These Hills Are Alive With Vandalism Recreation Area Near St. Maries Repeatedly The Target Of Vandals

The St. Maries Vandals had a banner year in 1995.

Nobody’s cheering.

Residents say they’ve seen an unprecedented spree of vandalism at the 1,200-acre Christmas Hills recreation area this year.

The area is popular with dirt bikers, snowmobilers, archers and mountain bikers. But Christmas Hills’ biggest fans seem to be young, beer-fueled, gun-toting partyers.

“There’s always been vandalism to a certain extent,” said Dan Darrar, president of the St. Joe Cycle Club, a dirt-bike group that manages the area. “But it’s never been like it has these past two years.”

The area is leased by the state Parks and Recreation Department, using funds paid by snowmobilers and dirt bikers. The 25-year lease runs out in five years, and the cycle club is worried the vandalism will cost it the lease.

“It wasn’t made for people to go up there with their 4-by-4 pickups and tear things up and make ruts,” said Darrar.

The cycle club raises money by holding dirt-bike races and soliciting donations. About a year ago, the club spent $5,000 to put up a concrete bathroom.

Today, that building is pockmarked by gunfire. The door no longer opens, its lock shattered by bullets.

Nearby is a building used as a shelter by snowmobilers.

“They’ve beaten holes clear through the cinder block, just pounding on it with rocks,” said club member Eddie Epler.

Another building, made of logs, is part of the original homestead. Partyers hooked chains to pickup trucks and tore down one wall of the structure.

“Here they were, in a whole forest, and they had to jerk out the walls for firewood,” said Darrar. “It’s not like they’re in the desert and can’t find wood.”

Once inside, the partyers blasted away at the ceiling with guns, riddling the metal roof the cycle club recently had put up.

“There are so many bullet holes in the roof that it looks like you’re standing outside, looking up at the stars,” said Darrar.

The club put up a sign; it was torn down and burned. The club built a firepit; the vandals ignored it, burning old tires instead. The club painted and set up litter barrels; the barrels were used for target practice.

To make it easier to clean up smashed beer bottles, the club dug out the floor of the shelter and set up forms to pour a concrete floor. When the club volunteers returned the next day with the concrete, vandals had torn up the wooden forms and stakes overnight.

“It gets discouraging,” Epler said.

Darrar said he went up to the site one day only to see a group of local youths jumping a junk Datsun over dirt mounds.

“There were parts flying all over the place,” he said.

That time, Darrar made sure the youths got a truck to remove the battered car. But most of the litter and vandalism goes unpunished. The cycle club wants the Benewah County Sheriff’s Department to do more.

“It wouldn’t take long,” said Darrar. “If they busted a couple of kids up there, they wouldn’t mess it up.”

Benewah County Undersheriff Ed Westbrook said it’s not quite that easy. The area’s size and remoteness make it difficult to patrol, he said, especially when the forest roads turn muddy.

“It’s a real rural area,” he said. “We don’t hear about it (the vandalism) until after it’s over, then we have to go out and prove it.”

But he said the deputies are making a point of getting up there more often now.

“If nothing else, we can make our presence felt,” he said. “And you never know when we’re going to show up.”

Many of the partiers are 21 or older, so they can’t be prosecuted for drinking, he said. But anyone littering or vandalizing, Westbrook said, will be cited.

As for the bullet damage, he said, it’s almost impossible to prevent.

“You get a couple of kids late at night, and they’re just being malicious,” he said. “Unless you catch them in the act, it’s hard to stop.”

Westbrook said anyone knowing who did the vandalism should report it to the sheriff’s office at 245-2555 or (800) 222-1914. Callers can be anonymous, he said.

The obvious solution is to gate off the area, but the cycle club - no fan of gated roads - doesn’t want to do that.

“A gate is the last resort,” said Epler. “We don’t want that. Everything is gated.”

Plus, Darrar said, it would be expensive, inconvenient for legitimate riders, and the gates likely would just get ripped out anyway.

The club may put a caretaker at the site, or may set a curfew. Neither solution is easy, though, club members say. It would be expensive to run power to the site for a caretaker’s home, for example, and a curfew would curtail camping.

For now, the club is planning to reopen the bathroom, shore up the wall of the damaged cabin, and keep cleaning up the area.

“You can’t give up,” said Epler.

, DataTimes