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63 °F Forecast | Road Cams Wednesday, May 5, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find a Rental Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Email Story to a Friend January 11, 2004 Linda Hale, left, a Bureau of Land Management biologist, and Steve Shradercq, the BLM�s Medford District law enforcement ranger, walk up an illegal �road� created by drivers of off- road vehicles on land off Worthington Road near Eagle Point. Mail Tribune / Jim Craven ‘Mud boggers’ wreck public lands By PAUL FATTIG Mail Tribune EAGLE POINT — Former U.S. Marine Steve Shrader isn’t one to give up easily on a mission. "You have to stay on it, just keep going," said the veteran law enforcement ranger for the Bureau of Land Management’s Medford District. "You can’t give up." But he concedes efforts to stop what he describes as off-road vehicle "mud bogging" on the public land off Worthington Road is a big challenge. Ruts deep enough to bog down a Marine Corps tank cut across meadows, forming rough roads through the sparse oak savanna that covers the foothills flanking the west side of the Cascade Range. Muddy water flows out of the tracks toward local streams. A barbed-wire fence erected to stop off-road vehicles lies in tangles, apparently snipped by wirecutters. A locked heavy metal yellow gate blocks a jeep road across Kanutchan Creek, a seasonal stream flowing into Little Butte Creek northeast of town. Ignoring signs posted in the area, someone removed large boulders placed on the upstream side to open a rudimentary track around the bullet-pocked gate. Advertisement Shrader will tell you it’s a small minority of off-road enthusiasts who are tearing up the land. He figures most off-road vehicle enthusiasts — estimating more than 85 percent — obey posted signs. "Enforcement tries to focus on the minority," he said. "But what happens is that a law-abiding citizen will pull up here, think it’s OK because everybody else is doing it and away they go." He can show you similar scenes throughout the 800,000-acre district, from the Applegate Valley to the Illinois Valley. Shrader and fellow BLM law enforcement ranger Chris Owens keep replacing signs that are torn down or shot up and keep talking to off-road vehicle operators. "You gotta keep at it — keep putting the signs up, keep reblocking access, keep working with the neighbors, keep following up," Shrader said. Legal "off-highway" riders, as they refer to themselves, don’t take kindly to illegal use of public and private lands by "off-roaders" who leave designated trails and roads meant for four-wheel use. "I certainly do have a problem with it," said Keno resident Tom Harris, Southern Oregon conservation chairman for the Pacific Northwest Four-Wheel Drive Association. "Leaves a black eye for the organized groups." Harris said the problem isn’t uncommon and appears to be mostly committed by young men in search of a thrill or a display of machismo. "I think most of it, a good part of it, is just straightforward ignorance, if there is such a thing," he said. "They’re old enough to know better. "I don’t know where people get the idea that once they pass a sign that says ‘public lands,’ they decide the land is theirs for the taking." Harris said with the rate of four-wheel vehicle sales doubling on average every year, the problem is only going to get worse. But public education, particularly in local high schools and through other avenues, is key to helping stop the problem. Early last month, Shrader and Owens issued fines to five off-road vehicle operators who were tearing up the land off Worthington Road. "Young male adults are generally the ones who really don’t understand the damage," added Owens. "A lot of them are not educated about this. They don’t understand the severe damage they are causing out here." Others use the local public lands as a trash dump. A short walk off Worthington Road reveals the rotting ribs and vertebrae of what appeared to have been an elk. A large refrigerator resembling a white whale is beached in the middle of Kanutchan Creek. A television set, its tube shot out, sits forever quiet near where someone had dumped household cactus plants. More cost to the taxpayers, officials say. Given the fragile condition of the local ecosystem, it doesn’t take much to harm the land, particularly during the winter, explained Linda Hale, a BLM biologist. She pointed to sediment oozing into Kanutchan Creek from the muddy ruts. "That will all go down into Little Butte Creek," she said, noting it will foul the anadromous fish stream. "We also have a problem with poaching here. This is deer and elk winter range." A large yellow sign posted nearby warns that the area is closed to motorized traffic during periods of high fire danger or adverse weather conditions. Another sign on white paper announces the area is open to foot traffic. "We don’t want to close this area off to everyone," Hale said. "We would like to encourage people to come out here and enjoy the land." Sandy Banks, who owns some 160 acres on the Worthington Road area, says the neighbors are concerned about illegal trespass and poaching as well as damage to their lands. "I’m really glad the BLM is trying to do something about this," she said. "Right now, a few are spoiling it for everyone." Neighbors are keeping an eye out for would-be vandals and those who would dump trash, she said. "One neighbor recently saw a pickup truck full of garbage go up the road," she said. "They followed it and shamed the person into turning around and leaving the area without dumping." But neighborhood vigilance didn’t prevent poachers from killing a cow elk last year, leaving a calf standing next to its dead mother the next morning, she said. "One of my big concerns is that I’d like to ride my horses out there but I don’t feel it’s safe," she said. "A lot of recreationists are being shut out because of the illegal activity. "We need to work out some way where everybody can use and appreciate the public land," she added. The district is working on a land-use plan amendment that will address the off-road vehicle use problem, said district spokeswoman Karen Gillespie, adding, however, that it isn’t expected to be completed until 2008. It is also developing several off-road vehicle areas, including one near Johns Peak west of Jacksonville, she added. "But, generally, we manage for dispersed recreation," she said. "When we’re talking about something like mud bogging, we try to work in partnership with other agencies or landowners to find an appropriate location and develop that. "That needs to be done eventually in southwest Oregon," she added. Shrader agreed. "I’m not against mud bogging — I’m just against degradation of resources," he said. "In my personal opinion, we ought to have a mud-bogging area out in the valley somewhere," he added. "People could probably even make a dollar or two on it." However, he acknowledged it would be difficult to find an area where neighbors wouldn’t object. One of the few areas where mud bogging is clearly legal, in addition to private land, is an off-road vehicle area owned by Jackson County off Highway 140 just east of White City, he said. Shrader plans to work with off-road vehicle enthusiasts and groups to stop the illegal use by the minority. "We try to focus our enforcement in problem areas but as the population grows, so does the problem," he added. "ATVs (all-terrain vehicles) and other off-road vehicles are growing in popularity." Reach reporter Paul Fattig at 776-4496 or e-mail him at [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback 3 WEEKS FREE! 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