Rangers crack down on off-road drivers

Off-road drivers will face hefty fines if they return to an area they devastated recently off Steven's Canyon Road, near the Edgar Lake Clay pit northwest of Sisters.

District Ranger, Bill Anthony announced that the area has been posted and closed to off-road vehicles. The area is a clay flat and meadow that has sensitive plants.

"It's kind of a unique place," said district lands manager Jeff Sims. "You hate to see it kind of trashed up and turned into something else."

On Memorial Day weekend several people camped at the location and used the clay flat for "mud bogging." One of the vehicles broke down and the driver is being investigated and cited for resource damage.

Fines for this type of violation can run from $100 to over $1,000 if there is resource damage. The fine can include the cost of site restoration. Now that the area has been posted as closed, fines can be as high as $5,000 and/or imprisonment for up to six months.

The National Forest is a popular area for off-road vehicle use. However, vehicle use is limited to existing roads. Areas such as meadows and flats where resource damage can occur are not open for vehicles.

The Forest Service plans to restore the damage and monitor the area. Resource damage to the area is estimated at $500, though Sims noted that it is hard to place a dollar value on the disruption of wildlife habitat and the destruction of plant life.

He also expressed some concern that seeds of aggressive weeds could be brought into sensitive areas on the tires of off-road vehicles.

Sims acknowledged that it is hard to police off-roaders.

"It's difficult," he said. "You can't just stay out there and watch it all the time."