WILDERNESS -- The Juniper Dunes Wilderness east of Pasco has the dubious distinction of being adjacent to an OHV riding area in the soft sands of the Columbia Basin.

The wilderness is managed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.  Dust clouds and whining of dirt bikes and ATVs are a part of the daytime wilderness experience in this area. At least a fence has been installed to make it clear where it's legal to have motorized vehicles and where it's not.

Nevertheless, certain renegades pretend the fence isn't there even if they have to break down and run over a section to continue their fantasy.

In filing a Washington Trails Association report on her three-day hike from last weekend, Holly Weiler of the Spokane Mountaineers noted recent abuses:

On Sunday we did a short morning wander before packing up tents and heading for somewhere off on the northwest end of the wilderness. The sad part of the weekend was seeing A LOT of illegal OHV tracks inside the wilderness area. There's a huge OHV area outside the wilderness, but apparently some unethical folks can't respect the boundary for the non-motorized area, and they are tearing up the wilderness. We wanted to see if we could figure out where they are gaining access, and we think we found the spot, or at least one spot, where 4-wheelers and dirt bikes are getting in. I've already reported it to BLM. It makes me so sad to see the damage--tire tracks tearing up vegetation, crashing over sagebrush, and leaving damage that will take years to heal in this desert landscape.