NEWTON -- The roar of four-wheelers may soon be absent from country recreational trails, fields and woods as selectmen ponder a ban of off-highway recreational vehicles on all town-owned property. Selectmen have scheduled a hearing Monday at 7 p.m. at Town Hall on the proposed ban.

"Abuse of town property by OHRV users has become intolerable," said Donna J. Cushing in a letter to selectmen, penned when she still served as chairwoman of the town's Conservation Commission. "It is time for the town to act responsibly and to protect our natural resources," she said.

Cushing resigned earlier this month largely in response to the continued battle between conservationists and off-road motoring enthusiasts. Under state law, OHRVs -- also called all-terrain vehicles -- include trail bikes, snowmobiles, all-terrain vehicles and any mechanically propelled vehicle running on tires, belts, cleats, tracks, skis or a cushion of air. Town Moderator Robert Dezmelyk said he believes the change should be voted on at Town Meeting..

"I would put a change of this magnitude in front of all the voters," he said. "On a personal level, I think we should attempt whenever possible to allow the broadest variety of uses that are consistent with public safety and conservation of the environment on our public land," he said. Cushing, though, wrote that the Conservation Commission urges a ban on all OHRV use, in light of the continuing damage caused by motorized vehicles on town conservation land.

She said the town has a legal obligation to pay damages to privately owned farmland abutting the town recreational trail known as the Peanut Trail. Months of legal wrangling ended earlier this year -- pending appeal -- with a Rockingham County Superior Court judge awarding the trail to the town, but ordering $400,000 in damages paid to an abutting farmer.

Cushing said the court award in the Peanut Trail case shows the town can be held liable if people stray from town land onto adjacent private land. She said in addition to the Peanut Trail, other town property including Busch Farm, land on Courierville Road and Low Road, as well as parcels off Pond Street and Hadley Road, all present similar liability exposure.

The Conservation Commission sent letters to abutters of the Busch Farm property earlier this year asking for cooperation from residents to protect wetlands and sensitive habitats for plants and wildlife identified on the property. She said as the property owner, the town may be subject to Wetlands Bureau fines for allowing the damage to occur.