North Fork Outdoors/Martin Garrell: Dealing with ATVs and small engines
Wherever you go in the outdoors, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) or “four-wheelers” are part of the landscape. Whether used properly on trails meant for them or illegally on state lands in the Adirondacks and Catskills, ATVs are both popular (according to one upstate publication, some 127,000 are registered in New York State alone) and controversial. They do make lots of noise, tear up soft trails, and sometimes seem at odds with the “outdoor experience” which many of us seek.
Still, like all of our small-engine-driven devices, they are remarkably useful in the right settings. On hardened trails to deep-woods camps or drop-off points for deer stands, they get us from here to there. For people training and exercising sporting dogs, they’re valuable tools. You can “road” dogs in harness or teach young dogs to track ground patterns along field edges by riding alongside — in areas where you cannot use horses. In fact, where we often train in southeastern Pennsylvania, the club has a fleet of old Polaris four-wheelers, most in what seems to be the 15-to-20-horsepower class. What one realizes, too, is that small-engine know-how is universal, applying not only to ATVs, but also to power mowers, weed whackers (brush-cutters), and, of course, outboards.
DEP Offers Tips to Residents Dealing with Flood-Ravaged Property
HARRISBURG, Pa., Sept. 10, 2011 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Cleanup, Leaking Home Fuel Tanks, Water Well Disinfection, Important Considerations
The Department of Environmental Protection is advising residents whose homes or businesses have been affected by flood waters to take a number of precautions to assure a safe cleanup.
"Thousands of people and homes have been impacted by the tragic flooding in the commonwealth over the past several days. It is gut-wrenching to see the many pictures of the devastation, destruction and human suffering," DEP Secretary Mike Krancer said. "People need to be very careful when returning to their homes and businesses and must be aware of a number of precautions they need to take to ensure their safety and good health."
Homeowners who suffered flood damage should note these cleanup guidelines:
Be careful when entering a flood-damaged building. Loose, wet ceiling plaster is heavy and dangerous, so knock down hanging plaster before moving around. Watch for holes in the floor and loose boards with exposed nails.
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