California

Kate Larsen

Some Kern County families are fed up with off-road joy riders tearing down their fences, chasing cattle and causing erosion on the ranches where they live and work.

Off-road vehicle riders are wreaking havoc on their land, livestock and livelihoods, they say.

Jeremy and Brandie Dunn, owners of a 160-acre ranch in Rosamond, have seen people chasing and terrorizing their cattle on dirt bikes, they say.

Jim Guy

The Madera County Sheriff's Department is warning residents aboout illegal use of dirt bikes, quads and other vehicles on private property.

Sheriff's spokeswoman Erica Stuart said a warning was mailed to rural residents in response to numerous complaints.

A Madera County ordinance makes it illegal to ride or operate a off-road vehicle on private property or on lots that are zoned residential. People who deputies spot riding an off-road vehicle in prohibited area face not only a citation but also vehicle impoundment.

Marek Warszawski

A plan that could impose severe restrictions on off-road driving in the mountains north and east of Fresno is being unveiled after a lengthy delay.

Anticipating a flood of opinion, Sierra National Forest officials have scheduled a series of public meetings and drop-in sessions to discuss the Motorized Travel Management Draft Environmental Impact Statement. The first meeting is Tuesday night in Oakhurst.

Made available this week, the document is sure to be as controversial as it is complex. The original proposed action elicited 10,000 public comments after it was published in September 2007 and drew criticism from pro-access and environmental groups alike.

Matt Weiser 

The legendary Rubicon Trail must be cleaned up, state water quality officials ordered late Thursday in a move designed to control erosion and pollution on the popular Sierra Nevada off-road vehicle route.

The Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board approved the order after a six-hour hearing in Rancho Cordova Thursday night. It requires El Dorado County and the Eldorado National Forest to adopt a variety of measures to control soil erosion, pollution from spilled vehicle fluids, and human waste along the trail. In particular, they must develop a water quality protection plan by October 2010, and a long-term management plan by April 2011.

The order does not impose any closures on the trail, but requires the parties to develop an accurate traffic count and consider usage restrictions as one means to avoid abuse. The board acknowledged projects by off-roading volunteer groups to improve the trail, but said a formal plan is needed to comprehensively manage the trail.

Dana M. Nichols 

RANCHO CORDOVA - Regional water pollution regulators Thursday ordered El Dorado County and the U.S. Forest Service to make big changes in coming years in how they operate the Rubicon Trail, possibly even closing the recreational Jeep road at times during wet weather or forcing users to pack out their excrement.

The Rubicon Trail is the nation's most famous four-wheel-drive recreational trail, a boon to tourism in the region and a constant source of controversy because of the otherwise pristine mountain forests through which it passes. Hundreds of people - too many for the meeting room - turned out for Thursday's hearing at Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board headquarters in Rancho Cordova.

Nicole C. Brambila

The Coachella Valley Association of Governments Off-Highway Vehicle Task Force will use all-terrain vehicles and aircraft to patrol targeted areas with the primary goal of reducing illegal off-highway activities as well as educating residents and visitors, officials said.

Off-highway recreations can destroy habitats as well as exacerbate noise and air pollution, as reported on mydesert.com.

Riverside County ordinance prohibits driving on someone's land without written permission. A first-time infraction is a $100 fine.

A specialized sheriff's unit that seeks out off-road scofflaws ticketed 28 offenders in a weekend crackdown, a spokesman said Monday.

Over a three-day period ending Sunday, deputies patrolled unincorporated areas of Temecula, including the Wine Country, Rancho California and unincorporated areas of Quail Valley, Canyon Lake, Perris, Mead Valley and Good Hope, according to sheriff's Deputy Mike Martinez.

Tiffany Revelle

LAKE COUNTY- Enforcement of a county ordinance aimed at curbing the problem of illegal motoring on private land is not simple, according to Lake County Sheriff Rodney Mitchell.

The Lake County Board of Supervisors responded in August 2006 to community outcry and concerns about soil erosion by adopting an ordinance that prohibits riding motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles and other off-road vehicles (OHVs) on private property without the landowner's written permission. Mitchell cited a section of state law that says if certain conditions aren't in place, the ordinance doesn't apply.

Elena Cristiano

OCEANSIDE - For years, people have ridden motocross bikes and ATVs in a hilly, 80-acre open space area just east of Jeffries Ranch.

If some residents of the community in northeast Oceanside have their way, it will stop.

In a meeting held last month at the home of neighborhood activist Shelby Jacobs, a dozen homeowners called on Councilman Rocky Chavez and police Chief Frank McCoy to put an end to the off-road activity.