MORGANTOWN — Do not cut down trees and do not build trails or obstacles within city parks.
“That’s not a suggestion,” BOPARC Assistant Director Marissa Travinski said. “That’s the law.”
Travinski’s comments came during a recent conversation between the Board of Park and Recreation Commissioners and JoNell Strough, chairperson of the Mon Valley Green Space Coalition.
Strough reported that she’s found a number of areas within White Park where trees have been cut down and the soil mounded up or otherwise disturbed in order to create new trails, jumps or other obstacles popular with mountain bikers.
Once these unauthorized developments are created, Strough explained, the destruction spreads as bikers leave the established trails to access them. She said a soil scientist familiar with the damage in White Park estimates that tens of tons of soil have been dug up in just one of the newly disturbed areas.
“It’s moved well beyond jumps being built and kids digging,” Strough said, offering photos of trees that had obviously been cut and turned into obstacles using a chainsaw.
But it’s all illegal and it’s not just kids.
BOPARC Director Melissa Wiles said it’s difficult to catch people in the act. The one time that did occur, it was an adult who ran from the police and was never caught.
City Code Section 941.02 explains that “No person shall remove, injure, deface, destroy or disturb any part of any park or any building, equipment or other property found therein, nor shall any tree, flower, shrub or other vegetation or fruit or seed thereof, or rock or mineral therein, be removed, injured, defaced, destroyed or disturbed.”
The question for BOPARC is what to do about it.
Travinski said BOPARC is working on getting consistent signage placed throughout the city’s parks citing relevant sections of code.
It was also suggested that signs be created that can be placed temporarily at the spot where unauthorized activity is taking place.
“It’s not going to deter everybody, but at least letting them know, ‘Hey, we know you’re in here cutting down trees. We’ve found it. We’ve found your trail development.’ It’ll deter some percentage of people,” BOPARC President Patrick Hathaway said.
Mostly, Wiles explained, BOPARC needs the people who enjoy using the parks to speak up immediately if they see this type of activity by contacting BOPARC or the Morgantown Police Department.
Board member Danielle Trumble seemed to sum up the board’s feeling on the issue.
“I just can’t believe we’re at a point where we have to tell people you’re not allowed to chop down our trees,” she said.
