Illegal off-roading bedevils ranchers

Pinal County rancher Craig Shelley says state land in his area has become a playground for Maricopa County residents unlawfully riding off-road vehicles. “If it wasn’t for the ranchers out here, this place would be totally gone,” said Shelley, who ranches on about 15 square miles northeast of Queen Creek.

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“At least we’re out here and trying to keep some semblance of the desert out here. It’s getting harder to do it all the time.”

Shelley, along with neighboring ranchers Rolf and Keith Flake, have experienced a barrage of problems from off-road vehicle riders destroying their property and the property they’ve leased from the state. They are also spending thousands of dollars on fence and property repairs, litter cleanup and replacement of signs warning riders of trespassing and closed routes.

Ranchers and state officials say the growing population and the soaring popularity of off-road vehicles are fueling the problem. The Arizona Game and Fish Department estimates 29 percent of Arizonans use off-road vehicles and off-road use has skyrocketed 350 percent since 1998. In April 2007, more than 234,000 offroad vehicles were registered in Arizona.

In the case of the Shelley and Flake ranches, the land is located within the Desert Wells Multiuse Area, where off-road vehicles are allowed on designated trails. But riders are not staying on those trails.

Some of the most costly damage is to earthen tanks, dirt hills built around ponds to supply water for animals. “This is the only water for the wildlife and livestock in the area,” Shelley said.

Thursday morning, after climbing to the top of a storage area about 20 feet above the desert floor, the ranchers discovered fences torn down and signs posted to keep off-road vehicle users off their property removed. Just beyond that damage, someone had used a shovel to dig ridges in the side of the tank, making a jump for off-road vehicles. Shelley said that damage could cause the bank to erode, costing about $60,000 to repair.

Tyler VanVleet, with the Arizona Game and Fish Department, said the storage areas are off-limits to the public because of the cost to ranchers and the impact to animals. “Every 30 minutes on the weekends (animals) can’t use it” because of the off-road riders, he said.

Rolf Flake said in the last year he’s had to repair cut fences or close gates that have been opened by off-road vehicle users 140 times.

“Everybody knows the rules, but nobody follows them,” he said.

The cut fences and open gates allow cattle to escape onto main roads, and on the north side of the Flakes’ ranch, onto U.S. 60 east of Apache Junction. They lose cattle and money.

But the Flakes are also concerned for drivers.

“The dirt biker that cut the fence probably won’t realize he killed somebody,” Keith Flake said. “People aren’t expecting to see cattle on the road.”

Trespassing, littering, noise, dust and property damage rate high among their concerns, but these ranchers say they would have no problem with dirt bike and ATV users if they stayed on legal, marked trails. But so many have paved their own way through the ranches, it’s hard to tell where the proper trails are anymore.

Renegade trails, coupled with the lack of funding to have officers in the field to catch violators, makes enforcement difficult, Arizona Game and Fish Department officials say.

“Once they’ve established a pattern of use, I can’t write a ticket” because it becomes public domain, said VanVleet, adding that he only gets 80 hours a year for off-road vehicle enforcement.

VanVleet said this problem could be eased with passage of HB2443, which is now making its way through the Legislature. It would provide money from licensing off-road vehicles to create seven new positions to enforce off-road vehicle use as well as promote recreational activity.

“This is an important bill that needs to get passed,” Shelley said. “I cannot for the life of me figure out why these legislators are voting against it. It’s on their shoulders, if they don’t pass this bill and this desert gets totally denuded.”

Though the bill isn’t the ultimate answer, it’s a start, said Beau Memory with the Copper State Trails Alliance, a growing group working on solutions to the problem of reckless offroad vehicle riding.

“It’s becoming such a growing problem here in Arizona,” Memory said. “Our mission here is to bring some common sense to this debate, to make sure we’re looking out for every Arizonan’s interest. These offroad vehicle users need a place to ride while at the same time not infringing on the rights of others.”