What Can We Do??

[Grumpy]

WENATCHEE — One night of destructive fun has altered the course of nature in a peaceful meadow south of Wenatchee and left six off-road truck drivers mired in legal trouble.


Five men and one juvenile accused of destroying the meadow with their four-wheel-drive trucks last fall called it the "mudhole" in statements to police and referred to their night of tearing it up as "play."

Wildlife officers called it the most egregious act of nature destruction they've ever seen by off-road vehicles.

"To take that area and turn it in one night from a meadow to a mudhole, it's the worst damage I've ever seen done in such a short period of time," said Doug Ward, who has been an enforcement officer for the state Department of Fish and Wildlife for 29 years.


The vehicles opened up underground springs that feed Orr Creek in the Stemilt Basin, rerouted the creek, crushed an irrigation culvert and damaged division intakes used by the Wenatchee Heights Reclamation District.

The creek drainage is the primary source of water for the irrigation district and its 300-acre-foot Black Lake reservoir, which supplies water to orchards south of Wenatchee.

Ward and fellow officer Graham Grant were called to the Orr Creek meadow last September after a state fire crew reported heavy damage by four-wheelers. The meadow lies along a green-dot road system, which means vehicles can only drive on dirt roads identified on signs with a green dot and cannot go off-road.

When the officers arrived at the scene, they found the once dry, grassy 2.5-acre meadow transformed into a muddy track, with deep ruts dug by oversized tires and water seeping out of the ground.

"It looked like the Army used it for tank training," Ward said.

Grant, an investigator for the agency, went to work trying to find those responsible for the destruction.

The only evidence found in the muddy meadow was a license plate, presumably dropped from one of the vehicles. In the camp area across the road, they found a small pickup hidden in the brush and stuck on a berm.

After interviewing other people camping in the area of the meadow, Grant learned that there had been a large party near the meadow two nights earlier with more than 100 young people. Large trucks were heard tearing around the meadow in the early-morning hours. While Grant was talking to other campers, three people returned to the area in a muddy four-wheel-drive truck to retrieve the pickup in the bushes.

Grant said he talked to the three people and learned some first names of people involved in the meadow damage.

Armed with some partial names and a license plate, Grant spent the next six weeks searching vehicle registration records, staking out homes and searching the Wenatchee area for muddy four-wheel-drive vehicles.

"I visited several residences — in the morning, at night and during the daytime — to try and find the vehicles," he said, adding that many of the suspects knew he was looking for them because they'd heard it from people he had already interviewed. "Some had been hidden in barns or orchards to avoid detection."

He added, "It took a lot of persistence to keep looking, to keep talking to people."

In the course of dozens of interviews and home stakeouts, Grant said he identified six possible suspects.


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The picture that I couldn't get to go with this is enough to make you sick!! The description of the damage just doesn't cover what happened.

[iaccocca]

Hey Dave, here is your pic and a map of the area...

[Grumpy]

Thanks, Lee! As we know, my puter skills aren't smarter than a 5th grader

[TJDave]

Makes me sick to my stomach. These dumba$$es need to have their rigs confiscated and auctioned off. They do it to drug dealers cars, and destroying this serene meadow is far worse than that IMO.

[Grumpy]

I've asked the guys up there to keep us posted on what's going on. One of the EWOR members is who turned it in, and it seems he knows a couple of the idiots involved. He gets to be in court the next few days. One, who has a felony conviction, is already in stir, and sounds like he will be for a while. I'd like to know how many of us would be willing to make a run up to help if an organized mitigation project is called.

[iaccocca]

I'd like to know how many of us would be willing to make a run up to help if an organized mitigation project is called.

Depending on the date, I'd be up for it.

[Grumpy]

Off-roading turned meadow into mudhole
By Michelle McNeil

Wenatchee World

PREV of NEXT


WS DEPT OF FISH AND WILDLIFE / AP

Six drivers in four-wheel-drive vehicles are accused of tearing up Orr Creek meadow near Wenatchee.
WENATCHEE — One night of destructive fun has altered the course of nature in a peaceful meadow south of the city and left six off-road truck drivers mired in legal trouble.

Five men and one juvenile accused of destroying the meadow with their four-wheel-drive trucks last fall called it the "mudhole" in statements to police and referred to their night of tearing it up as "play."

Wildlife officers called it an egregious destruction of nature by off-road vehicles.

"To take that area and turn it in one night from a meadow to a mudhole, it's the worst damage I've ever seen done in such a short period of time," said Doug Ward, who has been an enforcement officer for the state Department of Fish and Wildlife for 29 years.

Creek rerouted

The vehicles opened up underground springs that feed Orr Creek in the Stemilt Basin, rerouted the creek, crushed an irrigation culvert and damaged intakes used by the Wenatchee Heights Reclamation District.

The creek drainage is the primary source of water for the irrigation district and its 300-acre-foot Black Lake reservoir, which supplies water to orchards south of Wenatchee.

Ward and fellow Officer Graham Grant were called to the Orr Creek meadow last September after a state fire crew reported heavy damage by four-wheelers.

They found a license plate in the muddy meadow, and in the camp area across the road, a pickup hidden in the brush.

Records searched

Grant spent the next six weeks searching vehicle-registration records, staking out homes and searching the Wenatchee area for muddy four-wheel-drive vehicles.

"I visited several residences in the morning, at night and during the daytime to try and find the vehicles," he said



He added, "It took a lot of persistence to keep looking, to keep talking to people."

In the course of dozens of interviews and home stakeouts, Grant said he identified six possible suspects.

"When I finally came knocking on their doors, they would say, 'I knew you were coming,' " Grant said. "Word got around through their buddies. When I interviewed one, I told them to tell their friends that I would be coming for them, too."

Grant won a state award for his investigation. All six suspects were charged with felony first-degree malicious mischief.

The state Department of Natural Resources estimated the cost of immediate repairs to be about $14,000.

The Wenatchee Heights Reclamation District estimated its repairs at $2,500. But the damage could be even greater if the water flow through the meadow is permanently altered.

The state Department of Natural Resources, which manages the land, and the reclamation district plan to work in the meadow this spring.

One of them, 26-year-old James M. Donaghue Jr. of Wenatchee, pleaded guilty in February in Chelan County Superior Court and was sentenced to 22 months in prison for the malicious mischief.

Four other men are scheduled to go to trial next week, and a juvenile is scheduled for trial on Friday.

Since their arrests, one of the defendants has been arrested again for illegal off-road driving in another area.

Misdemeanor or felony

Normally, illegal off-road driving is a misdemeanor offense, but it can lead to a felony arrest if the damage is excessive.

"We're looking to educate the community there can be serious consequences," Ward said.

He added that he hopes the agency's aggressive investigation of the Orr Creek incident and the felony charges will deter others from doing similar damage with their off-road vehicles. He said not only does it harm the landscape, it's also a danger to the vehicle occupants and poses a fire risk during the summer.

Perennial problem

Illegal off-road driving is a perennial problem in the Stemilt Basin, on Burch Mountain and at Blue Grade in Douglas County, he said. Two years ago, an East Wenatchee man was killed while driving off-road at Blue Grade.

Enforcement officers for several agencies have increased their patrols of the areas to look for offenders, Ward said.

Gates, boulders and deep ditches called tank busters have been put in to deter the drivers from going off-road, but Ward said modern lift kits, suspension and shock absorbers allow trucks to get into rougher terrain than ever before.

He said there are not enough officers to watch all the time, and damage is still occurring in many areas.

"Every year it leads to the closing of primitive roads and other undeveloped recreation areas to the public to prevent further damage. Some people say it's a victimless crime, but really everybody's a victim when you have to close areas to the public," Ward said.

Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company

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