We bought a beach...and a wetland

[RRocket]

So last week I was at the clearing at the end of our 250m driveway through the woods, I'm sitting on my tractor pushing spruce trees into a fire. 

Along comes a side-by-side ATV, I figure it's either a friend/relative of mine or maybe someone checking on the fire to make sure it's safe (met the lady fire chief in the spring), but no...dude doesn't even slow down, just goes by me and tries to navigate through the bushes to get to the ATV trail (which at that time had my No Trespassing and No ATV sign blocking the access from the road)

I yell at him to stop, but he either doesn't hear me, or is ignoring me.  He has bass rods and buckets in the back...
I jump off the tractor and run onto the trail in front of him,  he stops, wide-eyed. (Toothless looking guy, probably 60ish) I ask him who he is and where the hell he thinks he's going.   He replies in French that he's just going to the shore and doesn't understand.   I told him to turn around, get the fuck out of here the way he came in and never come back...

Next day my sign was missing, I checked my trailcam further down the trail and nobody had gone by.
Next day I found my sign, it was tossed on the other side of the road, I put it back in then went to check my trailcam, now my trailcam is missing...

I took my tractor and pulled a large spruce tree across the road access for the trail, right in front of my sign. 

Idiots....

[blur911]

[Tortoise]

It's such a beautiful part of the country.

[blur911]

Dammit, someone is driving an ATV across my property again.  They're ignoring the signs and driving around the tree and sign I blocked it with...time for a bigger tree, maybe some boards with nails...

Gotta move the trail cam, only got a shot of his hitch, but enough to see it's the same guy both times.

[Tortoise]

I presume these people have been using the trail for years, so it's understandable that it may take some time to change their behavior. Hopefully they figure it out soon.

[Blizzard]

Not sure what it's like out there, but here a lot of recreational trails whether hiking, XC skiing, snowmobiling, etc. are on private land and owners give passage rights, sometimes in exchange for lower tax bills from the city. Not saying you have to allow people onto your land, but maybe that's generally what people assume...?

[blur911]

Not sure what it's like out there, but here a lot of recreational trails whether hiking, XC skiing, snowmobiling, etc. are on private land and owners give passage rights, sometimes in exchange for lower tax bills from the city. Not saying you have to allow people onto your land, but maybe that's generally what people assume...?

I certainly understand that people have been using it for years, I did too, but things change.  (I do give permission to hikers and dog walkers)   I wouldn't mind much if it wasn't harming anything, but where the ATVs get on and off the beach has caused a lot of damage and erosion to the sand dune, it kills the grass which keeps all the sand from blowing away.  I now have two trenches through the bank  that are about 5-feet deep that I'm trying to fill in. 

The other thing is that it'll illegal to ride an ATV on a beach or a wetland, so they're not supposed to be there even if I give permission.  There are large fines and possible ATV seizure if caught.

[dkazzed]

That's a pain. I would say concrete jersey barriers chained to two substantial buried concrete blocks at this point.

[Fobroader]

That sucks man. I have buddies and family that have acreages and farms that have the same issues with hunters. For the most part, you want to pass through or hunt their farms, if you talk to them, no issue. Then you have enough idiots dumping garbage, having fires, leaving gut piles near cattle, and shoot towards their houses, and all of a sudden, no one is allowed. I like Dkazs idea, jersey barriers and chains, yes its a lot of work but its a effective. Can you get a camera out there that gives you warning if movement detected??