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Seeds of reparation Mail Tribune / Roy Musitelli Dwayne Stoltz, Prescott Park maintenance supervisor, points to an area on Roxy Ann Peak where off-road vehicles and bicycles have damaged the terrain. The area will be reseeded on Friday. Students will replant part of Prescott Park that some bike racers accidentally damaged By BILL KETTLER Mail Tribune A case of bad communication will give a crew of Hoover Elementary School students a chance to learn about land restoration. On Friday, the students will reseed an area in Medford's Prescott Park inadvertently damaged in a series of bicycle races last fall. The races were organized by Jana Jensen to raise money for Josephine County Search and Rescue. She got the proper permits from Medford's Parks and Recreation Department. When race day came, she found a piece of survey tape strung across a steep, eroded road cut. Jensen never imagined the tape meant the racers were supposed to keep off the cut bank. "We had our permits," said Jensen, who owns Cycle Analysis in Jacksonville. The cyclocross went off as planned. Jensen had organized the steeplechase-style races to benefit search-and-rescue volunteers who searched for her son's body when he drowned in the Illinois River in July 2000. Part of the race course followed old ruts carved by some forgotten four-wheel-drive fans looking for thrills in the park's slick, greasy clay. Park managers have struggled for years to control off-road vehicle use in the park to limit erosion on Roxy Ann Peak, and they wanted to keep the cyclists off the fragile ground where the ruts were starting to grow new grass. Dwayne Stoltz, the park's maintenance supervisor, thought the tape would send a clear "Stay Off" message, but Jensen and other race organizers didn't understand. When the next race came around, Jensen found more tape. Third race, more tape. The racers kept pedaling, and the eroded bank sank a little deeper. Stoltz said he left phone messages asking Jensen to reroute the course. Jensen said she never received any messages. When the series ended, park managers realized they needed to reseed the area to prevent more erosion, but Jensen first heard about the problem Wednesday. "When I turned in my gate keys, I asked if there were any problems and nobody said anything," she said. "We were trying to be good, responsible citizens," she said. "I'm hoping to build cyclocross to where it draws people (to Medford) from California and Portland and they'll spend money here." Nobody ever talked with Jensen face to face, said Greg Jones, director of Medford's Parks and Recreation Department. "There was some miscommunication," Jones said Wednesday. "After it was all said and done, we realized we needed to communicate better with Jan. It was one of those 'Oops.' " Hoover students will reseed the bare ground with native grasses. "I was looking for a project to get my class involved in the community," said Cary Spiker, who teaches a special-education class of 13 students from third through sixth grades. "These kids often don't feel connected. They've had behavioral problems, problems in their families, problems in the community. They get to feeling isolated. I was looking for something they could do to get involved in their city. "They take pride in it, and they love it," said Spiker, who also took a group of students to work in the park during the previous school year. "One of my little guys found seeds from a pine cone. He planted them, and he refers to them as 'my grove' now." Jensen said she hopes to stage the races again next year, and plans to have better communication with park managers. "I want to be able to hold our races." Reach reporter Bill Kettler at 776-4492, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.