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2003
Granger Banks, Paragliding Instructor
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Posted on Yahoo! Boulder County Nature Network
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/NATURE-NET/conversations/messages/793
Fwd: Vegetation stripped off city land
Mar 14, 2003
Below if you have not seen it is an article in today's Daily Camera (3/14/2003) about some vandalism for recreation on open space. This kind of activity cannot be overlooked by the boards, governments, and agencies in charge of these properties. If so we'll see these kind of activities (illegal trail building, tree cutting, dogs tress-passing in protected areas) continue unchecked on our natural lands. Once again some very selfish "me first" people who could care less about the consequences of their activities on ecosystems and wildlife. Frankly in my opinion hang gliding should be suspended indefinitely on open space until the impacts can be addressed. Please read below.
submitted by
Scott Severs
Boulder, CO
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Vegetation stripped off city land
Trees, brush felled to make launch site on open space
By Greg Avery, Daily Camera Staff Writer
March 14, 2003
Matt Jones, an environmental planner with the Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks Department, picked his way down a steep slope Thursday amid mountain mahogany bushes in the foothills high above U.S. 36 north of Boulder.
A hint of disgust entered his voice when he reached a dozen tree stumps jutting out of the scrubby mountainside, their freshly sawed and angled tops exposing tree rings to the sun.
"This is kind of the mother lode, right here," Jones said, motioning to trees laid across the slope — destruction left by paragliding or hang gliding enthusiasts.
Boulder city and county rangers are investigating the destruction of trees and plants on about 2.5 acres of a ridge atop the former Beech Aircraft property that is jointly owned by the two governments as open space.
In 1990, the Olde Stage Fire burned through the area. Local members of the Rocky Mountain Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association recently informed the city that at least a dozen of the dead trees had been felled, others toppled and an untold number of mountain mahogany bushes, yucca and other plants uprooted to make space for a hang glider or paraglider to take off near the top of the ridge.
The work denuded two swaths of ground about 100 feet long and 50 feet wide running northeast and southeast on either side of a rocky outcropping, leaving only short grasses on about a half-acre of ground. Across the roughly 2 acres downhill from the launch strips, trees were cut down so fliers could launch without risking getting caught on branches.
"I've never been involved with something that damaged our property to this extent," said Steve Armstead, the city's head open space ranger, who is investigating the incident.
It isn't the first time an illegal launch site has been found on city open space. Last fall, city officials discovered that a patch of forest had been clear-cut on the shoulder of the mountain west of the first Flatiron, west of Chautauqua Park.
Hang gliders, paragliders and city officials suspect both launch sites are the work of the same person or group of people.
The city has responded by proposing to close off many launch sites in the foothills on city open space, leaving only one hogback ridge immediately north of Lee Hill Drive open to pilots.
The policy has spurred hang gliding and paragliding enthusiasts to pass on information to city investigators in the hopes of keeping access open. It has also put one paragliding instructor's livelihood in jeopardy.
Boulder paragliding teacher Granger Banks, who has run Parasoft Paragliding for 13 years, admits pushing over some of the dead trees at the Beech launch site, but he said he is not responsible for sawing down trees.
He said the illicit launch site on the Beech property was well-used by the time he heard about it in October. He said he never noticed sawed tree stumps.
Banks said he got concerned about the safety of the launch site and called city open space officials several times to ask about removing the dead trees, but never got a call back and decided to act on his own.
"I cleared some of the dead wood there," he said. "That was stupid. I shouldn't have done that."
On Tuesday, the Colorado Springs-based United States Hang Gliding Association suspended Banks' instructor's rating, an action that effectively makes Banks a trespasser on most of the popular launching sites around the state for at least the next month.
Some unidentified pilots are also thought to have been involved in making the illegal launch site, and the association may eventually take disciplinary action against them as well, said Jim Zeiset, a USHGA vice president who lives in Salida.
The association warned Banks that he was jeopardizing his instructor's rating after a June paragliding crash in Gregory Canyon, Zeiset said. Mike Weiblen, a 41-year-old Louisville resident, suffered spinal injuries in the crash.
The accident alerted city officials to existence of the illegal clear-cut and launch site behind the first Flatiron.
Armstead, the city ranger investigating the illegal launch sites, declined to talk about whether any suspects have been identified or what leads have turned up in the case. Charges could include destruction of public property, a misdemeanor with penalties of up to $1,000 in fines and 90 days in jail, he said.
Banks expressed remorse and pledged to volunteer to do rehabilitation on open space, whatever it takes, in the hope that he and others can continue to fly off city-owned land.
"We're not a bunch of villains out there chopping down the forest," Banks said.
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RM: Note this sentence:
"On Tuesday, the Colorado Springs-based United States Hang Gliding Association suspended Banks' instructor's rating, an action that effectively makes Banks a trespasser on most of the popular launching sites around the state for at least the next month."
Completely untrue. USHGA/USHPA had no legal authority to enforce trespassing claims:
"The USHGA's self-regulation program lacks the legal authority to enforce requirements to ensure the safety of others. There is no requirement for any hang glider operator to be a member of the USHGA."
http://www.usua.org/Rules/faa103.htm
Note also that paragliding and hang gliding had become, unfortunately, the same thing in the public's eye by 2003.
