But this day is different.
High up, near the top of a lonely ridge in the Tobacco Root Mountains, Klein and ATV Ranger David DeSimone spy an ATV left just yards away from a Forest Service sign indicating the area behind it is closed to motorized travel.
But these riders paid attention to the signs and stopped their machine. A closer look reveals the vehicle is both licensed and complete with the accessories needed to make it street legal.
"This is what we like to see happen," says Klein as he climbs off his ATV and starts walking up toward the ridge.
A few minutes later, the men come across John and Judy Hochmuht of Livingston, preparing to take a photo of themselves in front of the craggy peaks and mountain lakes that fill the background.
"There ought to be a good guy ticket," Klein tells the Hochmuhts after introducing himself. "If everyone was like you, there would be no problem at all. It just gladdens my heart."
The Hochmuhts said they've been coming up to this area for some 25 years. Recently, they traded in their motorcycles for an ATV.
"We're ridge runners," said John Hochmuht. "We just love being able to get up to areas like this."
"We appreciate being able to still get up here," Judy Hochmuht agreed. "Without having an open road, we wouldn't be able to do that."
But not everyone bothered to stop at the sign down below. On a nearby ridge a pair of ATV tracks wind their way up and over the top. Looking over in that direction, Klein shook his head.
"That's just what we're trying to stop," Klein said. "That track probably started with one or two ATVs. Other people probably saw the track and followed it up the hill. In the thin soils that we have here, that track will probably be there forever, just like the old wagon wheel tracks that you can still see in some parts of the country."
Klein and other Forest Service officials are hoping that education might stem a rash of illegal vehicle use on federal lands. To help make that happen, the Forest Service and the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks have teamed up to hire a pair of ATV rangers in the Madison Ranger District of the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest.
This summer was the second year of a $28,000 grant from the FWP to help pay for the rangers who spend their time talking to all the ATV users they find using Forest Service roads and trails about their responsibility to the sport of motorized recreation. They also keep their eyes open for noxious weeds and put up signs to help people stay on the right side of the law.
"The rangers' emphasis is on education," Klein said. "Enforcement has its place, but we all know that we'll never be able to protect the resource through enforcement. It's too large, there's too many of them, and there are too few of us."
"Signing is a never-ending task," he said. "Our signs are vandalized, shot and knocked down. I think some people feel that if there is no sign, then there is no rule. ... That's not true, and it's why people really need to have a map with them before they venture out."
Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth said recently that the National Leadership Team has identified four major threats to the national forest system. They include fire and fuels; unwanted invasive species; loss of open space; and the impacts of unmanaged recreation, particularly the unmanaged use of off-road vehicles or off-highway vehicles.
"OHVs are a great way to experience the outdoors, and only a tiny fraction of the users leave lasting traces by going cross-country," Bosworth told members of the Izaak Walton League in Pierre, S.D., in July. "But the number of OHV users has just exploded in recent years. Even a tiny percentage of impact from all those millions of OHV users is still a lot of impact."
Bosworth said the effects come in the form of hundreds of miles of unauthorized roads and trails caused by repeated cross-country use, more soil erosion, water degradation and habitat destruction.
There are also more conflicts occurring between different users of the national forest, he said.
"We've got to get a handle on that," he said.
Ultimately, the Forest Service is going to need some help from people who enjoy ATVs in the backcountry to ensure that the sport can continue at its current levels. In the Madison District, there are about 600-plus miles of roads, most of which are open to motorized recreation, and another 700 miles of trail, of which about 25 percent is open to ATVs or motorcycles.
"The options that we're faced with as land managers is either to encourage education or if that doesn't work, then limit opportunities," Klein said. "We've had to close places before because of an inability to control illegal cross-country use."
"No one wants to be a fink, but ATV users do need to do a better job of policing their ranks," he added. "They need to let those few who can't follow the rules know they are giving the rest a black eye."
People are discovering the backcountry of Montana. All around the Madison District, populations are growing dramatically and many of those people are looking to recreate on nearby public lands.
"Gallatin County is the fastest growing county in Montana. We're in easy striking distance of Salt Lake and the population of Idaho Falls is growing," Klein said. "We're definitely on the map now."
Management decisions have to happen now to protect the resource for future generations, Klein added.
"When it's gone, it's gone," he said. "The future of the national forest is at stake now. It's dependent on the management decisions we make now."
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