YellowSub1962
06-05-2001, 08:33 AM
<font color="yellow">Any Wyoming clubs going to step up and help with this clean-up and explain that thi was an isolated incident and that the 4 wheeling community does not condone this?
From the Wyoming Tribune Eagle</font c>
June 4
U.S. Forest Service asked to enforce off-road laws
By: Joanne Bowlby
Wyoming Tribune-Eagle
CHEYENNE - With frogs bellowing in the background, David Waggoner
walked around the edge of a pond in the Pole Mountain area Thursday,
shaking his head in disgust.
Deep ruts and tire marks riddled the mud along the pond's bank. The fresh
tracks indicated a recent off-road vehicle romp.
Waggoner is just one of the people who petitioned the U.S. Forest Service
Wednesday to enforce laws already in place to keep off-road vehicles on the
roads of the Pole Mountain area and away from riparian and habitat areas.
"It's been turned into a wasteland," Eric Bonds of Biodiversity Associates,
author of the petition, said. "They ripped it up and shredded it to pieces."
Waggoner said he has seen off-road damage for the four years he has
frequented the area in search of good places to climb.
"Anywhere there's mud, they're here," he said. "It's not an isolated situation."
He said there are ponds and other low-lying spots in the Medicine Bow
National Forest's Pole Mountain area that have been damaged, too.
Mike Sanders of the Forest Service said it's true that some areas have been
damaged by people violating the restriction prohibiting vehicle travel more than
100 feet from the road.
"Because of (Pole Mountain's) popularity, the number of people visiting every
year is increasing," he said. "Unfortunately so is bad behavior."
Each year more than 100 citations are issued for the Pole Mountain area
alone, Sanders said. Citations are issued for everything from littering to
tearing up the land to harassing wildlife.
"Sometimes you have to clean up after some people," he said. "That's the
facts of life."
Sanders, his staff and several volunteers installed more than 1,400 feet of
buck and pole fence earlier this month in an effort to keep off-road vehicles off
areas that were recently restored and freshly seeded.
He will lead another group of volunteers this Saturday in cleaning up trash in
the area.
Sanders said Waggoner has visited with him before on other issues and was
instrumental in the Forest Service's decision to permanently close more than
6 miles of user-created road this year.
He said he will read the petition carefully and respond soon.
"We'll address their concerns as best we can," Sanders said. But he added
that the Pole Mountain area encompasses more than 55,000 acres and is
very difficult to police with the staff available to the Forest Service.
Waggoner said he is concerned with the future of the Pole Mountain area.
"It's getting worse every year," Waggoner said. "There are more four-wheelers
all the time."
He signed the petition along with members of the Sierra Club, Friends of
Medicine Bow, White River Conservation Network, Southern Rockies Forest
Network, The Wildlands Center for Preventing Roads, The Wilderness
Society, the Wyoming Wilderness Coalition, and the Wyoming Outdoor
Council.
Biodiversity Associates in Laramie wrote the petition and delivered it to the
Forest Service.
Biodiversity Associates Director Jeff Kessler said the petition wasn't meant to
be adversarial.
"We're just pointing out things that need action," he said. "We always try and
go through every possible avenue before pursuing legal action."
For more information
More information on off-road vehicle limits is available by calling the U.S.
Forest Service in Laramie at (307) 745-2300.
From the Wyoming Tribune Eagle</font c>
June 4
U.S. Forest Service asked to enforce off-road laws
By: Joanne Bowlby
Wyoming Tribune-Eagle
CHEYENNE - With frogs bellowing in the background, David Waggoner
walked around the edge of a pond in the Pole Mountain area Thursday,
shaking his head in disgust.
Deep ruts and tire marks riddled the mud along the pond's bank. The fresh
tracks indicated a recent off-road vehicle romp.
Waggoner is just one of the people who petitioned the U.S. Forest Service
Wednesday to enforce laws already in place to keep off-road vehicles on the
roads of the Pole Mountain area and away from riparian and habitat areas.
"It's been turned into a wasteland," Eric Bonds of Biodiversity Associates,
author of the petition, said. "They ripped it up and shredded it to pieces."
Waggoner said he has seen off-road damage for the four years he has
frequented the area in search of good places to climb.
"Anywhere there's mud, they're here," he said. "It's not an isolated situation."
He said there are ponds and other low-lying spots in the Medicine Bow
National Forest's Pole Mountain area that have been damaged, too.
Mike Sanders of the Forest Service said it's true that some areas have been
damaged by people violating the restriction prohibiting vehicle travel more than
100 feet from the road.
"Because of (Pole Mountain's) popularity, the number of people visiting every
year is increasing," he said. "Unfortunately so is bad behavior."
Each year more than 100 citations are issued for the Pole Mountain area
alone, Sanders said. Citations are issued for everything from littering to
tearing up the land to harassing wildlife.
"Sometimes you have to clean up after some people," he said. "That's the
facts of life."
Sanders, his staff and several volunteers installed more than 1,400 feet of
buck and pole fence earlier this month in an effort to keep off-road vehicles off
areas that were recently restored and freshly seeded.
He will lead another group of volunteers this Saturday in cleaning up trash in
the area.
Sanders said Waggoner has visited with him before on other issues and was
instrumental in the Forest Service's decision to permanently close more than
6 miles of user-created road this year.
He said he will read the petition carefully and respond soon.
"We'll address their concerns as best we can," Sanders said. But he added
that the Pole Mountain area encompasses more than 55,000 acres and is
very difficult to police with the staff available to the Forest Service.
Waggoner said he is concerned with the future of the Pole Mountain area.
"It's getting worse every year," Waggoner said. "There are more four-wheelers
all the time."
He signed the petition along with members of the Sierra Club, Friends of
Medicine Bow, White River Conservation Network, Southern Rockies Forest
Network, The Wildlands Center for Preventing Roads, The Wilderness
Society, the Wyoming Wilderness Coalition, and the Wyoming Outdoor
Council.
Biodiversity Associates in Laramie wrote the petition and delivered it to the
Forest Service.
Biodiversity Associates Director Jeff Kessler said the petition wasn't meant to
be adversarial.
"We're just pointing out things that need action," he said. "We always try and
go through every possible avenue before pursuing legal action."
For more information
More information on off-road vehicle limits is available by calling the U.S.
Forest Service in Laramie at (307) 745-2300.