want to buy a large piece of property and live "off the grid" away from humanity. It's just getting sickening how self absorbed people are.

 

[green40]

Maybe the punks will get sick of it and move on to something else.

Gary has it right, punks, in the age group of under 30, to much beer and not enough respect. It's pretty sad the amount of people these days who don't think about anyone else.

 

[nat88toy]

where they come in you need to install a motion activated camera and one around your house you can get them with infared lights. catch those losers in the act and get some plate #'s then go pay a visit to the police. i know cabela's sells them bets of luck to you
-nat

 

[Scott Hatch]

Wow, this is what Yankee Toys pays dues to the NEA for. Take advantage of your membership within the NEA and me. I

I've spoken with Major Tim Acerno, the acting Colonel of the NH Fish and Game and they need the help of local landowners as well as us (4x4 users) in order to protect these recreational resources. The last thing they want to see is this very situation as it closes the minds of landowners to all responsible users.

Major Tim has requested that I pass along this very type of information to him. I have wheeled the roads in Unity, there are a lot of great ones too and do not want to see them closed because of a few drunken punks. I would be happy to cooridinate with you and the local landowners as well as NH Fish and Game.

I can reach at home or on my cell

home 603-464-5869
cell 603-748-3948

 

[Spud]

where they come in you need to install a motion activated camera and one around your house you can get them with infared lights. catch those losers in the act and get some plate #'s then go pay a visit to the police. i know cabela's sells them bets of luck to you
-nat

Yep...
I'm on it Nat. Have a bunch of em'.

Pretty amazing how well they work, these days, as opposed to the older ones. The ones I have can take 10sec. video clips, batteries last for 2-3weeks and will take hundreds of videos with a single gig card.

Yeah it is a shame that this stuff is going on. Makes me sick that I have to worry about what to expect next. Also, it is gonna screw wheeling opportunities for other people. Several folks on my road, and other roads, have brought up the idea of closing the road, gate's at the ends. Not sure where I stand with that yet cause' I am not convinced it will help. May make the situation worse.

Just sucks...dont these idiots know that they are ruining a good thing? I mean, with this stuff happening they are obviously going to either get caught or end up with a closed road that I am sure they will miss.

 

[mainemike]

Sorry to hear this tale, but it's the same story in backwoods (backwards?) Maine. Stupid people are always causing problems. Some roads here are gated with combination locks that 'insiders' get the combo to with permission. The upside of this approach is that you don't necessarily close off all the access, but you limit it. It's preferable to have responsible folks traverse the property to keep an eye on it. But these gates are problematic because you may be at the end of a long trail to find that access point gated, with a 50 mile backtrack. Is it legal to gate a Class 6 road? It thought it was still a public right-of-way.

I think most people can tell at a glance the character of the people running the roads, so I don't worry too much about landowners coming after me - they have a right to find out my 'character' and I'm happy to talk to them. That said, I have had a few altercations where a landowner was so out-of-his-mind about my being there all I could do was turn around (quickly) and retreat. But that is rare.

The scary part is when a bunch of drunks with 4wheelers or real trucks are blasted out of their mind, no sane person can approach them. It is an unfortunate reality of rural life, and you have to be careful just as if you were in the 'bad part of town' in any city.

 

[Scott Hatch]

Great talking with you on the phone and a sad situation. One thing to understand with a small town like Unity, they a part time police force on from like 9-5. There are a lot of really great class VI roads in Unity and it sounds like this is the tip of the ice berg. I got a lot of information and will be following up with this tomorrow with Major Tim Acerno, acting Colonel of NH Fish and Game, the Unity Police Chief, and the Unity Selectmans office.

I'm going to try and set up some trail patrols here as well as ask for a greater presence with NH Fish and Game. It sounds like a bunch of teenagers to younger twenty somethings (nothing against anyone younger) with nothing to do, I'm sure someone in town knows who these kids are.

 

[JJS]

where they come in you need to install a motion activated camera and one around your house you can get them with infared lights. catch those losers in the act and get some plate #'s then go pay a visit to the police. i know cabela's sells them bets of luck to you
-nat

That's a really good idea. It's hard to discount visual evidence.

 

[Cattledog]

where they come in you need to install a motion activated camera and one around your house you can get them with infared lights. catch those losers in the act and get some plate #'s then go pay a visit to the police. i know cabela's sells them bets of luck to you
-nat

2X Then post the pics on mud.

 

[WILD&CRAZY]

class VI roads & atv's

I know what you are saying about the roads in unity.In 1988 the selectman passed a town law that no ohrvs are allowed on all highways including class VI roads. This shuts all the roads down for any motorized vehicle for recreational use other than snow traveling vehicles. I am trying to get this changed to ride legally on class VI roads and then start a club to patrol and maintain the trails and roads in unity. If the use of these roads is permitted then maybe more will be respected(hopefully) also with this and a local club I will personally give my cell # for a contact to call if there is any problems such as the ones you have had. Also to report any problems with the trail conditions. My selectman meeting is monday july 14 2008 and all are welcome to come at 4:30 to help support an organized process here in unity.

 

[Scott Hatch]

Email sent, I'm on the road today to Berlin taking the boy to Summer Camp. If you want to give me a call feel free to call my cell, 748-3948

The last time I called the town on Class VI issues was right before the Obama and Hillary big "Unity" smokescreen and everyone was lining up to drink the Obama punch Needless to say the selectmen's office had bigger issues to deal with at that time.

 

[mikeyg79]

Doesn't NH not consider a "car" / "truck" a OHV?