Groundsite Image Gallery
Settlement and Seclusion on the Edge of Town
Artist: Hotvedt, Paul and Garth Myers
Direction of View: east
Keywords: gate, road
The fertile soil of the Wakarusa River bottomlands is a boon for farmers. Getting in there to work it is another matter as the low ground is often waterlogged and impassable after heavy rains. When the county allowed general automobile traffic on the dirt roads the ruts rendered the roads useless to farmers. Since the roads literally led the outsider to nowhere the only visitors to come back here were presumably looking for a drive in the country. A stroll down the road, however, told the usual tale of a place where people like to hang out and shoot tin cans, poach game, dump trash, party, and leave the stash that would be unwelcome back home such as pornography and the empty packaging of a wide variety of other stimulants. When the county decided to deny access, except to the farmers who had keys to the locked gates, the ruts and trash disappeared.
Associated link: http://www.douglas-county.com/depts/ad/ad_dcrecycles.aspx