by Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services

NNSL (Oct 08/97) - The Rat Lake area, long an idyllic natural setting, is turning into an unwelcome daily mini-monster truck show for nearby residents.

Drivers of heavy-duty four-wheel drive trucks are using the area as a mud run, spinning tires and chewing up ground not far from migratory birds' nests around the small lake.

"The damage done this year is really dramatic," said Brad Heath, who walks his dog in the area each day. He added other areas on Tin Can Hill have been chewed up by trucks.

"The dirt bikes weren't too bad, then the ATVs got in there and now the 4x4s," said Heath.

"They almost turned it into a road, and when they chewed that up they started widening it, and in some places now they're within 10 feet of the shore of Rat Lake," said Heath.

Homes in Bison Estates and along Rycon Drive have become ringside seats to the mud mayhem, which some witnesses say consists mainly of driving into the area and getting stuck in the mud.

Bison Estates resident Arthur Boutilier agreed this has been a banner year for environmental damage to the area.

"I haven't seen the kind of activity that's taken place recently before," said the five-year Bison resident. "There were four or five vehicles there the other day. It was ridiculous."

There's little the city can do about it, said municipal enforcement supervisory constable Larry Weber.

"There's no prohibition (on driving) in the area after Oct. 1," said Weber. "That's the problem and it's creating a nightmare for us, because these people have got it figured out. They waited until Oct. 1 before they started this nonsense."

The Vehicles on Public Property bylaw which applies to the area prohibits the use of motorized vehicles between May 1 and Sept. 30.

The idea of opening it up to motor vehicles Oct. 1, said Weber, is to allow snowmobilers, which travel on trails there in the winter, to take advantage of early snowfalls.