Off-roaders sentenced at Lake Tahoe

Written by Associated Press

Friday, March 05, 2010

Two South Lake Tahoe men have been placed on one year of probation and ordered to each pay $500 fines for damaging public land at Lake Tahoe.

U.S. Forest Service officials say a Sacramento federal judge has found 24-year-old Jack Burns III and 47 year-old Kent Johnson guilty of damaging national forest system lands.

They say the two were operating four-wheel-drive vehicles in the Twin Peaks Off Highway Vehicle Area near South Lake Tahoe last August when they went off the designated route in an apparent effort to avoid a large boulder field.

The men were accused of damaging a nearly 1-acre area by causing deep ruts in the soil, creating new routes and disturbing ground cover.

A Lake Tahoe four-wheel-drive club plans to volunteer time to repair the damage.

Source: http://www.rgj.com/article/20100305/NEWS01/100304028

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State by State Momentum

Community Voices

“It’s frustrating having a hunt ruined by people riding ATVs where off-road vehicle use is prohibited. Many ATVs look the same so there’s no way to identify violators when reporting the incident to law enforcement. There should be a requirement that off-road vehicles used on public lands have license plates or large decals. Any ATV user who follows the law and land management directives on where they can and can not use these machines should have no objection to this type of identification.”

- Holly Endersby, hunter from western Idaho