Not so anomalous anymore
Early last year I wrote about the differences between the two sides of the road to the Verde River recreation area on the Tonto NF. The fenced area to the east was completely horse-beat and chewed up, not to mention trashed. The west side was relatively pristine, mature Arizona Upland with ironwood, palo verde and mesquite trees along with a dense population of large buckhorn chollas. The cryptobiotic crust was well-developed.
I returned this morning and found that the horses have learned to use the step-over gate on the east side of the road. Now they are converting that relatively pristine area into yet more horse-beat land. About 1/4 of the cryptobiotic crust has been turned into bare dirt. And to top it off, idiots dumped broken concrete, landscape debris and empty containers of god-knows-what off the single dirt road in the area.
[Expletive deleted].
