Illegal ATV's on the trail

This past Sunday I found evidence of a ATV that had tried to come up the Buckeye Trail.
I reported it to the proper officials. If you see or find evidence of ATV's on any hiking trail
please report it! I was talking to Kris, email, from FoOT last night and she has witnessed
ATV damage and vandalism on the OT and on Ouachita Pinnacle. Please report ATV's on the
trail to the Forest Service office. You can go to
FoOT forms site and scroll to the bottom
of the page for the government contact list.

I just got this reply to my email of illegal ATV use in the Caney Creek Wilderness:

"Mr. Trigg. I thank you for taking time to let me know of the illegal
use on the Buckeye Trail, as we have had several breaches of the Wilderness
Area recently. I am forwarding your e-mail to Officer Joe Liles whose
patrol duties include the Trail and District Ranger Jim Zornes. We
will look into the incident and have planned some operations to deal with
the ATV issues in the area. As you know there are areas provided to ride
ATVs, but the trail is not one of them. The rules are explicit on this and
our Officers will enforce the law accordingly. Thank you for your
assistance in keeping the Ouachita Forest available to all users. Please use the
numbers below if you need to contact me in reference to illegal
uses---
Jim Hicks

Jimmy D. Hicks
Patrol Captain
Ouachita National Forest
(501) 321-5357 office
(501) 627-5575 cell
(501) 321-5359 FAX"

Report all ATV's on the trail or in Wilderness area's!!!!!!

Good stuff Tom. Thanks for posting.

I used to race dirt bikes (on private land as well as designated public land) and we tore up the ground pretty bad. But we didn't do a QUARTER of the damage the ATV's did. I'm not bashing ATV's or ATV riders, but there's no argument about the fact that a careless ATV rider could do extensive damage to a forest system.

I always have my eyes out for illegal riders.

Jay,

A good example close to me is Tall Peak Tower. You can see it in the distance in some of our trail pics.
Back in the 70's the tower, a old wood and rock fire tower, was restored. You should see it now! It is a
mess, nothing like what I remember it. ATV riders go around a gate and ride to the top of the mountain, by the way there are some outstanding views from the top. This road to the top boundries and some times goes into the Caney Creek Wilderness are. They just go around the gate. On a weekend there are a constant stream of them to the top. There is grafiti all over, it is a real mess.