Booby Trapped Pacific Crest Trail Draws Local Ire

The folks at ORV Watch Kern Co. have been documenting illegal off-road vehicle use on the Pacific Crest Trail for a number of years, and due to their hard work local authorities have been stepping up patrols.

However, even with the extra attention from the Forest Service and local sheriffs, it seems the trespass onto private property sent one person over the edge. In a truly deplorable act, a nearby resident placed dangerous object in and on the trail; a local paper reported on May 7th:

“In about a 100-yard stretch of the trail, hiker Scott Williams said, someone had strung up barbed wire across the trail and posted numerous signs saying: “Warning: Firing range” and “No trespassing.”

It seems that the perpetrator shot glass on the trail to create the appearance of a firing range. Even more disturbing were the 20-30 devices buried in the ground with nails protruding from them.

The article also reported the sheriff describing a possible motive: “It appears the devices may have been buried to discourage illegal off-road riding,’” said Sgt. Wood in a May 7 media release.

Unfortunately, illegal and damaging ORV use on the Pacific Crest Trail has been ongoing for years, and it has been a struggle to get the situation under control. The lack of progress certainly is frustrating, but never an excuse to take the law into your own hand.

Those of us who work to protect our trails and natural landscapes from off-road vehicle abuse will never condone actions such as these that endanger people’s safety. Luckily the article quoted a press release from ORV Watch Kern Co. that denounced these illegal actions stating the group, "absolutely condemns any actions that would harm people on PCT.” 

We are confident that ORV Watch Kern Co. will continue to challenge the violence done to our public lands from these damaging machines through organized and legal means, and I support their condemnation of these vicious actions.