HOULTON, Maine — With ATV access at every corner of town, Houlton will soon see police patrolling the trails.
A new $10,500 state enforcement grant will pay officers to monitor use, reduce resident complaints and educate riders about safety and respect for landowners.
Launched in 2016, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife ATV Enforcement grant program pays for overtime for officers to work outside their normal shifts to patrol both the trails and access roads. This is the first time Houlton has received the funds.
The grants come from a portion of Maine gas tax revenues. Last year, the department awarded $157,750, according to a 2025 report from the state ATV Grant Committee.
Landowners in the state open up more than 10 million acres of working farms and forests for outdoor recreation and “access is a privilege, not a right,” according to Maine’s Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.
All it takes is one ATV rider going through a farmer’s newly planted field to close a trail, said Houlton Police Chief Tim DeLuca.
“The most important thing is landowner relations,” DeLuca said. “That’s why it’s critical that they appreciate the privilege of using their land. We want everybody to be responsible and we want everybody to be safe.”
While the trails have not yet opened, police are already getting complaints about ATVs zooming through Houlton, DeLuca said.
The ATV trail system completely surrounds this Aroostook County town of 6,000, with trails behind Houlton Regional Hospital and below Southside School. The trail off Court Street comes through Hodgdon, crosses over Military Street, goes down and through Foxcroft Road to a trail system taking riders north. The multiuse trail behind Hannaford is for both ATV and snowmobilers and it also runs north through Littleton, said DeLuca.
Additionally, nearly every local street is a designated trail access road from trailhead to trailhead.
“We are the gateway to the north,” DeLuca said. “We would like to see more people make Houlton their destination to launch their ATV venture.”
According to DeLuca, riders could start in Houlton and head north, making it a weekend adventure.
So keeping all sections of the trails open is critical to full access. That’s why police have already started access road patrols, he said.
This year DeLuca applied for two Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Management ATV Enforcement Grants: An $8,000 general ATV Enforcement Grant to pay officers overtime to patrol the streets and trails; and a $5,000 multijurisdictional grant that is split between the Houlton Police Department and the Maine Warden Service.
The department was awarded the grant that runs from March 15 through Dec. 31.
The ultimate goal is education, voluntary compliance and then enforcement.
“We want the officers to be out there on the trails to talk to people,” DeLuca said.
Patrolling access roads is also critical to let people know when they open, how and when they can be used and to make sure everyone has a license or certificate for younger riders.
DeLuca said he’s already getting calls from residents about ATVs speeding down town streets. But access roads are not for people to run down to the store to get a loaf of bread, they are not for cruising around town on a Friday night.
The local ATV clubs decide when the trails will open, usually in late spring depending on weather and trail conditions.
The speed limit is 10 mph and they are open from sunrise to sunset.
“We are fortunate to have the Houlton Region as premiere access to ATV motor sports,” DeLuca said. “There are hundreds of miles of trails in Aroostook County and beyond, so part of that is to make sure we have motorsports people go out there and enjoy the sport as safely as possible. That’s what we are trying to accomplish.”
