Helping sands: ORV group maintains Moses Lake Mud Flats and Sand Dunes roads

The Sand Scorpions ORV Group board and a handful of volunteers met at North Trail Road toward the mud flats area of the Moses Lake Mud Flats and Sand Dunes Saturday for maintenance.

It was quite the production. With a donated gravel pile, a wheel loader provided by Moses Lake local Mick Hansen, a Twin Peaks Truck Lines LLC dump truck provided by Tony Grunlund, a tractor from Sand Scorpion co-founder Lyle Laves and a collection of tools, the team leveled the road, filled in holes and laid down a new layer of gravel.

They also pruned some trees and cleaned the area throughout the day, especially making sure corners were clear and visible.

Volunteers aim to do this kind of work a couple times between July and September, said Sand Scorpions board member Aaron Woodiwiss.

With high-horsepower engines running 5 or more miles into the dunes regularly, the trails are bound to get degraded, he said. While county workers maintain the main Sand Dunes Road, if the Sand Scorpions didn’t maintain the branch roads, nobody would.

Throughout the year, the Sand Scorpions do all kinds of maintenance work in the dunes, said board member Duane Strong: putting up signs, picking up trash and providing general cleanup.

Everybody who sets tires on the dunes benefits from it, he said.

Before they work, Sand Scorpions reach out to local government bodies for blessings, said board member Justin Gilbert. This time, the state Department of Natural Resources told them not to use chainsaws or other handheld power tools due to fire danger. Otherwise, they were free to work.

“The funding isn’t really there the way it once was,” Gilbert said. “We try to work closely with the sheriff’s department and any relating agencies to just let them know, ‘Hey, we’re going to take care of this,’ and they say, ‘Yeah, you got it.’”

The roads and trails were initially built by the Job Corps, he said, which used to maintain the area, as well. Nowadays there is no organization other than the Sand Scorpions to do it.

In the 1990s, the county was going to shut certain areas of the sand dunes down for lack of maintenance, and the Sand Scorpions fought to keep it open, he said. Because of this, they feel partly responsible for it.

“We kind of feel like it’s our home field and we’ve got to take care of it,” Gilbert said.

It’s also a safety issue, he said. If someone gets injured on one of the backroads, ambulances and first responders need to be able to access it.

“We try to stay connected to it so we can make sure it’s fun for everybody and to make sure those who need assistance get it,” he said.

Beyond all that, the work makes the dunes nicer for everyone, Woodiwiss said. It brings out more people for events.

“The easier we make it, the more competitors we get, the better show we put on.”