Officials May Hire Company to Run Campsite : Forest: Government considers privatizing the Rose Valley Recreation Area in effort to curb vandalism and violence.

Frustrated with rowdy teen-agers, recurring vandalism and occasional violence at one of Ventura County’s best-known campgrounds, the U.S. Forest Service is considering hiring a private company to run the Rose Valley Recreation Area.

“All the worst abuses you can think of are going on out there,” said Leslie Jehnings, a recreation officer with the service’s Ojai Ranger District.

“Our primary concern is returning those campgrounds back to the people who really want to be out there and enjoy it,” she said.

Privatizing Rose Valley--which has four camping areas--would undoubtedly increase fees for those who stay overnight. It could also mean the establishment of a day-use fee to enter the large wilderness area.

But forest service employees say that allowing a private company to manage the area would improve security and discourage teen-agers looking for a place to hold all-night parties. That is because, in most arrangements, private companies employ on-site managers to keep watch over campgrounds.

In addition, privatizing Rose Valley probably would mean the return of a pay telephone to the isolated area 14 miles north of Ojai.

The nearest pay phone is now more than six miles away, and patrols by rangers and Ventura County sheriff’s deputies are infrequent.

“It sure would be a lot easier to have current information about what’s going on, rather than getting it past tense when you drive in,” said Jim Burton, who supervises the forest service’s law enforcement division for Los Padres National Forest.

During the past three years, the Sheriff’s Department has been called to Rose Valley 61 times for incidents ranging from assaults to near drownings. The most common problems stem from gangs and alcohol and drug use.

Vandals have spray-painted graffiti in camping areas and carved their initials and names in picnic tables. In August, 1993, the dedication of a new hiking trail was delayed after suspected gang members trashed the Lions campground and chopped up a new wooden sign for firewood.

Occasionally, something more serious occurs.

Last March, 19-year-old Andy Anderson was shot to death along with his dog at the end of a fishing trip--the only homicide at a Los Padres campground in 1994. Timothy Chrestman of Port Hueneme has been charged with the slaying and the theft of Anderson’s pickup truck. His trial is under way.

As evidence that a private company can rein in a campground’s reputation for rowdiness, forest service employees point to Wheeler Gorge near Ojai.

A decade ago, Wheeler Gorge was known for the same problems as Rose Valley. But those problems all but disappeared after the campground was taken over by California Land Management, a Palo Alto-based firm that runs hundreds of campgrounds in the West.

Rangers in the Ojai district say they hope to write a bid proposal this year that could be circulated to companies such as California Land Management. Once that proposal is complete, the entire contract process is expected to take six months, Jehnings said.

However, Jehnings said a new well must be installed in Rose Valley before a private company can take it over, and she did not know whether the money will be available for that project this year .

In addition, the recent storms heavily damaged roads throughout the Ojai Ranger District. The Rose Valley campground is now closed because the entrance road was undermined by water overflowing from a stream.

Those roads must be repaired before the forest service can focus on hiring a private management company. The problem, Jehnings said, is that federal cuts have left little money for patching roads on forest service lands.

“I just don’t know if we’ll be able to get through the process this year,” said Linda Riddle, the ranger in charge of the Ojai district.

And there is no guarantee that a private company will want to take over Rose Valley.

Jeremy Willenborg, a manager at California Land Management, said the most important consideration is whether Rose Valley attracts enough visitors to be profitable.

Wheeler Gorge, which is run by his company, just manages to break even, he said.

“I’ve gone up and looked at Rose Valley and I think it’s a pretty area,” he said. “But we’ve got to look at the numbers on the sheet of paper before we decide to make a business venture.”

On a recent Sunday, Ojai residents Amy Fraser, 26, and her fiance, Tony Talley, 25, said they stopped camping at Rose Valley five years ago because of the number of teen-agers using it as a drinking spot on the weekends.

Now, when they want to go camping for the night, they head to Wheeler Gorge.

“It’s pretty mellow,” Fraser said. “It calms down by about 11:30.”

Talley said he would pay more to camp at Rose Valley if he felt safer bringing his daughter there. “It’s worth it,” he said.

Although the problems at Rose Valley have worsened in recent years, they are not unique. Across the country, national park and forest service officials are struggling to deal with urban problems in the wild.

“Anything that occurs in the city occurs in the campground,” said Len Cleveland, a forest service officer who patrols Rose Valley.

Recognizing the need for a stronger law enforcement presence, the forest service created a full-time police division in October. Before that, law enforcement was considered a part-time assignment.

Even so, those responsible for policing the wilderness are spread thin. Ten officers are assigned to patrol the 2 million acres that make up Los Padres National Forest.

And unless those officers work overtime, their shifts end at 6 p.m.

The Ventura County Sheriff’s Department is also responsible for Rose Valley. But because of the area’s distance from Ojai, regular patrols are rare.

“If they do get up there, it’s easily an hour to an hour-and-a-half commitment,” said Lt. Jim Barrett, who is in charge of the Ojai station.

In recent years, street gangs have been a growing problem at Rose Valley, Burton said. The gang members, mostly teen-agers, typically arrive at the campground after dark for raucous parties.

“Quite simply, they run the other campers out,” he said.