ATV riders plead not guilty

STAFF WRITER

There was standing room only in Pike County district judge Kelsey Friend’s courtroom when 18 members of the Elkhorn ATV & Recreation Club appeared for arraignment yesterday morning.

Several members of the club, including State Representative W. Keith Hall and Pike County Jailer Rodney Scott, appeared in court to support the men, who are each charged with operating a motor vehicle on public land without consent.

Friend, a member of the club, accepted pleas of not guilty for the group, and he assigned a trial date for January 7, 2008.

Friend said he would have been riding with the men at Fishtrap Lake last month if he wasn’t in a wheelchair. He recused himself, telling the men that he sought an ethical opinion about presiding over the case.

“I was advised that I cannot proceed,” he said. “I want to tell all of you, my good friends, that I’m very sorry to see you here.”

He wished the men the best of luck in their cases and told them to speak with Assistant County Attorney Tommy Chamberlain if they want to negotiate a plea bargain with the Commonwealth.

Fish and Wildlife officer Jason Campbell and wildlife management area manager Herbie Adams, who was fired from the Pike County Sheriff’s Department on the day after the incident, 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, when the men were participating in a planned ride through a wildlife management area on Morgan’s Creek at Fishtrap Lake.

State and federal law prohibit the use of vehicles in wildlife management areas.

The 18 citations issues sparked support from several area politicians like Hall, who have vowed to work toward developing recreational ATV trails at Fishtrap, where mining and gas companies are allowed access and where a horse trail and an inaccessible 14-mile impaired mobility trail is located.

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 while making it clear that the fiscal court has no authorization to support recreational trail development on a wildlife management area.

The 18 citations were issued a week after a Powell’s Creek gate had been torn down, Campbell reported. In addition to tearing down gates, Fishtrap Lake resource manager Rodney Holbrook said ATV riders who aren’t necessarily affiliated with the Fishtrap ATV & Recreational Club have sabotaged gate locks — something that could prove fatal if it prevents an emergency responder from reaching an injured person during an emergency.

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 18 men could potentially face federal charges.