Is your purpose to illustrate how many of these areas are over-used (abused)? The amazing maze of vehicle tracks seems to show that here. I'm astounded. I do some off-roading and conservation and maintenance of trails is primordial. Part of the method is not to stray off of the trail. Tread lightly, right?
Andrew Horodysky
These photos illustrate a unique graphic treatment. The random trails have an almost deliberate topographic placement, when viewed from an aerial view. They would make for an elegant series, when printed.
When I first started photographing and thinking about conservation I thought all kinds of off-roading was needlessly destructive. Well, things change. I have become less judgmental about it. I realized that most off-roaders are good, hardworking people, and it is usually families out being together having fun.
It is important that there designated place for off-roading though. Nobody likes dirtbikes tearing down their road on a Sunday afternoon, through their unmarked property, or through designated wilderness areas.
One can see the pictures however they like. I see the beauty and the good in it, as well as the scarring to the surface. Which of course is minor compared to strip mining or clear cutting. What most people forget is that these OHV areas are out in places most people would never go.
I don't care to see that random and extensive scarring, as much for the accompanying environmental impact as for the evident thoughtlessness (those marks will remain for decades or more in such a delicate place). It's true that times, along with peoples' awareness, are changing. Could it be those marks are very old and that people are now sticking to the trails at Johnson Valley, due to increased vigilance at the club and community levels? I hope so.
I was just out on a difficult forest trail 3 days ago. I've been out on that particular trail every 2 years or so over the past 15 years. Several of us had been on the trail quite a number of times each and we did discuss how the trail has changed from the impact and yet it remains largely the same. It's not wider or cut deeper, because, up here, the forest towers over us and pretty much encroaches back quite vigourously. It would win the battle in just one growing season if no-one drove it. That's kind of reassuring, that we are the lesser force in our puny little trucks.