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Off-roaders damage gulch, get stuck in mud
Drivers could face state and federal charges.
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FarkSometime last Saturday, two full-size vehicles entered Johnston Gulch southwest of Spearfish and drove past two signs warning that no motor vehicles were allowed in the area.
They promptly got stuck in the mud generated by weeks of heavy rain in the Northern Hills.
On Sunday, the drivers called a friend to come and pull them out. That vehicle also got stuck.
They called two more people. Result: two more stuck vehicles.
“In the end, we had five vehicles stuck in the mud that couldn’t get out,” said Rhonda O’Byrne, Northern Hills District ranger for the Black Hills National Forest.
Since then, the vehicles, all full-sized pickups or SUVs, have been removed. The drivers are under investigation and could face federal and state charges related to damage of natural resources, O’Byrne said.
The Forest Service said no arrests have been made, and the agency is not releasing the names of those being investigated.
The drivers of the big vehicles did a lot of damage to the terrain, including diverting a stream out of its channel, O’Byrne said. They left ruts causing erosion in Johnston Gulch, between the Tinton Road and Higgins Gulch about 5 miles from Spearfish.
Frank Carroll, acting supervisor of the Black Hills National Forest, said damage to the forest by vehicles driving off-road has been increasing in recent years, although he said the offenders make up a small percentage of off-road drivers.
“The 95 percent of everybody else that’s doing everything right are staying off the muddy roads and staying out of the muddy meadows and not driving into the stream courses,” he said.
Carroll said he believes at least some of the drivers in the Johnston Gulch incident were cited for similar violations in the past.
“There’s always a few like these folks. We’re going to respond to this with everything we’ve got,” Carroll said. “Between the state and federal government, we’re going to throw the book at these people.”
Neither Carroll nor O’Byrne was sure of the exact penalties the drivers could face, if convicted.
O’Byrne said there is a standard $275 fine for damaging forest property. “However, depending on how extensive the damage is, a judge has the authority to order them to pay restitution to the Forest Service for costs to rehabilitate the area,” she said.
O’Byrne said the Forest Service is still assessing the damage and plans to rehabilitate the area.
The Johnston Gulch drivers won’t get any sympathy from Greg Mumm of Rapid City, executive director of the Blue Ribbon Coalition, a national advocacy group for responsible off-road recreation and management on public and private land.
“We’re pretty frustrated with these sorts of things,” Mumm said Friday. “There’s no excuse for it. It’s certainly nothing that we would promote in any way shape or form. In fact, we’re tired of getting a black eye from renegades like this.”
Meanwhile, O’Byrne and Carroll said the soil in the Black Hills National Forest is particularly susceptible to damage now because of record precipitation this spring.
“We still need to get the word out to folks that conditions are extremely delicate,” Carroll said. “People basically need to stay on the road, don’t go cross country. In fact, make sure the roads are not soft. If the roads are soft, people just need to park the rigs and go do something else.”
Carroll, O’Byrne and Mumm say a new trail system map being developed for the forest will help clear up any confusion about where off-roaders can and cannot go.
Forest officials hope to finish the travel management plan and trail system by next summer, O’Byrne said.
Currently, all of the Black Hills National Forest is open to off-road travel, unless specifically marked closed.
The new travel plan will reverse that system, closing all of the forest except for designated trails.
But Mumm said last week’s incident didn’t involve confusion.
“This is very obvious resource damage,” he said. “It is also very obvious stupidity.”
Contact Steve Miller at 394-8417 or steve.miller@rapidcityjournal.com
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