UTV licensing hits a sticky spot
The battle has been long and hard for advocates of utility-type vehicles. The machines, known as UTVs, are basically a larger version of an all-terrain vehicle and were finally going to be licensed and legally able to hit Idaho forest roads July 1.
But there’s been a hitch at the state Parks and Recreation Department: the design of stickers.
OK, it’s a little more complicated than that. Updating of computer databases and out-of-house contracting is holding back the licensing of UTVs until Jan. 1, 2007, leaving many outdoor recreation enthusiasts revved up.
“As it stands now, Idaho doesn’t recognize the vehicle at all,” said Mark Magill, North Idaho ATV Association vice president.
UTVs have been gaining popularity for several years, and many dealers around North Idaho have them in stock. The machines look less like an ATV and more like a golf cart fashioned in the image of an assault vehicle.
“Quite honestly, it’s just taking us a little longer to get our system updates completed,” said Dave Claycomb, the Idaho Parks and Recreation off-highway vehicle program manager.
Claycomb said the department is still selecting a contractor to design the $10 registration sticker that will go on UTV plates. He said his department also plans to notify sheriff’s offices and U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management officials of the reasons for the delay.
“Whether or not (the licensing) is going to be enforced is up to them,” he said. “We just hope that they understand the predicament these owners are in.”
About half a dozen UTV owners participate in the North Idaho ATV Association, Magill said, and were a bit miffed after they were turned away from a “support your sport” ride recently because the vehicles can’t be licensed yet. Hopes that they would be legal in July are gone, he said.
UTVs are defined as any four-wheeled vehicle not an ATV, motorbike or snowmobile, and they must weigh less than 2,000 pounds. The weight limit for a UTV is significantly different than the limit of 850 pounds for an ATV.
The wheel base of a UTV is also allowed to be 33 inches larger than an all-terrain machine. Brandon Creed, a sales representative at Specialty Recreation and Marine in Coeur d’Alene, said UTVs can cost anywhere between $7,000 and $15,000 depending on the size of the model. The two-seater Kawasaki Mule 610s that he sells, he said, cost about $8,000.
People purchase them, he said, because of how much they can carry compared to an ATV and because of convenience for travel in woods.
“It’s more like a car,” Creed said, “You can throw the whole family in the thing.”
That’s if you get the four-seat model. Most UTVs carry 400 pounds in the back bed, not including passengers. ATVs, in contrast, carry about 154 pounds on the back and 88 pounds in the front without a passenger.
The battle for UTV legislation began several years ago when enthusiasts of the vehicles lobbied state officials to make them legal on Forest Service roads.
In 2005, the path was cleared for public forest road use until former Gov. Dirk Kempthorne, now U.S. Secretary of the Interior, vetoed the bill along with six others to squeeze state legislators into approving highway funding he sought. The other bills were rewritten and approved shortly after, but it took until March 2006 for UTVs to be approved.
“This was the only victim, if you will, of that,” Magill said. “We’ve been waiting two years. And now, you’re talking about missing out on this hunting season.”