Officials Should Dig These Outlaws

Freewheeling mountain bikers have left a trail of illegal activity on the South Hill below High Drive.

Armed with picks and shovels, unruly sprocketheads have been carving paths along the slopes above Latah Creek.

Spokane City Parks and Recreation officials have caught some of these criminals dirty-handed and privately ordered them to stop. Through a newspaper article last weekend, the officials publicly chastised the bikers for their ill-conceived desecration of public land.

Only one sensible thing remains for public officials to do to these lawless dirt bags.

Embrace them.

After carefully examining the years of clandestine trail work, I can see only one major problem with the South Hill trails.

They’re not finished.

That they are illegal or unauthorized is merely a minor point. This hasn’t been pristine for several generations. The only thing unusual about the new trails is that they’re well thought out.

Where the guerilla trail crews have spent the most time, the paths are complete with rock borders, bracing and waterbars. They tie in with old trails that have been there for years.

How many cash-strapped parks or agencies would die for a group of volunteers willing to pour sweat and blood into a project that will benefit the city for generations?

Tony Madunich and Taylor Bressler of the Parks Department have some legitimate concerns. But threatening to post the city land as off-limits to mountain bikers is ridiculous.

The city classifies the hillside as a “conservation” area, which means it’s too steep to sell or develop into a golf course.

A handful of South Hill residents, and one woman in particular, have pounded parks officials with complaints, charging that the mountain bikers are chasing away deer.

With housing developments closing in from all sides, construction of The Creek at Qualchan Golf Course and strip malls OK’d to border the four lanes of Highway 195, bicyclists are the least of worries for the deer.

Short of bringing in the National Guard for round-the-clock enforcement, mountain bikers are on the South Hill to stay.

So get real.

Time has shown that slopes on the city land can handle considerable activity without, as Bressler fears, sliding into Latah Creek.

The steep hillside above the creek from Interstate 90 south to Hangman Road has been a playground for decades. Trails on the lower slope were created by horse riders. Bulldozers came in to build fire breaks and a powerline.

At the same time, the area was being heavily used by off-road motorcyclists, who gouged out trails with their tires, creating scars in some places that may never heal.

Quietly, however, mountain bikers began infiltrating the area as the motorcyclists were edged out by development. Pedalers explored the dirt tracks and rejoiced at the solitude and roller-coaster riding. They also took stock of the serious erosion that was going unchecked.

Then they took action.

Parks officials said they thought teenagers probably were responsible for the trail work. Fascinated by that possibility, I’ve developed several sources close to the situation. One agreed to talk only if I guaranteed his anonymity.

I’ll call him Deep Rut.

Incidentally, aside from their interest in mountain biking, Deep Rut and several of his loosely organized cohorts have a common denominator.

They’re bald.

“I’ve been working a little here and a little there to improve the trails for about nine years,” Deep Rut said. “I’ve worked to repair some of the damage the bulldozers did during golf course construction. I’ve built waterbars to stop erosion. I know a retired doctor who has built an access trail and blocked off and reseeded a steep motorcycle trail.”

Madunich suggests that bikers need to approach the Park Board, go through proper channels, pay for a plan and attend public hearings so a couple of old ladies can complain some more about mountain bikes infiltrating their dog-walking area.

Maybe Madunich is right.

But if city officials were really concerned, they’d organize a grand work party to finish the trails currently under construction. Then they’d give a little praise to a group of people who gave a damn where most people couldn’t care less.

, DataTimes MEMO: You can contact Rich Landers by voice mail at 459-5577, extension 5508.

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Rich Landers The Spokesman-Review