This peaceful scene is heaven to off-road vehicle operators, the wide-open expanse of fresh snow atop the surface of Amundsen Road, in Caswell Lakes Subdivision, proving to be too great a temptation to heed some little enforced law. This particular track is evidence of a deepening condition of lawlessness among the ATV/snowmachine crowd that enjoys the unauthorized use of adjacent private property for their illicit recreational pleasure. The scene before us is the view from the driveway of the most frequently trespassed parcel in the area, which is used by offenders for illegal access to a restricted-use region of the Susitna River Drainage, beyond.
Although it is unclear whether these tracks prove the rider was leaving the area, or approaching, one fact is clear -- given that the area directly behind the camera is private property, criminal trespassing was either being fled from, or rushed headlong into, and criminal use of the roadway by an off-road vehicle was perpetrated to get there.
The effected property owner has, for some time now, been confronted by such illicit use of his approach-way, and has fought an unsupported battle to win enforcement of trespassing and Title 10 statutes within his porperty boundaries and upon the adjacent roadways. Due to a long history of the willful lack of State enforcement against such use, many off-roaders, locals and visitors alike, have taken for granted the [non-existent] right to the use of this approach in circumventing obstacles to the salmon creek beyond.
The area in question is protected habitat, but offenders and law enforcement officials alike turn a blind eye to the destructive use of this region. Off-road vehicles, manufactured to loose standards at best, are notorious for loss of petroleum distillates and synthetic chemical compounds, which inevitably find their way onto the terrain over which such vehicles travel. Such substances are 'permanent', leeching year after year into surrounding groundwater, drainage sloughs and year-round streams. This is a circumstance which contributes significantly to the continuing recession of the population of various varieties of salmon, and other aquatic species, that rely on such areas for spawning grounds and, for some, a life-long habitat. Given Alaska's lack-luster efforts at enforcement of Title 10 requirements for use of off-road vehicles, it is no surprise that the illegaly produced snow-mobile tracks as seen in the photo above are anything but rare in this region. What is surprising is that environmental concerns raised by such violations have not been the outcry of conservationists and evnironmentalist groups from around the State and beyond.
It is safe to say, however, that such outcry is unlikely. Too few tax-paying residents are effected to warrant actual law enforcement in the area, and word of the environmental impact of such illegal activity is not likely to reach caring ears.
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Exposed!