Don't be a Trail Idiot: You Get to Decide

You get to decide who is the Trail Idiot. Don't forget to Vote at the bottom.

I have been hiking this area for over three years for other projects and I have seen everything from illegal off-roading, and illegal hunting, and a whole lot of people who don't give a shit, including the people in charge of enforcing the laws. This area is a HIGH FIRE HAZARD area and there are signs at each trail entrance stating this. In 2017 there was a fire in this same area that destroyed 123 structures which included 60 homes and killed 49 horses and burned over 15 thousand acres.

Through the years I have gotten to know mountain bikers, people who ride their horses in the area, and the local homeowners who not only live nearby but use the trails. All of them have seen the same things and have reported them as well to Police, the Rangers, and the Fire marshall, and yet no one is doing anything about it.

The only time in three years I came across a ranger was when I saw one sitting in his truck in the middle of the fire road waiting for two guys on motorcycles. I was able to talk to him for a while after he realized he wasn't going to catch them. He gave me the contact info of whom I could call or email with pictures of any illegal activity I came across. After our conversation, I mentioned that he may want to go down the road and wait for the two guys at the truck and trailer they drove in on. The locals nor myself have not received a response for any of the reported items over the years.

The illegal dumping of trash is having an effect on the local environment. The rain is pushing the trash and chemicals into the local stream, and worst of all I have seen the local wildlife going through and eating the trash. I often see crows, coyotes, raccoons and foxes rummaging through the trash piles. Further up the trails, you can see remnants of the trash in their poop. I have seen pieces of bags, candy wrappers, and even crayons in the wildlife poop. Bears are in the area but are seldom seen. During the summer they will come down from the mountains for water and I have been seeing bear tracks around these trash piles. The more animals get used to the trash piles the more they will venture down to homes looking for food and this will only end badly for the animals.

The Following Information is numbered to coincide with the above map and is grouped by Jurisdiction and what parties enforce that area.

Los Angeles County (Sheriff and Fire Marshall)

United States Department of Agriculture (Forest Rangers)

United States Forestry Service (US Forest Rangers)

It's hard to decide who truly is the Trail Idiot here. The people who break the rules put others in danger and ruin it for everyone else or Law enforcement doesn't lift a finger enabling the lawbreakers to continue and step up their game. The more illegal off-roading is allowed to go on, the more trash and the chance of fire there will be. Recently they have become bored with riding on the fire roads and trails, so they have started making new tracks up the sides of hills causing massive erosion problems to 4 hillsides

Let's just say for Shits-n-Giggles a Forest Ranger was to hang out at the East side "NO Motorized Vehicles" sign and wait for just 2 hours on a SUNDAY morning from 7 am to 9 am and give a ticket to each person on or in a "Motorized vehicle" that passes by him, he would have made $40,000 dollars in fines. I know this because 8 "Motorized vehicles" passed me on one Sunday in September 2022. Based on my 1 year tally of illegal vehicles on the road that I witnessed with my own two eyes, Uncle Sam could have made about $1,095,000 (219 vehicles) in fines. That was just for the vehicle violations, imagine if they added in the fire hazard, drinking, littering, illegal hunting, and firearms charges. All that money could have paid for 4 full-time Rangers to patrol the area in Range Rovers.

"Even on Christmas morning, I came across 1 truck full of people and 4 motorcycles illegally off-roading on the trails."

I will let you guys decide on who is the Trail Idiot. Is it the Lawbreakers or the Law Enforcement or Both?

If you want some extra Trail points, pack out some trash or perform some trail maintenance to fix damaged areas.

The great outdoors is there for everyone to enjoy. Do your part to see that everyone does, Safely.

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