Arasta Creek's not home to a native population of rare trout. It may not be home to any trout at all. In the heat of summer, it can just simply dry up and disappear.
“It's important all the same,” said Rob Brassfield, a fisheries biologist on the Bitterroot National Forest's Stevensville District. “Three Mile Creek has westslope cutthroat. You add too much sediment to it and those fish are going to suffer.”
“They drove to the end of the road, crossed a small stream to get to an area with soft soils and mud, and started spinning their tires,” Brassfield said. “They ended up digging trenches and tore up a sensitive riparian area. They all apparently wanted to get their vehicles good and muddy.”
Every spring, some four-wheel-drive owners can't stand the temptation to take their vehicles off-road in an effort to cover them in mud. Some call the practice “mudding.” It costs public and private landowners thousands of dollars a year to repair the aftermath.
In the case along Arasta Creek, one of the drivers got stuck and a passer-by reported the vehicle to the U.S. Forest Service. The agency is now working to put together a case against the driver and whoever else might have been responsible for the mess.
In the meantime, officials are working on a plan to put the tiny creek back together again.
“The wheel ruts created a new channel for the stream,” Brassfield said. “Much of the water from the creek is being diverted into other small gullies. We're afraid that it's all going to start to erode if we don't get in here and fix it.”
The agency estimates it will pay $2,000 to rework the creek channel, replant riparian willows, and spread seed and straw to prevent further erosion.
“This is really a mess,” Brassfield said.
It's not the first time the agency has seen people misbehave on both national forest and private lands along Three Mile Creek. Over the past decade, Brassfield said people have dumped everything from garbage to trailers in the area, blasted trees with firearms and ripped up the landscape with a variety of different-sized vehicles.
“It's really frustrating,” he said. “We're seeing a lot of people pioneering new trails and making messes.”
The agency needs help from the public to put a stop to it.
“People can really help us by getting a license plate and even a description of the vehicle,” Brassfield said. “We don't want people to make a fuss by talking to these people. If they can get a description or plate number of the vehicle, that information can go a long way to help us find the people responsible for creating these problems.”
In cases like this, Brassfield said, it's often the responsible users who end up suffering the most.
The Forest Service specifically talked about the future of the small spur road along Arasta Creek following a recent nearby wildfire. The agency opted to leave it open because people seemed to enjoy camping and picnicking in the area.
“We're going to have to take a good hard look at that again,” Brassfield said. “We're not going to want to spend $2,000, only to have people come back up and tear the area up again. We're probably going to have to close off the road up along the creek. What else can we do?”
Reporter Perry Backus can be reached at 523-5259 or at pbackus@missoulian.com
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