Off-Road Vehicles in the Nueces River

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All-Terrain Vehicles in the Nueces River

Click on the thumbnail images for full-screen JPEG images. Pause pointer on the thumbnail image for embedded comment.

Most of the vehicle photos are from the 4x4 website but were subsequently removed. The photos speak for themselves.

The public has a right to use state-owned rivers, but does the public have the right to abuse them in the name of fun?
All of the vehicle photos are from the 4x4 website. They tell a sad story.
This is a beautiful stretch of the Nueces River to fish or paddle.		  

As you know, pollution occurs when engine fluids spill into the water.
It takes years for black tire marks to fade from the limestone rocks.
Off-roading is a fast growing sport with few places to challenge their vehicles. Unfortunately, there is no law against this in Texas.

The non-destructive public who visit the rivers to swim, fish, canoe, kayak, and enjoy nature are being disenfranchised by this inappropriate activity of 4 wheeling.
Some 4x4 events have hosted over 100 vehicles in one weekend in the Nueces River. Other groups have come with 40 or 50 vehicles.
Two biologists with Texas Parks and Wildlife wrote reports on the destruction of aquatic habitat and bed and bank erosion. They were shocked at what they saw last July (2001) in the Nueces River.

If this activity is allowed to continue, what will Texas rivers be like in 5 or 10 years?
The Tread Lightly Guide to responsible 4 wheeling states: Blasting through streams is bad for fish and other aquatic life. Stirring up the sediment in the stream bottom makes it harder for fish to breathe and find food.
The vegetation along the banks is also being killed out by heavy vehicular traffic. This plant life is important to the eco-system in many ways as was stated by the TP&W biologists.

The beds and banks are being eroded by the vehicles as is evident in this photo.
Scarring in the form of black tire marks are being left as grim reminders of the negative activity of 4 wheeling.jpgScarring in the form of black tire marks are being left as grim reminders of the negative activity of 4 wheeling.
A picture speaks for itself.

More bed and bank destabilization.More bed and bank destabilization.
You decide whether you think these off roaders are adhering to tread lightly principles.
Please help us save Texas Rivers!
Photo by Sky Lewey
Photo by Sky Lewey
Photo by Sky Lewey

Photo by Sky Lewey
Photo by Sky Lewey
Photo by Sky Lewey

Photo by Michael Van Winkle
Photo by Michael Van Winkle
Photo by Michael Van Winkle

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Updated: January 14, 2005