COLORADO
Boulder, Colo., disc jockeys “Willie B” and “D Mack” were just looking for a good time when they invited KBPI listeners to join them with four-wheel drive vehicles at Caribou Flats, west of Boulder, on Sept. 23. But by the end of “Mudfest,” their unofficial gathering, 200 off-road vehicles had driven through a 25-acre patch of alpine wetlands, wrecking eight acres of private land, rutting an acre of Arapaho-Roosevelt National Forest, and casting a long shadow over Colorado’s growing off-road community.
“Unfortunately, it reflects poorly on everyone with a four-wheel drive vehicle,” says Scott Reibel, president of the Colorado Association of Four-Wheel Drive Clubs.
While federal land managers admit that off-road vehicles are responsible for illegal damage on public lands every year, they say the majority of off-roaders respect rules and land.
But Roz McClellan, director of the Rocky Mountain Recreation Initiative, says Mudfest “is an example of similar incidents all over Colorado.” To rein in four-wheelers, McClellan thinks money from off-road permits – which have increased fivefold in Colorado in the 1990s – should be used for heavier policing and trail closures.
Willie B and D Mack each received a $50 fine for their participation in “MudFest,” and Boulder County authorities say other fines might be on the way, thanks to videotapes taken at the scene.
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Mudfest debacle muddies off-roaders’ future.
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