Vandalism June 2009

PLEASE call the Jasper County Sheriff's Department at 417-359-9100 to report suspicious or unlawful activity, curfew violations and vandalism. The Missouri Department of Conservation also has a HotLine to report illegal activity, 1-800-392-1111 which is manned 24 hours a day. You may remain anonymous, and you may ask to be considered for a reward if you wish. When you call, you will be asked simple questions, the answers to which will be vital to the investigation. Here are a few things to remember when you witness a suspected violation.
* Nature of suspected illegal activity
* Date and time of violation
* The suspect’s identity, if possible
* Description of the suspects and vehicles

Recent vandalism at the La Russell Access Point includes off road vehicular activity. As you can easily see the truck tires cut into the grass, leaving ruts, which now are contributing to erosion. The 1" rain received this week has already begun washing the gravel off the roadway and into the turf. You can see that the vehicle drove north through the grass.



Some vandals (in the last 120 hours) took it upon themselves to create a camping shelter, by cutting the trees, native plants and flowers along the parking area, next to the river. The cut foliage damages the natural riparian corridor and now exposes the area to erosion. [click on photographs to get close-up view of damage]