As the size of all-terrain vehicles and number of riders increase, more landowners with trails on or near their properties in Limington have expressed frustration with excess noise, damage and disrespectful behavior shown by some riders. They say the problems this season have been worse than in previous years.

“The closure of other trails has forced more and more traffic onto fewer and fewer routes,” said Alan McLucas, who owns land on Pequawket Lake in Limington. He said more riders have been on Pequawket Lake Road this spring, making loud noise with their vehicles and often blasting music from portable speakers.

Constance Peavey-Brown has a farm with cattle and livestock on Moy Mo Da Yo Road, off North Road. The part of the road where she lives is private, but she said riders come through regardless and some riders have thrown signs marking ATV trails and private roads into nearby swamps.

“The issue comes when they race up and down the road, they see our cows, and they just start fooling around, disturb our cattle and get them running and tearing up the road,” Peavey-Brown said. She said their vehicles have created divots in the street. “We’re complaining about it, and actually wanted to shut down the trail.”

Several neighbors expressed complaints and shared their experiences on Facebook after a farmer off of Hanscomb School Road posted a photo of tire tracks that ruined some of his corn field earlier this month. The post has since been deleted.

Peavey-Brown and McLucas said most riders are respectful, but that the few who have caused problems led them to be vocal about their concerns and they have since met with leaders from the Limington Wheelers ATV Club. As a result of the meetings, the club has begun adding more trail signs, installed six cameras on the trails and hired a local service to grade Moy Mo Da Yo Road once a month, according to club president Mike Marsh. The club is also interested in creating an entirely new trail system that does not come as close to homes in a longer-term project.

The state of Maine provides some money to the club for trail maintenance, but the cost of the extra signs, cameras and repairs will come from private fundraising, meaning the club will have less money for regular upkeep. The cameras will cost $70 to $100 each, said Marsh.

The club and landowners have also worked with game warden Steve Thistlewood to ask that local game wardens — law enforcement officers that enforce outdoor recreation regulations within a specific territory — patrol the areas of concern more frequently. Thistlewood said that the district game warden will be supplemented with additional personnel to patrol the area through the landowner relations department and ATV law enforcement grants.

The club will monitor its camera footage and share it with game wardens when riders violate trail rules, which could lead to fines from the state.

Peavey-Brown said she is hopeful after her meeting with the club’s trail master, Dylan Conley, that cameras will help with the issue — she has already seen some installed on Pequawket Trail. She and McLucas said they will continue to monitor the situation, but are no longer interested in closing trails at this time.

“I feel it’s very important that (landowners) put a face with a name and that we’re making the effort to come out and sit down and talk with them and understand their concerns,” Marsh said. “Ninety-five percent of the riders that I see are super cooperative.”