The Vail Daily is reporting that David Lesh, a former pro-skier and a co-founder of a Colorado-based outdoor clothing company, faces four petty offenses filed by the U.S. Forest Service as a result of his suspected use of a snowmobile in fragile, off-limits terrain on Independence Pass on July 3, 2019.
The charges were revealed Tuesday in U.S. District Court of Colorado in Grand Junction.
Lesh, co-founder of a Colorado-based clothing company was cited for:
‘possessing or using a motor vehicle in a designated wilderness, prohibited to operate or possess an over-the-snow vehicle on National Forest Lands in violation of restrictions, damaging any natural feature or other property of the United States, and selling or offering for sale any merchandise or conducting any kind of work activity’
Lesh posted images on social media channels of himself operating an over-the-snow vehicle on National Forest Lands in violation of restrictions in July 2019.
Karin Teague, Independence Pass Foundation executive director, who saw Lesh operating his snowmobile, told the Aspen Times in July that, “The issue is all the damage it does to the fragile tundra.”
Lesh is no stranger to ‘bad publicity’. In July 2014, Lesh was arrested and charged with arson, following a fire at the Virtika warehouse in Boulder, caused during the filming of a promotional video.
