Pigs can swim. Ducks can swim. Ergo, a pig is a duck. That was the logic used by the state's Bureau of Trails in its briefly successful ploy to sneak all-terrain vehicles onto 160 miles of the recreational trails purchased with federal money. Those trails are closed to motorized recreation, save for snowmobiles in winter, so the bureau, with no objection from its higher-ups at the Department of Resources and Economic Development, decided to call ATVs "snow-going machines."

Earlier this month, Monitor columnist Hillary Nelson recounted the sorry history of that campaign, which is part of a relentless effort on the part of the bureau to give the owners of the noisy, environmentally destructive toys more places to play.

Once the feds learned that that the state had subverted the clear meaning of the law, the bureau asked for a waiver to allow the ATVs to continue using 160 miles of trails meant primarily for cross-country skiing, hiking, biking and the like. We bet the feds didn't even need to look up "snowmobile" in a dictionary before saying "No." The bureau had to post a notice on its website to tell riders that it is, indeed, illegal to ride ATVs on the rail trails.

Nelson rightly points out that the bureau's attempted end-run around the law was a result of its dependence on off-highway recreation vehicle registration fees for the bulk of its budget. That reliance would skew the judgment and policies of any agency.

Lobbying by the recreational vehicle sales industry - and ATV owners' demands for more places to ride close to home - adds to the bureau's incentives to open state parks to ATV use and to override local attempts to ban or regulate ATVs and ATV parks.

The bureau's heavy dependence on $54 ATV registration fees is a problem lawmakers should address. As long as the bureau has an overwhelming financial incentive to maximize ATV registrations, it will skew its policies toward that end and away from more popular and less destructive forms of outdoor recreation. The registration money goes to a fund held by the state treasurer, and any money left at the end of the fiscal year is automatically carried forward to the next year. That should change. The bureau's budget should be set by the Legislature.

That won't solve the problem, however, The bureau has been quick to point out that it is charged, under the law, with promoting the sport. The law calls upon it to "support" motorized off-highway recreation. Lawmakers should take the bureau out of the business of promoting an activity that is completely at odds with the non-motorized, more environmentally benign ways that the vast majority of the state's residents and visitors enjoy the outdoors. They should amend the law and remove the word "support."

ATVs are wonderful tools for work and rescue but they and their bigger cousins - four-wheel-drive vehicles used for "muddin" and the like - do tremendous damage to the environment and the ability of others to enjoy the outdoors. The state, in this age of rapid population growth, higher energy costs and rapid climate caused by burning fossil fuels, has no business promoting the expansion of ATV use.