A small but vocal group of angry residents, mostly living in the Rat Lake area of Yellowknife, is fed up with four-wheel-drive vehicles chewing up the lake and ruining the scenic area and habitat that is important for humans and wildlife alike.

Is there nothing that can be done by the city to combat this senseless destruction in the name of so-called recreation?

Municipal enforcement supervisory constable Larry Weber says his bylaw department's hands are tied because the statute that covers such carnage is only in effect from May through to the end of September.

It seems silly, but when city officials passed the Vehicles on Public Property bylaw, prohibiting the use of motorized vehicles between May 1 and Sept. 30, they had snowmobiles on their minds, not souped-up, rut-digging, dirt-throwing, wildlife-habitat-destroying four-wheel drive trucks.

Don't be so quick to blame those officials for not anticipating how citizens would abuse public property in the future, though. How were they to know?

The only people to blame are the ones who are so selfishly taking advantage of a bylaw loophole to inflict damage on public property, annoy area residents -- their fellow citizens -- and get their kicks out of churning duck-nesting grounds into rutted, useless bogs.

City council must act quickly to plug the loophole or enact another law to prohibit such activity. But that's only half the solution.

Mud-bogging aficionados and four-wheel-drive enthusiasts should lobby city hall to help them set up a special area where they can carry out their recreational pursuits.

Surely there is space somewhere within city limits -- but far enough away from residential sections of the city and important wildlife habitats -- to accommodate these people and their trucks.

When the bylaw has been plugged and such a facility has been developed, only then will this seasonal problem truly be solved.

It could very well be the first step toward a newly invigorated, tourist- and resident-friendly downtown core.

The Rose and Thistle Cafe on Franklin Avenue -- formerly the Country Corner -- is under new management, has a new look inside, a completely new menu and is poised to take a bite out of the family-dining market.

It still operates as a 24-hour convenience store and is now also a La Casa Express pizza outlet.

Any change that attracts more family business to Yellowknife's downtown is a change for the better. Let's hope this is the beginning of a trend towards a brighter and more safe city core.