STARKS -- Madison attorney Ernest Hilton said he survived being run over by an all-terrain vehicle May 16, on his own property, but that's not the point.

The point, said Hilton, 57, who lives in rural Starks in Somerset County, is that ATV riders appear to be largely untrained in off-road ethics, unaware of state laws regulating ATV use and refuse to police themselves.

"I had occasion to be run down early last Friday evening, the 16th, by an ATV," Hilton writes in a letter to news outlets and state agencies.

"On a trail I had built. On my own land. Literally. Run down. Run over."

Hilton, a former school-board director and current member of the state Board of Environmental Protection, said reform must be initiated by ATV clubs and riders themselves, not landowners and not law enforcement.

He said the prevailing "frontier mentality" has to be corrected or the entire sport of off-road riding will suffer.

Hilton said he was out walking by himself on one of his trails when he heard an ATV approach.

"He came up closer and he got to where he could see me and I waved to stop him so I could chat with him a little bit," he said. "He seemed to slow down some, but when he was about six or eight feet away, he sped up and his cowling knocked me down and his wheel went up my calf -- he ran right over my leg."

Hilton said he was not seriously injured and did not require medical attention, but again, that's not the point.

He said even if his particular case is resolved by law enforcement, the problem statewide has to be addressed by the ATV community itself.

But Jim Lane, vice president and trails coordinator at ATV Maine, said training and education will not rid the countryside of what he called rogue, unprincipled riders.

"Almost 90 percent of all of this stuff that occurs is a local, local issue with a very local, local person," Lane said. "I don't care if you give them the best training in the world, I'll guarantee they are unregistered, they're rogues and they're going to do this regardless."

Lane, who also is a captain with the Fairfield Fire Department, said ATV Maine does not even have a club or sanctioned ATV trails in Starks.

Lane said he spoke with Hilton, who showed him the photographs of his leg, with red tire marks up to his knee.

"This is no cure for that type of ignorant person," Lane said. "You can try your best and 99 percent of the people will do their best to be law-abiding. There's no way you are ever going to change them -- they're the bad guys, like the habitual offender who drives drunk for the 11th time."

Brian Bronson, recreational-safety and vehicle coordinator for the State Department of Conservation, said he has never heard of an incident as serious as the one Hilton describes. He said he hopes law enforcement can track down the perpetrator for prosecution.

He said it is a landowner- rights issue and a clear violation of Maine law.

"Clearly the law requires people to have permission to operate an ATV on anyone's land," Bronson said. "Whoever these people were, they were in violation of the law. Whoever they were, they had no right to be there.

"The ATV community, the clubs are trying to do things right and would be very upset by this because it gives everybody a black eye."

He said even if the ATV rider was on a snowmobile trial that crosses Hilton's land, that too, is against Maine law without owner permission.

Bronson said the rider even could be charged with criminal assault.

He advises landowners not to take the law into their own hands and to call the authorities instead to report trespass problems.

"As sportsmen who want to use the land, we need to help the landowners, so we try to that, even if we don't have a trail in the area," Bronson said. "What I would encourage landowners to do it, like he has done, is post it and notify law enforcement. We try to help landowners as best we can, but that doesn't necessarily mean they have to have (an ATV) trail (for us) to help them. We have barricaded and helped gate-off access on private land before, where we didn't have a trail."

Hilton said he and the ATV rider saw one another, but the rider did not stop.

"I saw the fellow and tried to flag him down, but he and his lady friend riding with him continued on with nary a backward glance to see what my condition might be," Hilton writes.

Hilton said he did not place himself in front of the moving vehicle to try and stop it.

The Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife was notified and a game warden took Hilton's statement over the phone.

So far, no one has been charged.

Hilton said his land, settled by his ancestor, Benjamin Hilton, in 1780, is posted against only one activity -- ATV riding.

Two separate Inland Fisheries & Wildlife issued red-on-white "No ATV" signs are posted at each end of the trail section where the rider was, he said.

The ATV rider violated Maine law first by using Hilton's bridle trails without permission, then by leaving the scene of a personal injury accident, Hilton said. He even advocates using surveillance equipment in trouble areas if necessary.

Maine law stipulates that a person may not operate an ATV on private property without the permission of the owner. Riders once spotted on private law also are required to stop and identify themselves to the land owner.

"It's a problem which will find its own solution, though not a happy one, when my good will, and the good will of others of like-mind finally snaps and we just post the land in an effort to make life simpler," Hilton writes.

Robert Duplessie, director of landowner relations for the state Department of Conservation and the Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife, said state law does not have to be tightened in rural areas. He said game wardens are investigating the Hilton case, but he has not yet seen the report.

Hilton, however, said the problem goes beyond one incident and should be examined statewide by ATV riders everywhere.

"State law is enforceable and hopefully we'll catch the culprit -- it's a very unfortunate situation," Duplessie said. "This is a very rare occurrence."

He said landowners in similar situations should try to get a description of the ATV and any registration numbers it might have and turn that information over to law enforcement. He said ATV enthusiasts should take a proactive role in making sure such events do not happen.

"They have established clubs and authorized trails -- that's the key, authorized trails -- this was not an authorized trail. People that belong to clubs are more respectful. There's more education of the 'dos and the don'ts.'"

He said the laws in Maine are quite strong when it comes to ATV use. Fines of up to $500 are in place for ATV trespass, along with the possible lifting of hunting- and fishing-license privileges for violators.

"Always call the State Police 9-1-1 and they'll dispatch the game wardens," Duplessie said.

Lane agrees, saying landowners have the responsibility to find out who is violating their land and to then alert the authorities.

"The only cure for that is to nail them and prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law," he said. "But in order for it to be prosecuted through the Warden Service to apply a summons for arrest, you must positively identify and be willing to step forward. There's nothing I can do if nobody is going to help, if nobody is going to step forward. It takes that to stop those rogues from doing what they're doing."

Lane said putting up gates will help stop the riders from crossing onto private property where authorized trails do not exist.

That is where Hilton and Lane disagree.

"The ATV community needs to take responsibility for all of the actions of all of their fellow riders and owners," Hilton said. "That's the issue. Solving this one particular case isn't going to do that.

"What needs to happen is to instill a sense of ethics, values and honor so that they, as a community, recognize what is at stake and they go to this guy and say 'Look you need to stop it. You need to turn yourself in.' The problem is for the ATV community. It's nobody else's problem. They need to solve it."

He said the ATV industry needs to "get serious" about the training it provides to ATV buyers and do more to ease the problems caused by some.

"No more happy-talk," he writes. "All training and instruction should be free, mandatory, certified and results-tested."

Doug Harlow -- 861-9244

dharlow@centralmaine.com