A band of dirt bike riders did extensive damage to a field in Grand Teton National Park that was being rehabilitated with native grasses/NPS
A band of dirt bike riders shredded through an open field along historic Mormon Row in Grand Teton National Park that is part of a long-running restoration project to erase thousands of acres of hayfields that once grew there.
The incident Saturday night is believed to have been an organized event involving about 50 people and a drone.
An onlooker who filmed part of the event called the park's dispatch center to report the activity, but by the time rangers could arrive the group was gone. In their wake they left approximately 1,000 feet of track that is two to ten feet in width.
Park rangers are seeking additional information from anyone who might know the participants. Information can be provided by call or text to the National Park Service Investigative Services Branch Tip Line at 888-653-0009 or email [email protected]. Information can be provided anonymously.
The historic hay fields along Mormon Row are part of a ten-year project that started in 2014 to remove the non-native grasses and replant the area with 37 species of native plants to restore the site to sagebrush steppe habitat. The investment in the habitat restoration represents several years of effort to collect native seed and treat invasive plants prior to seeding the native species.
This area is important habitat for elk, bison, pronghorn, moose, sage grouse, and a variety of other wildlife, which all depend on sagebrush steppe habitat. The area that was damaged by the dirt bikes was reseeded in 2019. This project is a collaborative effort between the National Park Service, Grand Teton National Park Foundation, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and Teton Conservation District.
You can watch the video on Grand Teton's Facebook page.
Operating a motor vehicle off roadways is a violation and subject to a fine up to $5,000 and/or up to six months imprisonment. Additionally, the System Unit Resource Protection Act provides that any person or instrumentality that destroys, causes the loss of or injures, of any National Park Service resource is liable for response costs and damages.
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Comments
Why would people do such damage? I'm afraid it has to do with an individual underendowment.
Restoring these fields to their original natural state is the right thing to do for the environment, for wildlife and species conservation, and for the park. And, I support this project completely; however, there is now so much ignorance and so many fanatical cults being coddled in our society that the project was destined from the beginning to stir one or more of them up someplace, perhaps multiple places, along the line.
Just as an example, Mormons are obsessed with the pioneering heritage story they have invented for themselves; it is the foundation of their collective delusions of superiority; it justifies and rationalizes, at least in their minds, their past crimes; and it nurtures their current resentment against the federal government and public lands, even providing encouragement for the current wave of racist hatred and vandalism against Catholic churches. I've winced at the continued use of the term "Mormon Row" by the NPS for the very same reason that I have been opposed to the maintenance of monuments to the Confederacy, because in both cases they each have served as nurturing anchor points for the perpetuation of their own brands of antisocial ignorance and criminality. For years, I've been dreading what I knew publicizing this project as the restoration of "historic hay fields along Mormon Row" might trigger at some point and, voila, that point seems to have arrived.
The fact that this pointless orgy of environmental vandalism took place where it did, in an area reseeded a year ago, and when it did, when that young vegetation was most vulnerable, and the fact that it is "believed to have been an organized event involving about 50 people and a drone" all point to an all too obvious, all too consistent to just be coincidental, confluence of ignorant rightwing and cult resentments. This was no episode of drunken rowdiness; it was clearly a planned event and they clearly knew what they were doing and where they were doing it. The article notes that someone "filmed part of the event" and I hope such footage can reveal some identities and enable some prosecution; however, I also know that it won't result in any real punishment. After all, the Bundy family have already gotten away with much worse. I believe our most productive path forward is still to focus on turning the current adminstration and all the rest of the GOP out of office in November. Everything else will just be nibbling around the edges of an extremely large problem.
U were doing a decent job of hiding your true colors. In the end just another unrelated political opinion that has nothing do with the subject
From watching the video, I didn't see a right, or left winger. I saw a bunch of idiots having a party. The real question is how a large group such as shown in the video can gather in such an open area and not be noticed by LE. They didn't do all that damage in 15 minutes. Someone dropped the ball.