Wish List for Mt. Taylor District USFS
Dear editor,
- La Mosca Road.
The 100 yds immediately leading up to the shelter and groover. High usage road is horribly eroded. Quad folks need to get buses to the run/ski transition. Communication tower workers use it and many folks from the public. I'm sure a good number after driving the section think...'How many teeth do I have left' and is the 'Forest Service ever going to fix this thing'.
- Gooseberry trail.
The middle steep part. About 35 percent slopes or more. It hasn't been maintained in over 20 years and needs some TLC. This trail is an economic contributor to the Grants area with many people coming from Albuquerque to climb Mt. Taylor along with folks from around the country and CDT hikers. Anywhere from 150 to over 250 people hike the trail every year. Forest Service is making new trails which is well and good but maybe maintaining older established trails first would be nice.
- Quadrathlon ski route/trail. The Old Forest Service folks had signage and rock barriers to keep motorized vehicles out (snow mobiles excepted) due to rocky erodible steeper slopes. The New Forest Service opened it up to everything. Trail is eroding. Heartbreak hill has 3-foot deep gullies in spots and a big area is scarred for life or until another Pleistocene reset. Heartbreaking. Maybe some rethinking is needed. At this juncture I don't believe folks on ATV's even like driving it due to steep slopes and rockiness. Then there is the snowshoe/trail section from 'Edge of the World' to the summit. The Old Forest Service used signage and rock barriers to limit access due to highly erodible 40 percent plus slopes. In the last 8 years or so a 2-track is forming with deepening ruts. This new 'road' probably can be seen from town with binoculars if you squint. If we ever get a decent monsoon season, ruts will turn into gullies. It will look like heartbreak hill.
These items were brought to the District Rangers attention a couple months ago. It's never easy to bring critiques or criticism. It's difficult to present in a 'friendly' fashion by it's nature. But sometimes one just has to rip the band-aid off with good intentions and move forward. Scott Zetshe
Bikers & ATV Drivers
Dear Editor,
When we had the fire in Grants that destroyed six(?) trailer homes this town won me over when I saw how many people responded to that awful disaster. It was so dramatic. The winds, of course, were extremely high and the person who started it was suspected to be a drugged out homeless person that was never discovered. The care for family and neighbor was obvious, and support was provided even afterwards.
So, it baffles me how in the very same area there is a parallel disregard for life. Not just being alive but potentially losing one’s livelihood. And, for some reason, lately it seems to have largely increasedmaybe doubled. Bikers and ATV drivers speeding through the streets. Ages ranging from what appears to not even be 9 years old to seniors-boys, little girls and grown men. Yesterday I had a little girl who appeared to be 7 years old unsteadily turn in front of my vehicle on to Balsam. Ay yay yay.
So, the threat is that one of these precious lives will be lost. And then surmounted by the one in the vehicle losing their livelihood, their home and who knows what else for something that they will not see coming.
I called dispatch as I was directed to do by the local police and the dispatcher said, “are they doing anything illegal?” What does that mean? Is it legal now for a 7-year-old to drive on the main roads? They said it is only wrong if they drive on the highway. So, I need to have a license at 41 to drive my car on the main streets, but this 7-year-old little girl can legally and unsteadily drive the streets.
I am distressed that the lack of proper care and respect for these simple laws will cause more than an annoyance- but the loss of lives and livelihood. I cannot be the only one distressed by what appears to be now a small army of bikers doing whatever they want and if a community effort is made to help the law carry out their partwhat will happen?
Danielle Lara