Rangers to dismantle illegal mountain biking course in Orange County park

Orange County park rangers, conservationists and volunteers will join forces Saturday to dismantle an illegal mountain bike course built in an off-limits forest area.

The elaborate network of wooden bridges, jumps, illegal trails and sandbag-reinforced switchbacks was built on about an acre of land in Limestone Canyon and Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park, apparently by avid mountain bikers, officials said.

Mountain bikers have built illegal trails in many Orange County parks, said Senior Park Ranger Vicky Malton, who added she had never seen such structures built in this particular park before.

The course was discovered last fall when interns with the Irvine Ranch Conservancy were working to reintroduce prickly pear cacti to the forest after the 2007 Santiago fire and stumbled upon it.

The trail builders destroyed native plants and threatened the habitat of the nesting cactus wren, Malton said. Without enough plants to hold down hillsides, the barren trails raised the risk of erosion. Efforts to “re-brush” the area, or place natural debris and sometimes plant vegetation over the illegal trails, were being sabotaged, she said.

“They keep clearing the same trails or making new ones,” Malton said. “It’s a constant battle.”

Efforts to dismantle the course had to be put on hold during recent rainstorms, said David Raetz, deputy director for the Irvine Ranch Conservancy, adding that he hoped the larger mountain biking community would support the effort to keep certain areas of the park free of human intrusion.

“We live in such an urban area that it’s even more important to leave the natural areas the way they are so they can survive,” Raetz said. “They have to be in balance. … We don’t want to love it to death by continuing to overuse it.”

-- Amina Khan

Comments

[aaron]

It will re-open as soon as the government can find a way to charge for it, taxes, user fees etc.

[stickoveee]

These conservationists are a joke. Now they want to save the cactus or some other worthless plant.I quess human beings are worth less than a prickly cactus plant. Let the bikers ride!
So now how much are they going to spend to saving worthless plants and dirt?
Pretty soon we wont be able to breath because these idiot conservationists will complain that we are sucking up all the oxygen in the air!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I really pray that the trailblazers have there way and sabotage the effort to stop them.(without violence)
These conservationists need to get a real life!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[MTS]

They built the trail without getting permission. Simple as that. Hey, sitcko, how about they build a trail at your place in the middle of the night? Don't worry about inviting them, they'll just show up.

Idiot.

[penguinfarts]

So.....how much is this going to cost taxpayers? I say let them have their track. They brought in the stuff to make it and use it, and we will have to pay for them to take it all away...for a cactus.

[ceiteg]

Our state is long due to take serious actions against obnoxious cyclists, the most demnanding, arrogant, bias and disagreeable group of population in the area. On the roads they demand their prioroties over real road traffic, on the trails they demand their priorities over pedestrians/ runners and over equestrian folks, and it's all about them!!! Our roads were NOT BUILT FOR CYCLISTS, and our parks were not established for them. Stay on your bicycle path and obey they same rules when crossing traffic.
I have been calling law enforcement at least 4 times in a past month about cyclists in South Orange deliverately running red lights and endangering others, causing real vehicles to sverve and dodge around those goons in spandex (gross).
On the trails in Cleveland NF/ Casper's or El Moro Cyn where I go trail running they do not obey "yield for pedestrians and for horses" rules, disrespect others, disrespect nature and simply can not keep it quiet. Try to drive PCH on weekend morning!!! Get sick and tired of them blocking the entire traffic for their recreational activities, not for any particular needs. Roads are not for recreation!- neither cycles nor skate boards. Take yoursef to specially designated places for that.
At last, with our state budget crisis, we should force all those who cycle on public roads pay the same insurance, registration and all fees as morotists, and get licensed, just like we do for motorized, in particualr motorcycles. And fees for red light running should be higher than costs of their pedaling contraptions. I am not praising in support of dysfunctional pro-environmantal radicals who only care about nature as much as they get paid to stop harrassing people in the rights to access public lands, but since everything is getting closed down for us to ride our motorized dirt bikes, why should bicycles have any priviledges??? Get them out, or let everyone else in!

[Robert]

Many mountain bikers have an outlaw mentality, and ruin many trails for the use of hikers and equestrians. In Marin County they run wild, and post online threats against hikers and equestrians and conservationsists. They say "we're coming, like it or not" and push for more trail access for bikes. Some of their lobbying seems to be supported by the bike industry, which promotes the outlaw image.

[Alan Camelo]

That's just not cool to destroy something that took time, effort, money, commitment and not to mention passion. These guys do something healthy. We have such an epidemic of obesity and to punish those who have the vision to create something this intricate, please! Don't we have better things to invest city/govt resources on? Say, drugs, violence against women, literacy?
Okay, I understand that they should've been more careful about how they went about it but at least they're no writing graffiti or selling drugs or defacing public AND private property. California belongs to ALL of us and I just don't understand why big brother has to step in this time. Geez

[1person]

@ aaron ~ You're a moron. What makes you worth more than a bird. You're certainly no smarter than a plant.

[Wild life lover]

Sucking up the air, are you kidding? If not for all the trees and plants that take our waste and turn it into oxygen we wouldn't even be here. Perhaps a science class or two are in order.

[ceiteg]

Preservation????? What kind of hypocrisy is that??? They are ok with tens of thousands of acres destroyed by greedy land developers building their hideous "master planned" high density communities controlled by nazi HOA, but it's not all right to ride dirt bikes (well, I personally prefer motorized), or to do anything for recreation at all.
This is all about money. This is all about how much Sierra Club, California Coastal commission or else loudmouth groups get paid for "allowing" things. Mostly important those environmental lunatics do not own the land, public does! Thus, public should not be challenged in access of what they pay their taxes for. The next thing you will know (if they won't manage to keep it highly classified) that there is a new subdivision and another shopping mall is to be built on that "reserved" land. Sold to the highest bidder!- without asking public they sell or slose public lands!
Another example: El Toro MCAS. It was closed down "for environmental reason", but it is sold and to be developed for high density condos or so, paved and destroyed the same way as vast majority of Orange County has been already destroyed.
Irvine was nice place... 20 years ago! Now it is regulated by environmentalists: you do the math, and you get what you see.

[KZinCC]

it's not worthless. Every plant and species has its place and is necessary for the health of that place. On the other hand valid recreational use of the outdoors is a necessity and a right of human beings. There should be areas set aside for recreational mountain biking and we can accept that it will be nearly destroyed by the effect of the tires and building of "terrain features." Other areas can be left as they should be, in essence, untouched. This is highly preferable to having virtually all areas moderately screwed up by willy nilly, I have a right to ride where I want to actions. Mountain biking has a cost to the environment. Pretending it doesn't does no one any good. ATV'ers and people who ride horses have had to come to the same conclusion and act more responsibly because of it.

"No one drop of rain believes it's responsible for the flood."

Signed,

the real fair and balanced

[bikerpro]

All the more reason to build a new , more technical course . Thank You!

[TheBigPicture]

Why not just monitor the park for the day and cite everyone that used it...As community service they can work for 40 hours dismantling it...or spend the time in jail...simple...

One Ranger can give direction and watch them...

[tom]

If you paid attention in your Biology Class you would have remembered that plants give off oxygen as part of their life cycle. As for Conservationists and other people who care about the environment, you would be hard pressed to find safe drinking water or clean air if everyone had your opinion.

[post-man]

I hope the bikers spray poison everywhere on that trail.
There are no manufactured Mt. Biking trails anywhere and the closest are the Mt. Bike permitted areas of public land where there are no truley groomed trails.

I for one am sick of all these environmentalists destroying our culture.
If they love their animals more than their society, then why do they all have cell phones?
Their Cacti and Wren can be burned out of existance right next to the Kvetch Weed and the Delta Smelt.

I think the anti-humans are about to have a rude awakening.
The law can no longer afford to look after their hobby any longer and people are very upset that a few anti-human religious wackos are destroying our ability to produce water for our people and have taken away most of the places we go out of doors to relax.
There was once a time when outdoorsmen could get along with the wackos but now the wackos want it all for themselves now.
Kill everything, then the enviro-wackos will have nothing to petition the courts for and nothing to complain about.
Then we can get back to using the desert for what it was meant for, recreation and building.

[TrailBlazer]

My last post was censored and discarded, so much for freedom of speech. I guess journalists are as hyporcritical as everyone else. Well let's see if this makes it through their two faced filters. Look people, if we do not conserve wilderness areas, then the wilderness areas that we love to bike in will eventually become a memory. I mean, why do a small group of dimwitted backers have to ruin it for the rest of the mountain biking community. Join a mountain biking club, propose a bike trail project, and do it the right way. I mean why make us all look bad. The majority of Mountain bikers I ride with and meet, respect the trails and the environment. For the person who made the snide remark about real estae developments, listen to your own point there. Why should rouge bike hackers be allowed to make the same damage as they do? I certainly don't want to be grouped with them. As for cactus conservation, read the article more closely. The issue is the cactus wren. It's called reading comprehension people... use it.

[HR]

It is sad that OC's egotistical society has come to this... Let's destroy nature so we can have a little fun. The beautiful NATURAL landscapes of California are what brought most of you outsiders here, why destroy it? If you can afford an expensive bike then you can all get together and build a course on your own property. OC parents: Teach your kids about nature. Teach them to respect it and enjoy it not destroy it. Take them to planned parks so they know where its ok to ride. OC GROW UP!

[Thomas]

Perhaps the parks should focus a bit more on maintaining the trails that they have, rather than taking this one down. After all, if it took interns to "discover" the trail, it would seem that Senior Park Ranger Vicky Malton isn't really doing a very good job of managing the property.

[949 local]

The amount of ignorance in these comments is appalling. What they are doing is illegal plain and simple. They are causing environmental degradation to a ecosystem that is very fragile and needs to be protected. You see children there is this thing called erosion. Erosion of soil means that the trails, which were once adequate for riding on, are pushed aside by so many mountain bikers. They then want to expand the trail they are riding on creating a positive feedback of widening the trail until there is only dirt with no ecosystem left. The entire point of the park is to allow the surrounding natural environment to retain some of its original integrity not to allow open access to destruction.

[lovetrails]

I ride my horse in Orange County parks and most of the cyclists are very nice, but there are exceptions. One of the spandex/10 speed guys ran a red light and almost ran into my horse while we were crossing a very busy street. I called him an idiot, then he told me I was an idiot for riding horses. Hello? Horses have been in OC way longer than that IDIOT.

[Jim]

Mountain bikers want a place to ride. Sounds to me like a future business opportunity for any budding entrepreneurs out there...

[E Wood]

I applaude the efforts of the OC conservationists and if they need volunteers or support I will back them up. I have gone mountain biking in OC before and a true mountain biker does not need to create a path - there is no challenge in that - they merely follow an existing path without harming nature. These cowards give mountain bikers a bad name - and I hope they get caught and charged. Maybe stickovee is one of these culprits. For years OC has taken great care to preserve their open spaces - which is why so many folks want to live there. So for those few bikers that have poor riding skills - shame on you - walk!

[scooby]

As a realistic enviromentlist I find it rediculas that people go to exstremes on both side so much to the point they both lose site of the big picture.we should be on the same side the enviros need people to have passions that bring them into the wilderness and help them to develope a love for the out doors. its them who will help us fight the real enemy large greedy developers.and mt bikers need enviros cause with out them the deveopers would build at an even more reckless pace and there would be no where left to ride or in this case bicker like two spoild childeren over.come togather help preserve more land so we can mt bike and enjoy the beauty of nature.

[Steve]

Grow up bikers. These lands are for everyone, not just you. Maybe, I'll come over your house and create a garden out of your drive way. Also, get out my way on the road! You want to ride to work, great. Don't make me late.

[RM]

for the record:

the Irvine Ranch Conservancy is part of the Irvine Company and NOT part of the state/county apparatus. the IRC was created so as to keep control of conservation efforts under the auspices of the Irvine Company. the IRC is NOT as keenly committed as other non-profit environmental organizations and tends to flux between true conservancy and pseudo conservancy supporting land development for the Irvine Company; nevertheless, acting on it's mandate to protect land they intend to protect is their legal choice. the mountain bikers interested in riding on undeveloped land should think twice about the political climate here since the premise in the OC is to DEVELOP land, and, therefore, not have sufficient open space for such activities. by not acting politically and trying to reduce land development, you are speaking hypocritically if you want to bike in open space designated for conservation.

if mountain bikers acted in unison, as a collective voice, in limiting land development, and equally seeking to designate certain areas for protection, either for mtn bike use or natural appreciation then said bikers could have more open space to ride. it's a simple matter of understanding what is going on in the OC and acting politically and socially with others to achieve desired results.

your vote does more locally then at any other level of government. use knowledge to empower yourself. it's that simple.

...just sayin'