To the Editor:

No one on Little Canyon Mountain objects to people riding motorcycles, ATVs or anything else they want to climb onto. It’s the location riders are targeting that’s all wrong.

It wouldn’t matter if there were a group of 80-year-olds with class A motorhomes who wanted to use the same ground; it’s still wrong. The tiny parcel of BLM land being discussed is surrounded by residential property. There are homes from Canyon City to Dog Creek with more under construction. The land in question is in the middle of it all and sure, the riding is noisy sometimes, but that’s not half of it.

Not only is this BLM patch bounded by private propery – both fenced and unfenced – but the irrigation ditches that serve water to the owners on both sides run smack through it. A grazing allotment starts 50 yards from it. Every inch of mineral rights are under private control for a mile surrounding it.

Nearby, other small BLM parcels have been sold within the last two years and homes are being built on them as I write this.

Dave Hannibal and his OHV organization are completely responsible people and should be commended for it. Unfortunately, they have no authority to enforce laws and have no control at all over riders outside of their influence. Recreational users are confused about where boundaries are or choose to ignore them completely.

In short, it is virtually impossible to confine riders to a little amphitheater without the activity bleeding out into property in all directions. The BLM is helpless to do anything and violations only become a burden to local authorities.

To be sure, the BLM itself is the problem. Case in point: When fire danger escalates to extreme in the summer, both the State and USFS are quick to post access restrictions. The BLM doesn’t bother. Wildfire originating from this area due to a single faulty exhaust would consume private property in minutes.

Fact: It is against Oregon Law to break down any ditch that delivers water rights, anywhere. That includes ditches on Forest Service and BLM lands. It follows that promoting an activity that destroys them is a stone-cold dumb policy. Yet the BLM’s absentee-managers in Prineville persist in following their own apathetic agenda designed to leave them blameless when things go seriously wrong.

Unlike other bona fide rights holders, OHV riders pay nothing for the priviledge of riding: No property taxes, no grazing fees, no reclamation bonds or annual assessments of any kind. In other words, they are notwithstanding. They don’t have to fix ditches or fences or fight fire and are completely unaffected by the impact of their own pursuits on Little Canyon Mountain. The same can be said for people who live in town. But those of us who work and live on the land itself have no choice but to deal with it.

With over 65 percent of the county designated as public land, this tiny little parcel is the worst possible choice for everyone. It carries the largest liability with the least return for land owners and OHV riders alike. While I personally enjoy OHV riding and motocross, there are a hundred better locations on public lands in Grant County to accommodate riders with no problems at all.

Brian Gardner

John Day