Off-roading turned meadow into mudhole

WENATCHEE — One night of destructive fun has altered the course of nature in a peaceful meadow south of the city and left six off-road truck drivers mired in legal trouble.

Five men and one juvenile accused of destroying the meadow with their four-wheel-drive trucks last fall called it the "mudhole" in statements to police and referred to their night of tearing it up as "play."

Wildlife officers called it an egregious destruction of nature by off-road vehicles.

"To take that area and turn it in one night from a meadow to a mudhole, it's the worst damage I've ever seen done in such a short period of time," said Doug Ward, who has been an enforcement officer for the state Department of Fish and Wildlife for 29 years.

Creek rerouted

The vehicles opened up underground springs that feed Orr Creek in the Stemilt Basin, rerouted the creek, crushed an irrigation culvert and damaged intakes used by the Wenatchee Heights Reclamation District.

The creek drainage is the primary source of water for the irrigation district and its 300-acre-foot Black Lake reservoir, which supplies water to orchards south of Wenatchee.

Ward and fellow Officer Graham Grant were called to the Orr Creek meadow last September after a state fire crew reported heavy damage by four-wheelers.

They found a license plate in the muddy meadow, and in the camp area across the road, a pickup hidden in the brush.

Records searched

Grant spent the next six weeks searching vehicle-registration records, staking out homes and searching the Wenatchee area for muddy four-wheel-drive vehicles.

"I visited several residences in the morning, at night and during the daytime to try and find the vehicles," he said

He added, "It took a lot of persistence to keep looking, to keep talking to people."

In the course of dozens of interviews and home stakeouts, Grant said he identified six possible suspects.

"When I finally came knocking on their doors, they would say, 'I knew you were coming,' " Grant said. "Word got around through their buddies. When I interviewed one, I told them to tell their friends that I would be coming for them, too."

Grant won a state award for his investigation. All six suspects were charged with felony first-degree malicious mischief.

The state Department of Natural Resources estimated the cost of immediate repairs to be about $14,000.

The Wenatchee Heights Reclamation District estimated its repairs at $2,500. But the damage could be even greater if the water flow through the meadow is permanently altered.

The state Department of Natural Resources, which manages the land, and the reclamation district plan to work in the meadow this spring.

One of them, 26-year-old James M. Donaghue Jr. of Wenatchee, pleaded guilty in February in Chelan County Superior Court and was sentenced to 22 months in prison for the malicious mischief.

Four other men are scheduled to go to trial next week, and a juvenile is scheduled for trial on Friday.

Since their arrests, one of the defendants has been arrested again for illegal off-road driving in another area.

Misdemeanor or felony

Normally, illegal off-road driving is a misdemeanor offense, but it can lead to a felony arrest if the damage is excessive.

"We're looking to educate the community there can be serious consequences," Ward said.

He added that he hopes the agency's aggressive investigation of the Orr Creek incident and the felony charges will deter others from doing similar damage with their off-road vehicles. He said not only does it harm the landscape, it's also a danger to the vehicle occupants and poses a fire risk during the summer.

Perennial problem

Illegal off-road driving is a perennial problem in the Stemilt Basin, on Burch Mountain and at Blue Grade in Douglas County, he said. Two years ago, an East Wenatchee man was killed while driving off-road at Blue Grade.

Enforcement officers for several agencies have increased their patrols of the areas to look for offenders, Ward said.

Gates, boulders and deep ditches called tank busters have been put in to deter the drivers from going off-road, but Ward said modern lift kits, suspension and shock absorbers allow trucks to get into rougher terrain than ever before.

He said there are not enough officers to watch all the time, and damage is still occurring in many areas.

"Every year it leads to the closing of primitive roads and other undeveloped recreation areas to the public to prevent further damage. Some people say it's a victimless crime, but really everybody's a victim when you have to close areas to the public," Ward said.