Re: "Back-country travel not just for hikers." March 25.

The letter-writer who describes families and old folk driving up to Shields Lake for quiet recreation 25 years ago is out of touch with current ATV development and their impact on the land. You only have to look at the website of the Island Rock Crawlers Four Wheel Drive Society or watch the self-named Sooke Hooligans on YouTube to see what things are like today.

Driving up to Shields Lake a quarter of a century ago was scarcely off-roading. Access was by 10 kilometres of paved road that ATVs have since helped reduce to less than 100 metres of narrow tarmac strips. They have broken through several log bridges across Charters Creek that could not support their weight. Hikers now have to get past pools of water when hiking this chopped-up road that runs through both regional and provincial park land. Parts of the track along the north side of Shields Lake are impassable much of the year due to large ponds, all created by excessive vehicle use in the past.

Much as I appreciate the problems of all-terrain recreationalists finding places in which to disport themselves because forest companies now deny them access, mainly due to vandalism, regional parks are not the answer. The landscapes under the protection of the CRD are too fragile to be subjected to the noise and damage inflicted by the powerful engines and large wheels or tracks of all-terrain vehicles.

John Hasell

Victoria