NOT SO FAST

BUTTE — Neighbors who live along Bodenburg Creek are applauding the Alaska Department of Fish and Game for putting up notices of where it is legal to cross the stream on four-wheelers.

“People think you can do anything because it’s in Butte,” said Brit Lively, secretary of Butte Area Community Organization, who lives along the creek. “We were grateful that they finally did put the signs up.”

Bodenburg Creek is a salmon stream, meaning it is illegal to drive in. But it is legal to cross — in certain areas. The signs define that area as 100 feet downstream from the vegetation.

That the stream is different from parts with more lenient rules for driving is hard to tell just by observing it. The creek is close to the Knik River, that famously popular hotspot for four-wheeling. There are sandbars all around.

“On weekends there’s probably 100 people in there just playing and running up and down into the creek, into the vegetation,” Lively said. “They’ve run over ducks’ nests. The chaos was just devastating.”

She said she and her neighbors have talked to Alaska State Troopers about the ATV drivers and one of the responses they’ve received is that it’s harder to ticket people when there is no notice of where to cross.

So, for at least nine years, BARCO members have been asking for the signs.

“It seems like these kinds of measures that would mitigate the abuse of the creek have not been employed here and now that after so many years of asking for signs we finally have them,” Lively said. “People can no longer claim ignorance.”

The signs state the rules and the penalties. Lively said it’s a fine of up to $10,000 and possible forfeiture of the ATV. They’re are small, Lively said, and they’re made of paper. But they’re an indication that things are starting to turn around out there.

“The salmon are coming in. We’ve been watching them,” Lively said.

Salmon always come late to Bodenburg Creek, she said.

That the signs are made of paper says something about how far the area still has to go.

“The reason why they are made out of paper is because they’re cheap to replace, since (Fish and Game’s) Habitat Division expects them to be torn down over and over again,” reads a BARCO press release.

The fight over the signs is just the latest battle over the Knik River Public Use Area, the home of Jim Creek and a longtime destination for raucous parties.

In 2009, the state instituted a set of rules for the area, governing things like camping, dumping garbage and the use of firearms. Along with those rules, the state has stepped up enforcement in the area and residents report a noticeable reduction in parties and errant gunfire.

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.