Neighbors of Bear Brook Park have won their battle against all-terrain vehicle trails in the state park at least for this year. On March 11, the New Hampshire Senate voted to stall a piece of legislation, Senate Bill 349 (SB349), that would have allowed recreational trails for ATV users into the park.

Neighbors have battled the trails for several years, but in the end it was a typo that blocked the recreational vehicles from Bear Brook Park. The trails were originally approved with an older piece of legislation, known as House Bill 1273. However, after the legislation was already written, lawmakers discovered a mistake in the text of the bill. Lawmakers sponsoring that bill had intended to say that no trail can come with 400 feet of any public well in the park. Instead, the legislation mandated the distance from the wellhead must be 4,000 feet. Because there are several wellheads in the park, this effectively prevented trail construction. "That's what it was, absolutely a typo. One extra zero. As soon as the people from Allenstown heard about it, they came in droves and hung their hat on the mistake." State Sen. Robert Flanders

This legislative session, Sen. Robert Flanders sponsored SB349, which would have reduced the 4,000-foot limit back to 400 feet. The March 11 vote by the Senate sent the bill to a study committee and will not be brought up again this legislative session. Allenstown resident Armand Verville, a Bear Brook neighbor who has been active in opposing the trails, said he was pleased with the recent vote. Verville said he hopes the new study on the issue will settle the question.

"I really do believe in the system," he said. "If the trails end up in Bear Brook, it's because they were meant to be. But I simply feel that (right now) it's not appropriate and I think they've got a lot of problems to resolve."

Flanders said he was frustrated that trails were going to be blocked by what was essentially a typographical error. "That's what it was, absolutely a typo. One extra zero," he said. "As soon as the people from Allenstown heard about it, they came in droves and hung their hat on the mistake."

Flanders said he introduced a letter from the anonymous staffer who made the error taking blame for the mistake, but the Allenstown residents were able to sway enough support.

The trails have received significant opposition from not only adjacent landowners but from Allenstown police and town officials. Allenstown's state senator, Jack Barnes (R-District 17), who voted against the measure, said the town was struggling for tax dollars and the trails would not help the situation.

"A concern is that 51 percent of the town is taken up by the state park that doesn't send any taxes for the town," he said. "And how are the police, already on a limited budget, supposed to patrol? If someone gets hurt, who pays to go in there? "

Flanders disputed this reasoning and said the real reason for opposition by Allenstown residents was much simpler.

"It's 'Not in my backyard!' There's no other reason," he said. "And my position is those ATVs are here. We don't like them, they're nasty things, but we still have to make a place for them."

Flanders went on to say that blocking official trails would not be solving anything.

"I think they're making a big mistake, because they think by not having any trails they're going to keep people out, and they're not," he said.

Verville disagreed and suggested that opening up legal trails would only encourage ATV-ers to stray farther into the park.

"Our argument is that even if they put the trails in there, the ATVers do not want a nice flat comfortable trail," he said. "They want a challenge. They want hills, they want mud, they want wetlands to run through. They want excitement."

Both Verville and Barnes said they were worried that another amendment to HB1273 might be slipped into an unrelated piece of legislation later in the session.

"I'll be all awake looking for that, and everything that comes across I'll look at," Barnes said. "I will be watching and hopefully something doesn't slide by me. And if it does, there will be a problem with whoever slipped it through."