Unless you ride one, which is a blast, all-terrain vehicles can seem annoying.
Knobby tires turn pasture into mud pit. Some engines howl like angry tomcats. And since driving off the beaten pavement is all the fun, riders are often at odds with farmers, homeowners, park managers, environmentalists and, sometimes, police.
ATV owners across South Florida have clamored for years for open land to ride without a hassle. Now, Miami-Dade Parks Department planners, in a joint proposal with Collier County, believe they've found just the spot.
It's miles from homes, dotted with rock pits and concrete pads, crisscrossed with existing trails and next to a 10,500-foot runway.
It's also in the middle of the Everglades, on a site where Miami-Dade County decades ago envisioned a massive jetport before public and political outrage scuttled the project.
Supporters insist the proposed 1,608-acre park -- just north of Tamiami Trail at the Collier-Miami-Dade line -- will do the Everglades more good than harm by drawing ATVs from more pristine places.
"Something has to be done with all these bikes running anywhere," said Miami-Dade Commissioner Jose "Pepe" Diaz, who has championed the ATV cause for years. "We're trying to gather them and put them in one location and try to protect the more sensitive areas."
Environmentalists and regulators are dubious. Damage from swamp buggies and ATVs in the adjacent Big Cypress National Preserve have long been the subject of disputes and lawsuits.
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