Could I strongly advocate handling these incidents in a legal manner? Violence would most likely lead to criminal charges and in San Bernardino County that would not be good news.

I suggest that we report incidents soon after they occur to the Sheriff's Department and shortly thereafter the Bureau of Land Management and/or Forest Service. Be aware of any witnesses or physical evidence. Take photos. Be aware of the time and any evidence in the surrounding area. Where did the tire/foot prints lead to? The Forest Service boundary is separated by a fence just north of the trailhead.

In addition, I suggest that we petition the Forest Service for some law enforcement presence. I have never seen law enforcement up in the area unless they were called. Deep Creek is known in the community as a lawless area.

The email from Joyce Burk of the Sierra Club referred to Deep Creek as a lawless area. The BLM suggested that Mike Castro provides some security for a lawless area. But Mike Castro is not professional law enforcement and has committed crimes himself.

The recent article in the Daily Press concerning the spillway admitted that there had been problems with crime and vandalism for years and the problems had been ignored. The community could not afford the cost of policing the area......

I see the same thing at Deep Creek. We are not being provided with enough law enforcement presence.

The flip of this suggestion, is that then the Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and Sheriff's will say they can not afford the cost of patroling the area. Then the area is determined to be unsafe or too expensive to keep safe to the public.

There was a recent article about the group PEER (Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility) stating that the BLM do not keep the public safe on public lands. That more law enforcement is needed. Now, I wonder where this is going because PEER has been involved with these lawsuits with the Sierra Club and the Southwest Center for Biodiversity which have resulted in closures of public lands.

And then, do we want more law enforcement? I don't know. But, we really don't want to have Deep Creek become a negative experience.

This is one of the reasons that we formed the nonprofit organization and are still proceeding with the Bowen Ranch Building.

I think the solution is to have a cohesive group of people who care about the area present alternatives to keep Deep Creek open and enjoyable to the public. If we have more people involved, we may be able to work with the agencies to solve problems. I think two way radios or cell phones should be used at the springs. We need better facilities for camping at the Bowen Ranch. We need some kind of bathroom facilities at the springs (lets be realistic).

Please do not take the law into your own hands. Violence leads to more violence. Just look at the Trade Center tragedy and the results.

There are other legal solutions that we are working on.