ATV club kicked off Fishtrap trails

STAFF WRITER

Officials on both sides of the fence say that boundary lines were violated when 18 men were cited Saturday for illegally riding ATVs at Fishtrap Lake.

On one side, state representatives and other public officials say the law is unfair and needs to be changed. The other side of the fence is lined by officials with the Department of Fish and Wildlife and the U.S. Corps of Army Engineers, who want the laws upheld.

Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife officials busted 18 members of the Fishtrap ATV & Recreational Club who were riding trails Saturday in restricted wildlife management areas on Morgans Creek at Fishtrap Lake.

Fish and Wildlife officer Jason Campbell and wildlife management area manager Herbie Adams cited Pikeville residents Buck Jones, 61, Victor Hunt, 58, Gerold James II, 63 (a Pike County sheriff deputy), and Gold Star Dairy Bar owner Lones Adams, 69; Rockhouse resident James Damron, 61; Rolling Hills resident Gaylan Adams, 49; Towns Creek residents Benny Slone, 46, and Billy Thomas, 44; Powells Creek residents Timothy Epling, 46, and Gary Bevins, 64; Elkhorn City residents Greg Coleman, 46, and Ricky Ratliff, 50; Phyllis resident Johnnie Hunt, 63, Shelbiana resident Kevin Picklesimer, 41, Fords Creek resident Freddie Fields, 66 and Cletis Webb, 64.

The men are charged with operating an ATV on public property without consent, a traffic-related offense. But the citations won’t hold for long, if state representative W. Keith Hall, a “proud” member of the Fishtrap ATV & Recreational Club, has anything to do about it.

“By citing these individuals, we strained at a gnat and swallowed a camel,” Hall said. “I think we made a travesty of the issue. I’m afraid we’re going to start a forest fire with this little kindlin’ we just lit.”

Hall contacted Susan Bush, the commissioner for the Department of Natural Resources, in an attempt to have the 18 citations nullified. He said he’d be willing to appear in court on Sept. 5 to ask the judge to delay arraignments until he gets an answer from the Department of Natural Resources.

His argument? Other people are allowed to use the trails at Fishtrap and not allowing the Fishtrap ATV & Recreational Club access is “almost discriminatory.” It’s no secret, he also said, that Pike County needs a recreational trail system, and that trail should start at Fishtrap.

Bevins, the club’s president, said members planned to ride on restricted land at Fishtrap Saturday to access abandoned strip mine land located above the wildlife management area. He says the 169-member group is only looking for safe ATV trails. He complains because a 14-mile impaired mobility trail that’s available to disabled people at Fishtrap is not drivable — a problem Fishtrap Lake officials say will be fixed by coal companies that promised to maintain the trail.

“We don’t have a voice in anything,” Bevins said. “We don’t have any recreation in this county to amount to anything. And I’m not just talking about ATV trails. There’s no parks, anything. We’re not a bunch of crooks. We’re just a group of upstanding people who just want a safe place to ride.”

Bevins claims club members did not go around any locked gates or see any restrictive signs Saturday.

The Fish and Wildlife officials took keys from the riders and temporarily confiscated a gun from Deputy Gerold James. Sheriff Charles “Fuzzy” Keesee, a club member, fired Adams, an unpaid volunteer deputy on Monday “because of the way he treated those people” and because he hadn’t done anything for the department for more than a year. Keesee said members of the group — including state representative Leslie Combs, district judges Kelsey Friend and Darrel Mullins, circuit judges Steve Combs and Eddy Coleman, Judge-Executive Wayne T. Rutherford and jailer Rodney Scott — are law-abiding citizens who would help keep the area clean if they are permitted to ride there.

The club, carrying a promise that members will exhibit safety and respect the land, was established last year and some of its members have been pushing for recreational trail development at Fishtrap since 2005. Last year, members even gained approval from the Pike County Fiscal Court, where magistrates passed a resolution supporting trail development there while making it clear that the fiscal court has no authorization to support recreational trail development on a wildlife management area.

John Preston, an ecologist for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reported that officials are still working on producing a draft feasibility report for a proposed road alignment at Fishtrap Lake. Community members commented about the proposed project during meetings held by the Corps last year. The study, established jointly with the Pike County Fiscal Court, the federal highway district and the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, aims to show the feasibility of improving access to the Fishtrap area and the best opportunities for recreation that can improve the county’s economy.

Preston said officials have looked at every potential recreational opportunity and conducted an assessment of demand on potential road alignments, and they will only determine road alternatives that will best meet the objectives, as planned by the various parties involved in the study. The report may be available this winter, he said.

Currently, the Fishtrap Lake trails are open only to officials tending to natural gas or mining-related areas on the property, horse trail managers and Fish and Wildlife officials. The trails are used for fighting fires and for environmental compliance needs in mining areas and natural gas wells.

Title 30, Code of Federal Regulations 327.2C prohibits using vehicles on unauthorized roadways or driving a vehicle around any restrictive roadway sign on federal land and KRS 148.650 prohibits recreational trail use in any state-owned wildlife management area. But the laws are not stopping vandalism, erosion and other wildlife management problems caused by people who ride illegally, officials say.

“It’s a nightmare,” said Rodney Holbrook, resource manager for Fishtrap Lake. “They’re everywhere. We’ve made an effort with the gates to keep them off the management area, but the gates get torn down. It’s an everyday occurrence. It’s kind of a mess right now. I wish we had control of our property, but we don’t.”

Holbrook, who wouldn’t comment about Saturday’s incident because of possible pending federal charges, said ATV operators commonly ignore the rights of property owners and disrespect laws preventing recreational trail use in wildlife management areas. It’s also a liability issue, Holbrook said, because if the trails are opened for one group, the trails must also be opened for everyone.

In addition to tearing down gates, Holbrook said ATV riders who aren’t necessarily affiliated with the Fishtrap ATV & Recreational Club, have been sabotaging gate locks — something that could prove fatal if it prevents an emergency responder from reaching an injured person during an emergency. The use of ATVs on the property causes erosion and other problems, Holbrook said, pointing out that Fishtrap Lake officials ride two ATVs with specialized, quieter muffler systems that don’t disrupt wildlife in the area. Last year, five people who vandalized a bridge at Fishtrap were cited in state and federal court.

Holbrook believes a lack of enforcement of ATV laws in Pike County is “spilling over” on the lake’s governmental property. ATV operators commonly ride on state and county roads, he said, and people use their ATVs to go to the grocery store in Elkhorn City.

“I understand that they think their desire for a trail is a good ideal, but I don’t feel it is compatible to Fishtrap Lake or the wildlife management area,” Holbrook said.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service called motorized vehicle abuse, or “unmanaged recreation,” one of greatest threats to country’s public forests. Unmanaged recreation causes erosion, user conflicts, spread of invasive species, damage to cultural sites, disturbance to wildlife, destruction to wildlife habitats and risks to public safety, the department’s Web site says.

The Forestry Service has tried to set aside land for ATV use, but the land becomes a hub for more illegal trails, the Associated Press reported this year. The Forestry Service has pledged to partner with agencies to develop travel management plans that regulate ATV use on designated roads, trails and parks in an appropriate manner.

Wildlands CPR, a Montana-based group that’s trying to stop illegal trail riding, encourages stiffer patrols, tougher penalties and electronic monitoring in wildlife management areas.

Hiking and horse-riding in designated areas at Fishtrap’s wildlife management area is not prohibited.

Two juveniles who accompanied the men Saturday were not cited by Fish and Wildlife.