SLADE – White’s Branch Arch has stood for thousands of years in the Red River Gorge. But not long ago, Zeb Weese noticed it was in danger.
All-terrain vehicle enthusiasts had discovered the hiking trail, originally built as a logging road, that leads up to and goes across the scenic arch near Natural Bridge State Park.
Zeb Weese of the Kentucky Nature Preserve Commission sits below White's Branch Arch. Photos by Tom Eblen
“Ten years ago, you could drive any two-wheel (drive) sedan from there to where I’m standing,” Weese said as we stood 50 feet apart on top of the arch.
Not anymore. The sandy soil has eroded from around big sandstone outcroppings atop the arch. Rusty steel pipes from natural gas exploration years ago stick out of the ground in several places.
“Those were buried fairly deep just a few years ago, but the ground has washed away,” said Weese, the Kentucky State Nature Preserves Commission’s eastern regional manager.
“I’ve seen a huge difference since 2002,” he said. “It seemed like overnight the impact was terrible. We were hastening the demise of this arch exponentially.”
What’s happening around White’s Branch Arch and in other natural areas offers a cautionary tale, especially as state officials develop plans to promote “adventure tourism” as an economic engine for rural Kentucky.
All-terrain vehicles – known as ATVs, or “four wheelers” – have become popular tools and toys in rural Kentucky. Hardly a weekend goes by that there isn’t a news item about somebody being killed in an ATV accident.
Weese stands atop White's Branch Arch, which has suffered serious erosion because of ATVs.
But we should be very careful about opening public land to ATVs. They can do a lot of environmental damage, especially in areas with steep hills or sandy soil. Big ATV wheels dig up vegetation that holds soil in place, allowing erosion that sends silt into steams and rivers. Much of the erosion around Red River Gorge eventually ends up in the Kentucky River, which is the water supply for Lexington and many other towns.
Many ATV riders are responsible – they stay in designated areas; they don’t go into the woods and blaze their own trails. Some ATV groups work with conservation officers to protect the environment.
“It’s like a lot of things – a few bad apples ruin it for everyone,” Weese said. “There are appropriate places for everything, including ATVs.”
But the state and federal land designated as nature preserve in Red River Gorge isn’t one of them. Not that it has stopped some ATV riders. Weese said most of the problems seem to come from out-of-state ATV clubs that hit the area on weekends.
Officials have posted signs banning motorized vehicles. In 2006, they got some grant money to rent bulldozers. They dug a series of deep trenches to keep ATVs off the trails. Some trenches include foot bridges so hikers can continue to use the popular trails. But those measures haven’t always worked.
Weese stands on a foot bridge across a trench dug to keep ATVs off the trail to White's Branch Arch.
“It’s unfortunate we have to do this,” Weese said, noting that the trench barriers also produce erosion. “We were doing the damage in a restricted area to keep the damage from being done in a much wider area. It’s not a perfect solution, but it’s the best we could do. The main goal was to protect the arch.”
Dave Cooper, a Lexington environmentalist, took me mountain biking on several logging roads and trails that are closed to motorized vehicles. Then we hiked up the trail to White’s Branch Arch to meet Weese.
Throughout the area, we saw several fresh ATV tracks and the erosion they helped produce. Some tracks were on the rutted trails; others went through the woods.
“One four-wheeler can do more damage than a hundred horses or mountain bikes,” Cooper said. “The problem is they won’t stay on the roads. They rip up the forests.”
Adventure tourism could be a great way to capitalize on Kentucky’s natural beauty and help more people enjoy it. But we must be careful not to destroy it in the process.
August 20, 2008 at 7:47 pm |
wow, what are the environmentalists going to gripe about next? Not everyone enjoys hiking, and ATV’s are very popular and fun. I agree, there need to be standards on safety, but lets get real, ATV’s are not causing erosion and run-off! I have been way back in the mountains on ATV’s, and yes, I have created my own trails. However, I feel my damage to the environment is very isolated at most! As Rush would say, environmentalist should stop being suck “Wacko’s!!”
August 20, 2008 at 8:06 pm |
I am 100% for keeping ATVs off these trails!!!!
August 20, 2008 at 8:36 pm |
Brad, you demonstrate incredible intelligence. I’m in awe.
I for one am very in favor of keeping ATVs out. How might one get involved to prevent it?
Thanks,
John
August 21, 2008 at 10:09 am |
While I am in favor of protecting our trails and restricting ATV access is this really the best way. To dig multiple 30 foot long 10 feet deep tank traps more damage is done by these then hundreds of years of ATV damage. I would urge everyone to visit http://www.saveourcave.org to see how many of the bone headed descions being made by our state parks officials are causing more harm then good and infact are restriciting access for many of us hikers and climbers to several areas within the park. “Adventure Tourism” huh I think not. It is only the latest catch phrase in a pack of lies feed to us by the Parks.
August 21, 2008 at 12:45 pm |
I am in the adventure tourism business. Since the Jeep Jamboree, ATV’s, Horse Back Riders, have all been denied access, by business has suffered. Three years ago, I had 17 people employed in the Adventure Tourism Business. Since these closures I now have One Employee. Adventure Tourism is good business. It provides jobs in depressed rural areas. Environmentalist in their own selfish way have put these hardworking people out of work.
I say keep Adventure Tourism alive. It is good for Kentucky.
If the environmentalist want to go and exert their authority, why not go after littering, illegal dumping , and straight pipes. Thre is no mandatory garbage pickup in our County. So why don’t environmentalist focus on the battery acid, raw sewage, used oil, dangerous chemicals, anifreeze, etc, etc. that is being spread across the lands, streams, and waterways. Those are more harmful to the Kentucky River water supply than a little sand or mud may ever be. Think before you act environmentalist. Or are you taking the lazy way out by stopping access instead of taking the more difficult road of responsible land, air, and water management. Here, let’s put a bandaid on a minor scratch while the patient is suffering from cancer.
Besides that. Environmentalist wish to keep our future generation from seeing and experiecing nature by shutting off. Well go ahead and keep the kids at home and not out doing something with their siblings, family, and friends. Let’s keep our kids out of nature and keep them home playing video games and getting fat because we want to keep them out of nature. Here Johnny have some tap water that has freon, batter acid, and a splash of fecal matter.
God Bless America
August 21, 2008 at 2:44 pm |
I’m not a fan of ATV’s, but 30 years ago I drove acrossed White’s Branch Arch in my truck during an aventure I will never forget. Last spring I walked out to White’s Branch Arch and saw more damage done by state officials trenching the trails than was done in the last 30 years by vehicles. Let’s be careful and not “throw out the baby with the bath water.” Can’t trails be set a side for ATV’s, bikes, horseback, and hiking without making the woods look like a war zone? Look at the over reaction at Natural Bridge State Park. See saveourcave.com Protection is good. Over protection robes everyone the enjoyment of nature.
August 21, 2008 at 3:07 pm |
As usual the quote by the Sierra club member Dave Cooper is exaggeration. “One four-wheeler can do more damage than a hundred horses or mountain bikes.” This is an unbelievable and uneducated statement. An ATV that is operated properly on public lands will never cause the amount of damage that has benn eluded to in this article. The Sierra Club has been responsible for public lands being closed to public use across the country. The Sierra Club has been known to use some rather underhanded practices in some states to have land closed to OHVs. The list is long so investigate it for your self.
I have ridden motorcycles off-road for many years. Do they displace soil? Yes, they do. I am aware of this. As a tax paying citizen I deserve the right to use the public lands as much as anyone else. The trails are supposed to set up so that minimal errosion is possible. The problem that I have encountered is the trail systems like, the Diamond Trail in Red Bird are not maintained properly by the forestry srvice. Water breaks are not put in place to prevent erosion.
I pay $40 a year for my permit and I deserve the same usage as hunters, fishermen, hikers, or mountain bikers. I guess Dave Cooper thinks that hiking and mountain biking cause zero erosion. If I cant use the property neither can they. They cause erosion also. They might also damage the fauna.
August 21, 2008 at 4:23 pm |
If they put as much effort into creating a usable trail system as they did digging those trenches (which, by the way, do not work) they may be able to capitalize on future tourism. There are many examples where trail systems are built properly and create no long lasting environmental effects. (Hatfield-McCoy, Royal Blue, Windrock, Willie Begley, etc…) In fact, left unattended, a forest will engulf a normal trail in a year or two, leaving no sign of ever existing. We need to figure out ways to embrace ORV’s! ATV’s and Side By Side vehicles (Rhinos & Razr’s) are here to stay. Big money!!! Remember, the “locals” will always find a way to get to their favorite destination. Don’t be foolish like the idiots in the Record Industry were when they tried to prevent mp3’s from being downloaded/shared a few years ago. If they had embraced and figured out a way to capitalize on the emerging trend, they (not APPLE – iTunes) would be making ALL THE MONEY!
August 21, 2008 at 5:22 pm |
Mark you say, “Besides that. Environmentalist wish to keep our future generation from seeing and experiecing nature by shutting off. Well go ahead and keep the kids at home and not out doing something with their siblings, family, and friends. Let’s keep our kids out of nature and keep them home playing video games and getting fat because we want to keep them out of nature.”
Has Tom or anyone or anyone else actually suggested this? Does you think that if you can’t drive an ATV then you can’t see nature? Have you not heard of hiking, horseback riding, or biking?
You talk about the problem of littering, illegal dumping , and straight pipes. Do you think that you could actually find an environmentalist that thinks that those things are okay?
Your argument boils down to “I hate environmentalists because they don’t want me to make money with a business that is destructive to the park.”
August 21, 2008 at 5:33 pm |
Dan, I think that you are missing the point I don’t ride and ATV and I think access should be limited in certian areas of the gorge. But there is a larger issus going on here and that is the park continues to restrict areas in gorge to even hikers. There are many places that hikers and climbers can no longer go and for no really good reason. Pocket wall was a world famous hang out for climbers and was featured in many mags and iti s now closed for no good reason. The park admin is broken and those in high places are not making good decsions. I would encrouge you to visit http://www.saveourcave.org to learn more about this and not take my word for it. My view here is why cause more damage to prevent damage better soultions are available to keep ATV’s out.
August 21, 2008 at 7:46 pm |
You wont keep me out….never have never will. Me and my buddies are here to stay and although we respect the land because we are respectful people not because there is a law that demands us to be respectful. I suggest the “Urbanites” and the “TreeHuggers” find a new cause to live for like replenishing the food banks in Lexington that are running out of food for Lexingtons Homeless….theres something to really be compassionate about.
August 21, 2008 at 9:55 pm |
Dan comes to think that I hate environmentalist. The term Enviromentalist has attached it’s definition to the far left side and with validity. Personally, I love the environment or else I would live in the city. I even recycle and there is no garbage pick up in Wolfe County. I drive one hour round trip to empty my garbage. That is not good business sense because my time is worth much more than that. But I refuse to through garbage over the cliff or even litter. But I do dislike the environmentalists who pass judgement on recreational users who are in pursuit of Happiness, which our founding fathers put into the constitution. Let adventure tourism live. If there was not a market for people enjoying nature, by getting out in it, Billions of dollars would not be spent per year. If we want to better Kentucky’s incomes and way of life, environmentalist need to get over it, and let our on people and visitors enjoy our state. This will even increase the state coffer’s by having a higher tax base.
But I also give people the experience of nature and I make money on it. My clients love to experience nature. But we should not close nature off , but let people experience nature whether it is on the trail, closing off our cave at Natural Bridge, closing rock walls, etc. After all who is paying the salaries of the people closing off the land? Who paid for the land in our State and Federal lands? We did, our tax dollars at work. So why don’t we us some of this land for adventure tourism?
August 21, 2008 at 10:28 pm |
In response to Scott, who says: “An ATV that is operated properly on public lands will never cause the amount of damage that has benn eluded to in this article. ”
Scott as you know, the problem is that ATVs are not operated properly. ATV riders like to go off trail and in the streams. The Forest Service does not have the money to repair the damage. What I think we need to do is look at the Hatfield McCoy trail system in West Va, where there are some better safety regulations and designated trails.
If the people who ride ATVs in the Daniel Boone would just respect the woods, instead of trying to destroy them, we wouldnt have this problem.
August 22, 2008 at 12:25 am |
I first drove across the Narrows (White’s Branch Arch) in mid 1970’s. In those days the Narrows road was well maintained by large oil companies, and any kind of car could be be driven on it. When the oil boom bottomed out and the larger oil companies pulled out, the Narrows road began to deteriorate. Normal erosion from weather was the biggest killer, especially on the big hill on the west side of the Arch. Rains turned it into a boulder field and made it impassable in anything except jeeps and dune buggies. Eventually, off-roaders from out-of-state discovered the area, and the deterioration of the road was greatly accelerated. Most of the erosion on the Arch itself was caused by big machines driven by fun-loving and often inebriated people. A perfect combination for mindless destruction of nature!
To “cure” this problem, Natural Bridge State Park and the KY State Nature Preserves Commission conspired to keep people off the road by construction the biggest “tank traps” any of us have ever seen – even on battlefields. This biggest one, the one closest to the Arch, is over 100 feet long, about 40 feet wide, and nearly 20 feet deep near the ends. On either side, boulders weighing several tons have been positioned; and on the southerly side, there’s a huge guard rail which runs over the mountainside. This is the trap that was shown in the Herald-Leader with the guy standing on the foot bridge. Because of the lens used on the camera, and the height of the camera from the ground, the trap doesn’t look too big. To see it for real makes you want to gag! It’s big enough to put a house trailer in!!! Looking at it makes you wonder what kind of mind it took to dream up such devastation. Besides keeping out motor vehicles, this trap effectively keeps out horses, old people, and fat people because the sides at each end of the bridge are much higher and steeper than it looks in this picture. This makes it dangerous when trying to get down to the bridge.
The purpose of this big tank trap and the MANY other smaller ones was to discourage people from using the Narrows Road. I’m told that the Nature Preserves Commission had to be threatened with a lawsuit because they tried to stop a mountain bike race from using the Road. The race was eventually allowed when an attorney pointed out that the Sheltowee Trace also runs down the Narrows Road, and so bikers, etc. couldn’t be kept out.
I see now why the off-road people are using the word “hypocricy” when describing the damage the government did. The massive damage caused by all the traps and berms makes the 4-wheeler damage look small. Although not as bad obviously, it sort of reminds me of the mindless destruction caused by mountain-top removal down in eastern KY. And our tax dollars paid for it!
It’s also hypocritical to call this place a nature preserve. There’s got to be several tons of rusting metal near the sides of the road. I lost count of it all I saw when I walked the road today. With all the heavy equipment and manpower it took to dig the tank traps and put giant boulders everywhere, they could have easily removed all this trash. We saw lots of plastic pipe, beer cans, and dead telephone poles too.
If I’d been in charge, I would have rebuilt the road to the nice thing it used to be and then put all the tank traps and boulders on the places where people could gain access to the State Park and Nature Preserve. That way the road would still be available to attract tourists and could be used for accessing oil wells, fighting forest fires, doing rescues, etc. I heard that it used to be a county road, and if that is the case it should be made a county road again. There’s a website which deals with all sorts of Natural Bridge access issues. It’s http://www.SaveOurCave.org and well worth looking at. I get the impression that they are working to get the Narrows Road opened too.
August 22, 2008 at 8:59 am |
What is wrong with a government when they destroy a landscape it is for the betterment of nature????? This is absurd. A bulldozer did alot more damage to the sandy soil than a thousand 4-wheelers.. I’m glad I vote. They ought to be ashamed of themselves. There is an old saying “GOOD will become EVIL and EVIL will become GOOD” This is truely a disgrace.
November 16, 2008 at 9:26 pm |
atv aholes have no respect for private property either. i am for banning them everywhere.
January 31, 2009 at 8:03 pm |
If the tree huggers keep it up natural bridge and all the trails will be a thing of the past!!!..I used to go every weekend me and close to 100 different friends a year.the jeep jam,we brought lots of money.we bought gas,food,motel,loved the bbq and pizza there,we broke things,fixed them bought and broke more.loved the trails,people,and a good time after a week at work.and no im not gona hike,I stand on my feet 60 hrs a week at work why do it more.
That place used to be packed,now looks like a ghost town!!Yea I might have run over some grass or played in a mud hole!We had cleanup rides and took out what we brought in.Just keep it up and when I tell my nephew about it in 15 years he will just say where was that.Why wont you take me there,sounds like fun!By then it will all be a thing of the past.
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March 7, 2009 at 10:27 pm |
People who say banning atvs are completely clueless and unaware of the benefits they produce. There are too many people who say atvs are bad just because they have seen only the down sides. Atvs are very capable of covering rough and rugged terrain that even jeeps can’t handle, making them optimum for rescue, farming and for those who wish to enjoy the outdoors who aren’t physically able to walk or ride a bike due to their health. So before you can say atvs are bad,you have to way the differences with pros and cons. Also, if they were allowed on the streets than there would be fewer trail issues. Atvs get anywhere from 40-80 miles to the gallon depending on engine size. So for all you tree huggers who are helping by driving a prius, my atv will need to be filled less often then you will, and it’s only a three gallon tank.
April 22, 2009 at 4:56 am |
I would like to say this i live here ride every weekend
me and my friends respect the land we even clean trash up on the trails that we ride but i don’t think it is fair for someone who lives in lex to tell me that i cant ride in my back yard or for that matter make any decisions on what happens here ask some of the business or hotels how much money they have lost.I remember when on any given Sunday u could go out see people with there kids riding camping having fun lots of smiles on those kids faces ever one that you talked to was in a good mood just having fun some of the kids would be playing in the creeks just good times hell if you broke down 50 people would stop and try to lend a hand,but i guess now my kids can see it on a video game and say dad i would like to go camping or take a ride in the woods to see some cool stuff then i guess i will have to say son i cant it is against the law now!
Bobby Spencer