Thunderdually
02-25-2008, 04:32 PM
While looking up information on the Croom motorcycle park I ran into a copy of the Croom motorcycle park news release I thought maybe some of our readers might like to read it.
THIS IS THE OFFICIAL NEWS RELEASE
from the
DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE
about the
CROOM MOTORCYCLE PARK
BROOKSVILLE—Buttgenbach Mines, relic of the golden days of
phosphate fortunes in Hernando County, is far from a ghost mine
With the possible exception of the Citrus Horse Trails, it is the
most popular attraction on the Withlacoochee State Forest,
113,000 acres of state-owned forest land in Citrus, Hernando,
Pasco, and Sumter Counties. *Moss-draped live oaks and grassy ravines soften the harsh traces of steam shovels and wildflowers spill over abandoned pits. A tram road moseys leisurely uphill around a lake.
Here, as in few forests in the world, a 2,600-acre portion is re-served for the rough and ready sport of "dirt bikes." Mostly up-hill and downhill, its rugged knolls and draws post a challenge to thousands of Florida's amateur and skilled cyclists.
The Division of Forestry, Florida Department of Agriculture
and Consumer Services, set aside the motorcycle area plus a
thickly forested buffer zone to help solve an ecological problem and to protect the rights of other recreation-users.
Its most recent addition is a 40-acre campground complex,
equipped with showers, electrical hookups, barbeque grills, picnic shelter and sewage facilities. A large borrow pit near 1-75 has been allotted to the cyclists to make a motorcycle speed track.
Isn't this going a little overboard for motorcycle enthusiasts?
Florida foresters say not.
"It has helped to concentrate the heavy motorcycle use in one area of the forest—and has given us a handle on the situation rather than letting it get out of hand," said John M. Bethea, Division Director.
"Back in 1965, to say that the Forest staff tried to discourage
motorbike riding would be an understatement."
Ecologically, in some areas of the forest, it becomes a menace.
In the Citrus Tract near Inverness, the soil is too fragile to stand this type of traffic. Richloam (near the Green Swamp) is much too prized for wildlife habitat and game management .. not to mention watershed.
Foresters researching the handling of the situation by other
states, major parks and national forests, came to the conclusion that if any headway were to be made and any enlightened approach taken— Florida was to "come up with it."
The best idea called for confining and regulating the motor
bike traffic—and for imposing a permit, such as hunters and fishermen pay for the right to enjoy their sports.
A $12.00 a year permit was agreed to by the motorcyclists,
eager for permission to ride. Temporary permits allow one-time only riding.
Logical Spot Was Buttgenbach
Buttgenbach, a deserted phosphate mine of considerable size,
had the topography-the humps, the hollows and pits to prove
that it could take abuse. Riders were already using it, dodging
foresters at every turn.
* In the boom era of phosphate discovery, Buttgenbach, a Belgian engineer and professor, had been the first to mine the land.
His foreign company controlled one of the largest phosphate mining operations in the country, managing a plant in Croom, Hernando and several in Dunnellon. (Now forgotten, nearby residents struggle over whether to say "Bootkinbaw,","Butchenbock," ; or
"Bookenback." Butchenback is closest.)
Colorful tales told of the heyday of the industry (1890-1924)
recall the use of convict labor, also work gangs recruited from
Georgia . . . and the fact that the woods reverberated with the
the shudder of blasting powder and the hiss of steam-driven equipment, as well as busy rail cars.
* The mine closed in 1924—to become part of the more up-to-date Kibler-Camp Phosphate Enterprises, managed by D.B.Kibler
and C.J. Camp and supervised by Rufus Mountain, a Brooksville resident who can remember the original mine, rail cars catching on fire, and overseers quieting down a "Saturday night fuss," with their Winchesters.
* The land, still bearing the ravages of this wildly prosperous and "rootin-tootin" era, survived that much turmoil. Foresters
feel it will take the new pounding.
"We have reason to believe—from its one-year trial period
that it will establish an excellent precedent for other public areas in the United States where motorcycling is a problem,"
commented Commissioner of Agriculture Doyle Connor, in his remarks, dedicating the new campground last month.
Gene Wirwahn, legislative director of the American Motor-
cycle Association, has praised the facility, calling it the "finest
motorcycle area on public land in the United States."
"The Buttgenbach Mines Recreation Area will help serve as a
showcase not only to those who are in approval but those who
are cynical of the venture," Conner said.
Forest Supervisor, Jeff Lewis, shows
"These attitudes will bear greatly on whether other forests and other states follow the precedent we have set here at Withlacoochee."
November 1973
THIS IS THE OFFICIAL NEWS RELEASE
from the
DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE
about the
CROOM MOTORCYCLE PARK
BROOKSVILLE—Buttgenbach Mines, relic of the golden days of
phosphate fortunes in Hernando County, is far from a ghost mine
With the possible exception of the Citrus Horse Trails, it is the
most popular attraction on the Withlacoochee State Forest,
113,000 acres of state-owned forest land in Citrus, Hernando,
Pasco, and Sumter Counties. *Moss-draped live oaks and grassy ravines soften the harsh traces of steam shovels and wildflowers spill over abandoned pits. A tram road moseys leisurely uphill around a lake.
Here, as in few forests in the world, a 2,600-acre portion is re-served for the rough and ready sport of "dirt bikes." Mostly up-hill and downhill, its rugged knolls and draws post a challenge to thousands of Florida's amateur and skilled cyclists.
The Division of Forestry, Florida Department of Agriculture
and Consumer Services, set aside the motorcycle area plus a
thickly forested buffer zone to help solve an ecological problem and to protect the rights of other recreation-users.
Its most recent addition is a 40-acre campground complex,
equipped with showers, electrical hookups, barbeque grills, picnic shelter and sewage facilities. A large borrow pit near 1-75 has been allotted to the cyclists to make a motorcycle speed track.
Isn't this going a little overboard for motorcycle enthusiasts?
Florida foresters say not.
"It has helped to concentrate the heavy motorcycle use in one area of the forest—and has given us a handle on the situation rather than letting it get out of hand," said John M. Bethea, Division Director.
"Back in 1965, to say that the Forest staff tried to discourage
motorbike riding would be an understatement."
Ecologically, in some areas of the forest, it becomes a menace.
In the Citrus Tract near Inverness, the soil is too fragile to stand this type of traffic. Richloam (near the Green Swamp) is much too prized for wildlife habitat and game management .. not to mention watershed.
Foresters researching the handling of the situation by other
states, major parks and national forests, came to the conclusion that if any headway were to be made and any enlightened approach taken— Florida was to "come up with it."
The best idea called for confining and regulating the motor
bike traffic—and for imposing a permit, such as hunters and fishermen pay for the right to enjoy their sports.
A $12.00 a year permit was agreed to by the motorcyclists,
eager for permission to ride. Temporary permits allow one-time only riding.
Logical Spot Was Buttgenbach
Buttgenbach, a deserted phosphate mine of considerable size,
had the topography-the humps, the hollows and pits to prove
that it could take abuse. Riders were already using it, dodging
foresters at every turn.
* In the boom era of phosphate discovery, Buttgenbach, a Belgian engineer and professor, had been the first to mine the land.
His foreign company controlled one of the largest phosphate mining operations in the country, managing a plant in Croom, Hernando and several in Dunnellon. (Now forgotten, nearby residents struggle over whether to say "Bootkinbaw,","Butchenbock," ; or
"Bookenback." Butchenback is closest.)
Colorful tales told of the heyday of the industry (1890-1924)
recall the use of convict labor, also work gangs recruited from
Georgia . . . and the fact that the woods reverberated with the
the shudder of blasting powder and the hiss of steam-driven equipment, as well as busy rail cars.
* The mine closed in 1924—to become part of the more up-to-date Kibler-Camp Phosphate Enterprises, managed by D.B.Kibler
and C.J. Camp and supervised by Rufus Mountain, a Brooksville resident who can remember the original mine, rail cars catching on fire, and overseers quieting down a "Saturday night fuss," with their Winchesters.
* The land, still bearing the ravages of this wildly prosperous and "rootin-tootin" era, survived that much turmoil. Foresters
feel it will take the new pounding.
"We have reason to believe—from its one-year trial period
that it will establish an excellent precedent for other public areas in the United States where motorcycling is a problem,"
commented Commissioner of Agriculture Doyle Connor, in his remarks, dedicating the new campground last month.
Gene Wirwahn, legislative director of the American Motor-
cycle Association, has praised the facility, calling it the "finest
motorcycle area on public land in the United States."
"The Buttgenbach Mines Recreation Area will help serve as a
showcase not only to those who are in approval but those who
are cynical of the venture," Conner said.
Forest Supervisor, Jeff Lewis, shows
"These attitudes will bear greatly on whether other forests and other states follow the precedent we have set here at Withlacoochee."
November 1973