Illegal OHV users damage signs, ride in the river
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Yavapai Group, Grand Canyon Chapter, Sierra Club
Newsletter September '08
Off Highway Vehicles Damaging Verde River
By Gary Beverly
It was a fine spring day in early May. I was out for a spring hike up the
Verde River, something I'd wanted to do for years. My wife dropped me off
at Perkinsville Bridge and I headed up river seeking the headwaters near the
Hwy 89 bridge at Sullivan Lake between Paulden and Chino Valley.
I didn't get 100 feet before I had to stop and talk with Hank and Sylvia, a
middle aged, well weathered couple who were 6 years into their western
odyssey, riding 4 horses and sleeping in a tent. Their camp was clean. The
next camp featured broken beer bottles and a burned lawn chair in an ugly
fire pit, surrounded by a scatter of trash. They explained that there had
been a big party of ATV campers who had roared around drinking, making noise
and dust, for a day and a night. In his mellow western way, Hank was really
mad. I listened for a while. When he calmed down, we picked up the mess. I
got the feeling that this was a harbinger of things to come.
For the next three days I didn't see a soul, but I saw where the devil had
ridden his ATV. At Sand Trap Tank, at Bear Siding, at MC Canyon, at Pothole
Tank, at Duff Springs, at Hell Canyon, at Bull Basin, at 9097, at the
Pipeline - everywhere a road came close to the rim an ATV has illegally
penetrated to the river. They ride in the river, on the banks, and across
the river, smashing plants and disturbing wildlife. They leave gates open
and they cut fences, allowing cattle to ravish the lush riparian vegetation.
They leave a trail of trash, mainly Bud Lite cans. They make new roads that
erode into a mess. They disturb the peace. They make dust. They ride
across archaeological sites. They break the USFS signs that say "No Motor
Vehicles". UGLY! ILLEGAL! WRONG! I took photos with GPS coordinates and
field notes.
Over 90% of Arizona rivers and wetlands have degraded or disappeared in
the last hundred years of development. The Verde is one of only two natural,
flowing riparian habitats in Arizona (the other being the San Pedro River).
It is home to a half dozen threatened species. Over 5000 plant and animal
species, including 135 unique species and 515 bird species, call it home.
The Verde River has 10% of all the cottonwood and willow remaining in the
entire state.
The Upper Verde River is very beautiful. Spring flowers, songbirds beyond
counting, cattail, cottonwoods, willows, bald eagle, hawks, owls, turkey
vultures, swallows, snakes, lizards, frogs, fish, granite, limestone,
sandstone, riffles and rapids - it's an endless list of natural wonder.
Words are inadequate.
Pictures help; watch my video "Beautiful & Beleaguered" to better understand
what I found: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLxLjqq7yIc
The Prescott National Forest is responsible for habitat protection along the
Upper Verde. To see why so many ATV's were destroying much of the river, I
began surveying all the trailheads along the rim. I bounced along rough
rocky ranch roads for days, taking photos and notes. PNF has tried to
control ATV access by posting signs, by barricading trails with huge
boulders or with deep ditches, by fencing. But I found signs broken, fences
cut, gates open, barricade boulders winched aside, new illegal roads
created, and trenches filled in by ATV riders determined to wreck the river.
I found roads large enough for big 4WD pickups. Problem: lack of
maintenance, monitoring, and enforcement.
Next, I prepared two slide presentations (130 slides!), one documenting the
damage to the river and the other showing the condition of the trailheads.
In June, I presented this to a dozen of the PNF management and conservation
staff and told them that I could see that they had tried, but their efforts
had failed, and that they had a duty to protect the river. They agreed.
Conversations with individual PNF staffers have convinced me that, without
exception, they sincerely want the river (and the forest) to be managed
better. The problem is that they do not have the resources to do that,
which frustrates all of them. Resource shortages are a national problem for
our forests. ATV control problems are shared with nearly all forests. The
Verde ATV problem is our local example of a national issue.
Prescott National Forest is our land - it is a public resource for all citizens to enjoy. In general, our local forest is not very well maintained, and it's not just the Upper Verde. Wolf Creek and the Hassayampa River also suffer ATV abuse. Many campgrounds are trashy (especially Bear Siding) or damaged by vandals. Illegal dump sites are found near every dispersed campsite.
Although I'm empathetic with PNF's funding issues, the bottom line is that
the river must be protected. Excuses and explanations do not accomplish the
mission. PNF needs to try something different or nothing will change. We
are working to assist PNF on many levels; more on that in another article.
Since June, PNF has assigned a Forest Protection Officer to patrol the
trailheads on the rim of the Upper Verde, one visit per week. He has issued
citations, installed some new signage, and repaired barriers at some,
but not all of the worst illegal access points. Down on the river, time,
rain, and flood have erased some of the damage to the riparian zone, but
many damaged sites will require expensive restoration work. Illegal ATV
access has declined but not disappeared.
My concern is that this modest progress will be quickly erased when the
patrols end in October. What then? No answer from PNF.
The Upper Verde is kind of a secret; too few people know what a beautiful
spot this is, and too few are working to protect this rare, endangered
riparian resource. The Sierra Club is currently working with the Center for
Biological Diversity, the Arizona Wilderness Coalition, and the Prescott
National Forest to have the Upper Verde designated as a wild and scenic
river, which would afford some protection. Now, the river is unprotected
and threatened on all sides.
The Upper Verde River needs some love. You can help: contact me to learn
how.
This page was last updated on May 26, 2009