Truck vs. Badger Mountain Trail

Sometimes you just have to wonder what people were thinking, or if they were thinking at all.

According to a story in the Tri City Herald, a man severely damaged the Badger Mountain Trail after charging up the mountain in his 1985 Chevy pickup. The trail suffered quite a bit of damage, and the truck is now stuck in a ravine just off the trail. Benton County is considering what to charge the man with, and it's likely he'll be held reponsible for the costs of the damage and of pulling the truck out.

Many WTA volunteers have worked hard with friends of Badger Mountain to build a hiking trail up this popular summit.

The fellow who got his truck stuck after a 2 a.m. mudding adventure had some brilliant things to say about his experience:

"I was unaware there were trails on the hill. Why would anybody walk up a hill?"

He's even proposed bringing a bulldozer to Badger Mountain to get his truck out.
I have a better suggestion. How about practicing Leave No Trace ethics and disassembling and packing out his truck piece by piece? Not to mention joining a WTA work party.

What this sad story indicates is that we have a long way to go to properly prevent 4WD and ORV encroachment. To their credit, the local county ORV club has reportedly condemned this guy's actions.

But anything-goes ORV use is a big problem on public lands. That's why the U.S. Forest Service declared unmanaged ORV use one of the "Four Threats" to the health of our National Forests and Grasslands. It's why WTA is so involved in the ORV rulemaking process with the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, working to ban cross-country ORV travel and close unauthorized ORV paths. It's why we'll be supporting Washington State Department of Resources' request for $1.24 million in the next legislative session for responsible recreation management, including hiring additional enforcement employees. Education and enforcement are the key to letting people know that this sort of thing isn't acceptable.

I hope this individual is held responsible for his irresponsible actions. He's destroyed the work of hundreds of dedicated volunteers.