>>My last two visits, on foot, I have been passed by speeding
>>motorbikes, and Sunday, one was joined by a four-wheeler carrying
>>three young people. Also, the Sunday riders appeared to be the people
>>who were camped near the northeast end, with two tents, a jeep can of
>>gasoline and a huge bonfire, burning unattended in late morning.
>>Out on the southern end, past the towers and in the area of native
>>Palouse vegetation, the damage from off-trail riding is already
>>beginning. Ten years ago when we started walking there, no trail
>>could be found. Today, a well-worn trail is on its way to becoming a
>>road. And vegetation is quickly being run down off the trail.
>>I wonder whether the land owners know this is happening. If something
>>isn't done about it quickly, I'm afraid the entire ridge will be
>>trashed in little time.
I used to live next to Paradise Ridge. It does sound like
things have taken a turn for the worse.
I had floated an idea about a Paradise Ridge
Open Space Preserve with a controlled access
recreation trail. I contacted the landowners to gauge their
interest. No response. Landowners appear to think
that just because they own the land, they can better control what
goes on up there. Jim has just provided evidence that such
thinking is misleading. It is *because people are trespassing*
that they have no respect for the land. Why would people
who do respect the law somehow respect the land?
IMO, it would be far better as a landowner to donate an
easment along with other landowners so that a plan can be
developed to maintain and control the area. If the landowners
would agree, there would be community members willing
to volunteer to maintain, police, and clean up the trail in
return for low impact (non-motorized) recreation. Without
a sanctioned community resource, that area will continue to
degrade into a free-for-all. When all is said and done,
pride is the best protection for the land. That pride needs to
be institutionalized. You don't protect land by putting up
fences and no-trespassing signs...you do it be giving people
a stake in the outcome.
I always thought that this was the one project that the
Palouse Land Trust should sink its teeth into. Close
to Moscow...incredible scenery...remnant vegetation...
I could not pull it off, although I tried. Perhaps it is
time for someone else to try again.
----------
Greg Brown (gregb@siu.edu)
Asst. Professor, Dept. of Forestry
Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL 62901
(618) 453-7465