Road Warriors

It was 1971 . The movie was Diamonds are Forever; and it was the first time an ATV - All Terrain Vehicle - appeared on the silver screen.

James Bond leapt off hill sides, over rocks, chased the villain across the Nevada desert and the ATV was fixed in the minds of young men as a new symbol of speed, power and freedom.

Today - two and a half million Canadians ride ATVs . They have been outselling snowmobiles for the last 10 years.

The dictionary calls them small open vehicles. The driver straddles the motor and steers with the handlebars - like a motorcycle.

But ATVs have 4 tires not two, and they can go just about anywhere.

You can find well mannered retired couples touring down forest trails; young men churning up the mud making back roads impassable; kids - 15 year olds and younger - with the wind in their hair cruising down the main streets of villages.

They are having fun - often irritating the neighbours - and they're spending money.

ATVs are a billion dollar industry in Ontario alone and both federal and provincial governments are pushing the tourist potential.

But farmers will tell you they hear them in their fields at midnight; environmentalists decry the damage they do and country people tell you they sound like so many screaming lawnmowers.

The battle lines have been drawn.

And they faced off in Hamilton township near Cobourg an hour east of Toronto.

Here is Karin Wells' documentary, Road Warriors.

Listen here: