Mount Emily Recreation Area

[Grumpy]

Mt. Emily Rec area opens
Written by Bill Rautenstrauch, The Observer June 19, 2009 03:43 pm


Today, with little fanfare but a lot of relief on the part of those who helped make it happen, the MERA saw its official opening.

“It’s a good project, good work, and I commend everybody who has been involved in it,â€

[Grumpy]

This was sent to one of my fellow members in North East Oregon 4Wheelers

"Hi Tyson, Thanks for coming to the advisory committee meetings. Hopefully you guys can keep attending, it carries a lot of weight just showing up and commenting.

I am submitting a grant to install vaulted restrooms at the Fox Hill Staging Area. Could you email me a letter of support, explaining how you use the area, and a need for more permanent restroom facilities? If you know of others that could do the same that would be great.

Again, thanks for coming to the meetings, hope you guys keep coming!


Codi"


Codi would like for us to send them to his email account and here it is, cvavra@union-county.org I would put in (MERA) Mt. Emily Recreation Area or something like that in the Subject line.

I would like to thank anyone who helps out.
*************************************************************
From warrpath4x4 on PNW site.

[Grumpy]

Cody,

I would like to go on record as supporting your work at MERA! Vault toilets at the Fox Hill Staging Area will go a long way towards making this an area to be proud of. Opportunities to open a new area are few these days. Keep up the good work, and please advise of any work parties. I'll see what can be done to stir up the crew here in the Tri Cities.

Regards,

Dave Walters
Tri Cities Peak Putters 4x4 Club
Kennewick, WA

[Grumpy]

Thanks Dave, we will keep you in the loop. Hopefully we can build some fun 4x4 opportunities up there!



Cody Vavra

Assistant County Planner

1001 4th Street, Suite C

La Grande, OR 97850

Phone (541)963-1014, Fax (541)963-1039

[Grumpy]

4-wheelers tearing up Mt. Emily land
by Associated Press

Posted on April 16, 2010 at 4:23 PM


LA GRANDE, Ore. -- At about a dozen spots along roads in the Robbs Hill-Three Cabin Ridge area of Mount Emily, it looks like bulldozers and log trucks have turned the turf into a muddy bog.

Open meadows are all torn up. In some places ruts are almost 2 feet deep.

But loggers haven't been anywhere near the place. That's what has Kurt Wiedenmann so upset.

"If this was a logging show, we'd shut it down," says Wiedenmann, La Grande district ranger for the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest. "They would have had to leave until it dried out, and then they would have had to come back and repair it."

As Wiedenmann knows, all this damage was done basically for kicks, by people out for a good time in their four-wheel-drive vehicles. Mostly, it's been done by local high school and college students who don't consider the consequences, such as the damage to vegetation and wildlife habitat.

Wiedenmann said he is within an inch of making a decision he'd rather not.

"One of my options is to have a seasonal closure," he said. "I have the authority to close an area if we have ongoing damage. We could close it after the last hunting season in the fall and not open it again till it dries out in May or June."

People spinning cookies and digging ruts with their four-wheel-drive vehicles has been a problem in the area for a long time. Mount Emily is close to town, and accessible. People go there to party and tear up the land with their rigs.

"It tends to be a night time activity and there tends to be drinking associated with it," Wiedenmann said.

In spring time, when the ground is wet, it makes a real mess. Wiedenmann said that a concerned citizen called him a couple of weeks ago to report widespread damage. Once the ranger got a look at it, he realized it was worse than usual.

"I was taken aback by the extent of it," he said.

Since then, the Forest Service and the Union County Sheriff's Office have begun "emphasis patrols" in the problem area, which lies northwest of the county-owned Mount Emily Recreation Area.

Long term, forest officials hope to reduce the vandalism through education. But for now, they want to put a quick stop to heavy damage being done.

Mudders are warned: those caught damaging Forest Service land can be taken before a federal magistrate, fined up to $5,000, spend six months in jail, pay restitution and help with restoration.

In order to prosecute, authorities have to catch the person in the act.

"If we can catch them in the next few weeks we can send a message. If not it really leaves me no choice but to close the area until it dries out," Wiedenmann said.

If Wiedenmann does decide to close the area to vehicles, a gate will be put up at the junction of Forest Service Roads 8405 and 035.

The price for everybody is reduced access to Mount Emily's beautiful pine forests. Wiedenmann noted that vandalism over the years has led to the fencing off of private lands in the area. Some meadows and open spaces repaired by the Forest Service have been fenced as well.

Many thousands of dollars have been spent to repair unnecessary damage. Closing off land becomes a cost-saving move.

"Some people get their rig stuck in the mud and winch themselves out and do a little damage. If we catch them, we counsel them and they're apologetic," Wiedenmann said.

"But there's another contingent who do it maliciously. In their own mind they think it's fun and don't think about the resource damage."