Off-Road Trip Damages Fragile Foothills Area

Off-roaders cut through a fence in the Foothills and drove a four-wheel-drive vehicle across the fragile area closed since the Eighth Street Fire.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management now must begin a lengthy job of rehabilitating the swath cut by one off-road journey.

“Where the tracks go straight up the hills, we’ll have to do hand trenches to make sure it doesn’t start erosion,” BLM spokeswoman Pat Entwistle said. “We’ll do some cross-trenching to try to repair the damage.”

Vehicles are forbidden from trails in the burned area. Six trails are open for foot traffic only, but hikers are supposed to stay off the charred slopes.

“It’s clearly posted where they cut the fence,” she said. “It wasn’t an innocent mistake.”

The 15,300-acre fire in late August left the foothills susceptible to erosion. Heavy rains could cause mudslides and flooding.

Trespassers who violate the ban on vehicle traffic face a fine, and can be required to repair the damage themselves or pay rehabilitation costs.