In the LaGrande Oregon/Mt Emily area is a small piece of land known as "The Triangle". It is Public land and is within a 20 minute drive of town............for several years now it has been the center of local paintball activities. The paintball games themselves have a minimal impact, the competitors make trails, dig a few holes, use straw bales and other items for cover but unless nailed to trees or fences really cause little permanent damage. As part of a 55 mile ATV ride I, my wife, and my son took yesterday we came into the area from a part of the untouched world we regularly ride through. We found garbage, bottles, diapers, empty boxes, fire pits, paper sacks, cans........................I am sure you get the picture. Although it will take lots of time these items can be picked up and hauled off. The activity that cannot be cleaned up or excused is the impact from pickup travel in wet areas, trees cut for no reason, and intentional travel with vehicles into wet areas only to see "how far we can get" before needing to be pulled out. I suppose one can rationalize and say "oh well, as long as they stay there" but it doesn't happen that way. The Triangle has been trashed so bad its even unacceptable to the users..........they have moved on to a new site to start all over again.........why clean up when you can just move on? New ruts to make, new places to play in the mud, new areas to trash...
ATV use is in jeopardy everywhere, activities like I describe are not helping the cause......Tass

 

Unfortunately there are those ***** that just don't realize that. Only for the present for theirselves. If you have enough room to take it in surely have enough room to take it out. I even put my cigarette butts in my pocket rather than tossing. Any drink bottles go back in the cooler.

 

I guess I am not getting just who is putting the trash there? The off roaders? The paintballers? Everyone? Sounds like it is time to organize some clean up parties. Sorry to hear your place is getting trashed though. There is always that minority that just doesn't care, or can't be inconvenienced.

 

Without catching someone in the act I would guess those involved with paintball do the trashing and leave the mess behind. The owners of the 4wheel drive vehicles that delight in playing in the wet areas may or may not be paintballer's but they certainly travel with them. The areas selected for the game become "party areas" for others and the mess grows. It seem to be a trash and move activity. It would be extremely difficult to find evidence of our travels on the Rubicons, except for a few tracks in the dust or bent over grass stalks we leave nothing behind. I have contacted a few of those I know to be involved with paintball and suggested they police their activity a bit. You hear "not me", or "I did not do it", or "it can not be done", or a list of other disclaimers. Denial is a wonderful tool I guess............Tass

 

There is a nice staging area in my local mountains (Pinnacles for you who know the area). The off-roaders keep it very clean, but trouble is that the local kids come up there at night (because it is isolated!), to do their drinking and dope smoking. They get loud and roudy, absolutely trash the place, then drive off in the dark under the influence (mortality on the mountain roads is high).

If somebody unfamiliar with the situation (like environmentalists with an anti-off-road agenda) showed up the next morning, they would conclude that off-roaders had been there partying all night, and that off-roaders are the scum of the earth!

 

I spent 3 days in Coyote campground in the Hells Canyon NRA, right on the edge of wilderness. We traveled about 100 miles in the country I was raised in about 50 years ago. The last night we were in camp the party children showed up.........4 wheelers and motorcycles. While we were out for an evening ride they proceeded to cut cookies in the crushed rock road leading into the campground. The next morning the evidence was everywhere, empty bottles, empty cans, bags, boxes, junk, and all sorts of circles cut in the road. Just before we left the folks that volenteer their time and labor keeping these places clean arrived on the scene. We were already picking up what we could. They indicated they cared for 5 different campgrounds and the activities were the same. Roar in, trash the place and roar out. Sure be nice to have some names to turn in.....................Tass

 

i know that feeling, my and a few of my freinds have a nice little spot that we go riding and occasionaly camp up there but we keep it very clean and dont litter or anything. One day we go riding and my freind popped a tire on sometihng so we stop to check it out and it is glass. Some idiots went up there and drank and smoked and left all the bottles and cig buts all over. they also smashed some making glass all over the trail. i would love to find out who did it cause i got really pissed off.

steve

 

Unfortunately, someone leaves the mess, the ATV leaves some tracks, the assumption is the ATV left the mess........we carry a bag or two to pick up what we can, this is a practice my grandfather and father followed and passed down the line. It is an unusual day in the forests that does not result in one or two sacks of litter. I always found it amazing where beer cans can be found. You might think you are the only one to ever be in an area and there you are............someone left their mark...............Tass

 

Then why shouldn't those who USE said forest actually pay for what volunteers like yourself can't possibly keep up with?

I'm of the opinion that if land use managers actually posted the breakdown of what goes into properly maintaining these places at the trailhead (along with restoration for the folks you describe).....and the orv community actually got BEHIND stiiffer penalties for creating these costs (whether you ride or not)...wouldn't finally catching the bastards people are getting all worked up about here actually MEAN something while finally <u>affecting</u> costs/retriibution associated with the former?

Far to many orv clubs are now organized on the premise of (1) creating a tidy non-profit wriite-off for its founder(s) and (2) creating a vehicle for merely socializing sans the kind of "no-b.s." attitude that effectively scares many away from joining in the first place. (how many membership sites show a picture of their group gathered around the local DNR officer or advocate "pay-to-play" right on up to the level where those dollars spent each year <u>start</u> getting the attention of a community with no interest in <u>assessing</u> the actual COSTS associated with properly maintained orv recreation).

A good example is these cyclists within our own community. Ask any one of them if they feel that increasing their sticker price to pay for their 'brothers' impact 'also' in motorized recreation is more than fair....and you get the same answer as related to the trails they sneak behind our backs believing only they should ride. How do you start talking about what we do, how we'll pay for it and how to prevent same in the future...if the original folks ALSO responsiible for much of this damage build communities/brainwash kids as to these wholly separate 'rights' that are tearing our communities in half?(which would be correct if they were even half of the actual community....).

When you put the actual <u>cost</u> to recreate directly in front of orv leaders/community members as opposed to what they 'think' should happen or even what they complain about regarding others....it really shuts a good share of them up (see the long Michigan thread) as they realize that any increased fees to actually PAY for these expenses comes <u>at</u> <u>the</u> <u>expense</u> of many club members contributiing LESS to their "who's going to bring the weenies/I'll write off the entire weekend as part of my non-profit" orv club.

Sad, but true and thanks Tess for promoting the "bring a bag along" concept on thiis forum. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]