As with so many situations, I suspect this is one where the 20% rule applies: 20% of the people do 80% of the damage. The point though is that this minority, however small, is doing a lot of damage. Especially in the wilder parts of the west, regulation and restriction are often frowned upon. However, not many in our towns and cities would defend the right of the graffiti artist to spray-paint on public buildings - and those, at least, can be cleaned up.
Here's one person's illustrated account and opinion of recent wilderness abuse.
- JN
The Mount Murray hiking trail has been used by skiers and hikers for 75 years, accessing this beautiful alpine area overlooking the Bowron Mountains. Now quad riders have turned the small hiking path up the side of Jubilee Creek into a vegetation-free mud bog, churning the soil right up to the alpine. Where their route was impeded by trees, they simply cut them down to allow easy access for their machines. Pristine wilderness, hundreds of years of biological process, and one of the few remaining un-roaded wilderness has been destroyed, perhaps permanently.
MORE
A once-beautiful and green, steep alpine meadow, destroyed in less than a minute, and destined to vanish because of the erosive quality of the deep ruts now running its length.
A hiker at the end of the marked hiking trail, where it enters the un-tracked meadows. For 45 years (according to the growth rings) hikers have passed this innocuous tree as it struggled to establish itself in the alpine. It, and a dozen others like it, fell victim to chainsaws and axes carried by the quads.
New ruts in the meadow created by the quads. Runoff has already eroded some of the rich but delicate soil layer, exposing bedrock. Tree roots have been debarked by spinning tires.
A quad track, approximately eight feet south of the hiking trail, through virgin, wet meadow. The hiker is standing up to his knee in rut and exposed muck. A huge chunk of sod lies dead in the right front corner of the picture, torn out by spinning tires.
Buckle up, B.C. tells ATV riders
November 11, 2009
The regulations announced yesterday in Kamloops include safety measures, noise and emissions standards for dirt bikes and ATVs on Crown lands, as well as vehicle licensing requirements for anyone who purchases an off road vehicle.
Full story
