DesertBlog

ORVers Trash Restored Nature Preserve

A very sad alert sent along by Phil Klasky of Community ORV Watch:

Off-Roaders Cause Extensive Damage to the Poste Homestead Natural and Historic Area on Thanksgiving Weekend

Despite closed routes and a recently installed kiosk by the Bureau of Land Management with a map and instructions, dozens of off-road vehicle (ORV) riders converged on the Poste Homestead Natural and Historic Area in Wonder Valley during the Thanksgiving holiday and destroyed all of the recently restored areas, created a web of illegal routes, crushed plants and animal burrows, and left beer bottles and trash. The historic adobe ruins were also damaged. The riders engaged in wholesale destruction at the site – a project that represents years of conservation and restoration activities by local residents, businesses and non-profit groups and hundreds of volunteer hours.

This is the work of a contingent of riders who have absolutely no respect for the law or our community. They purposely engaged in destruction of an historic site with invaluable natural resources. They only got away with it because of a lack of law enforcement. You cannot educate these people – you can only make them pay for their crimes. That is why we are calling for stiffer fines and jail time, the confiscation of vehicles, greater restrictions and coordinated and concentrated law enforcement.

Last September, the Bureau of Land Management organized a large volunteer effort as part of their National Public Lands Day activities. They chose the Poste Homestead because of its invaluable historical and natural resources. Over 100 people participated in a clean-up of the area and the restoration of a number of illegal ORV routes. The project was sponsored by local groups and businesses including Community ORV Watch, Hutchins Motor Sports, the Morongo Basin Conservation Association, the Mojave Desert Land Trust and the 29 Palms Historical Society.

Local residents fear more damage, more trespass on private and public property, and more harassment and intimidation in the coming months when “weekenders” and riders from out of the area converge on Wonder Valley to destroy our lands and quality of life during the holidays. Law enforcement agencies remind us that it is essential that residents report each and every ORV violation in order to assist them in their efforts to protect our community.