At his best, man is the noblest of all animals; separated from law and justice he is the worst.
— Aristotle
Illegal Trails in the Sombrillo Area of Critical Environmental Concern
Recent illegal trail construction has seriously damaged the Sombrillo Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC).
These illegal trails are in direct violation of the National Environmental Protection Act and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act.
The illegal trail building also violates the protections defined in Sombrillo ACEC.
An illegal mountain bike trail that was constructed in the Sombrillo ACEC crosses through a cultural site and historic Native American pottery sherds.
This illegal mountain bike trail was constructed using tools to dig into ridgelines and saws to cut trees down between March 3-20, 2021 in the Sombrillo ACEC.
An illegal trail that was constructed in 2021 in the Sombrillo ACEC is shown here. This illegal trail was constructed using shovels and other tools to carve the trail bed into ridgelines and saws to cut down trees. This is BLM trail segment #18P, posted on social media mountain bike sites.
Tools were used to dig into sensitive and protected strata in the Sombrillo ACEC to covertly construct this illegal trail in 2019.
