LARAMIE - Illegal motorized use destroyed two key wetlands in the Vedauwoo area over the weekend. The wetlands were near Forest Service roads that are closed in the springtime, but trucks were driven over and around the closure signs to enter the wetlands. In each case, "mud bogging" by four-wheel-drive trucks destroyed areas about the size of a football field.

The destruction was discovered by Laramie resident Dave Waggoner on Sunday, who immediately notified the Forest Service. "There was one lonesome frog left in one of the wetlands," said Waggoner. "The entire place had been destroyed." A number of sensitive amphibians are known to inhabit the wetlands of the Vedauwoo area. They include the western boreal toad, which has been petitioned for listing under the Endangered Species Act, as well as the chorus frog and the tiger salamander.

Currently, motor vehicles are restricted to designated roads and trails on Forest Service lands, and a number of seasonal closures have been put into effect in an effort to curb illegal off-road mud-bogging. The Forest Service and Albany County Sheriff's Department patrolled the Pole Mountain unit on several occasions last week, but so far have been unable to prevent the damage.

"Motorized use on the Pole Mountain unit is completely out of control," said Erik Molvar of Biodiversity Conservation Alliance. "These destructive actions by motorized users prove that seasonal restrictions aren't working, and that permanent closures are needed."

"I see this kind of senseless destruction up here every year, and it's an outrage," added Waggoner. "The Forest Service needs a new approach to managing motorized use, because the current approach clearly isn't working."

Forest Service law enforcement on the Medicine Bow has been severely underfunded in recent years, with only one Law Enforcement Officer for both the Snowy Range and Pole Mountain units. Law enforcement is funded directly by the U.S. Congress through the Washington, D.C. office of the Forest Service, and is not part of the Medicine Bow's annual budget.