Official: Off-Road Vehicles Eroding Hoosier National Forest

A Hoosier National Forest official says the illegal use of off-road vehicles at the sprawling federal forest in southern Indiana is leaving behind deep tire grooves that are causing problematic erosion.

Forest supervisor Mike Chaveas told The Herald-Times the erosion created by the all-terrain vehicles is more of a problem because the forest is a patchwork of land sandwiched between private and other public properties.

Off-road vehicles are not permitted on any roads or trails in the forest, which include campground roads. Chaveas says that various counties also have different regulations for use of all-terrain and off-road vehicles that people should follow.