Section below taken from this article HERE

Noise Disturbance

One of the greatest, yet least tangible, impacts of ATV’s have on wildlife stems from the noise these machines create. Just as with humans, wildlife can suffer auditory damage. A report published by the Wildlife Conservation Society, entitled “All-Terrain Vehicles in the Adirondacks” states that, “[n]oise from motors can affect predator-prey relationships by masking the sounds that generally have an important role in those interactions. High levels of background noise can have a number of indirect effects as well. Noise can cause an increase in animals’ heart rates, and affect behavior patterns such as nesting and reproduction or feeding and foraging. These impacts may or may not be devastating to an animal depending on the season, its energy budget, and the extent of the disturbance.” (Page 22)

So if our elected officials speak about being concerned about sensitive ecological systems in CBRM or about saving the environment, we can ask about this "REAL" action that was taken.

The new CBRM council needs to start asking questions about how a decade long Active Transportation trail project got converted to an ATV trail without ever being voted on in council. Active Transportation budget was spent on the planning of that trail. An agreement was signed with PSPC (public works) to acquire the land for the specific purpose of building an Active Transportation Trail and yes this was ratified in council chambers at the end of 2019! But what was stated in the agreement was not carried out.

This also happened with a very recent Active Transportation survey where $160,871.00 was awarded to Fathom Studio Inc. to work on an Active Transportation plan (RFP HERE) but included Anti-Active Transportation related questions (Tainted Survey) which means the survey is tainted and could very well be manipulated. Fathom Studios was asked directly to remove the anti-active transportation questions, but refused. They either deviated from the specifications of the RFP on their own or were directed by someone at city hall who wanted them in there.

Take a virtual ride along the trail with the ATV Princess in the video below.