Zimo: A moment of careless stupidity can cause long-term damage | Pete Zimowsky's columns | Idaho Statesman
Some folks watch a mountain meadow to get into a zen thing.
Others watch a meadow to see a bull elk or a sandhill crane.
I've been watching a mountain meadow off Idaho 21 near Cape Horn northwest of Stanley to see if it will recover after someone drove a vehicle through it earlier in the summer.
I blogged about it and featured it in a "Natural Wonder" item in August.
DOESN'T LOOK GOOD
I went back last Sunday to see if the meadow had recovered. It hadn't.
It looks like more people drove in using the tracks left by the original driver.
Earlier in the summer, the lush, green grass was smashed down as a result of the vehicle's tires. I was hoped the grass would spring back.
But last Sunday the grass in the tracks looked dead and was pretty well matted down from traffic.
The tracks are right off the shoulder of Cape Horn Road, which crosses Marsh Creek on the way to the Beaver Creek Campground and other popular trailheads in the area.
Most people wouldn't go down the tracks because they know it isn't an established two-track route.
But after more people followed the tracks of the original driver, it's starting to look like an established route.
This is what worries folks at the U.S. Forest Service. Once someone rides or drives off-road across a meadow or somewhere else, others will follow and the damage will worsen.
Soon it becomes an established route, albeit an illegal one.
How anyone could just drive off-road across a meadow in this day and age with all the education about proper four-wheeling is mindboggling.
A meadow is an ecosystem of lush, but delicate, grasses and wildflowers. It is home to small critters like mice and voles.
A meadow is used for nesting by small birds and larger ones like sandhill cranes. It is a grazing area for big game animals.
It is a filtering system for creeks and rivers to ensure water quality.
I had some readers tell me not to worry about it, the meadow will come back this summer. It didn't.
Will it come back next spring, or will runoff from snow deepen the tracks and make it look more like a road?
TAKE ANOTHER LOOK
I'll check it again next spring. Although whole thing is disheartening, it is the perfect example of the detrimental effects of driving in natural areas where you shouldn't.
Maybe the Forest Service should have put a few logs across the area where the tracks started and posted a sign saying no motor vehicles. A little bit of preventative work at the beginning might have helped.
I'm afraid if the meadow isn't blocked off more damage will occur.
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