UNSAFE FOR PLAY?-A shot of some of the gopher holes that plague high school athletic fields across Simi Valley. Even though they're more rascally than they are threatening, gophers are burrowing deep under the skin of Simi Valley Unified School District administrators. The subterranean rodents are responsible for creating unsightly damage to a number of athletic fields owned by the district.

"Gophers are a constant battle," said Mel Roop, the assistant superintendent in charge of facilities and property. "There is a lot of open space around our campuses and they seem to like these areas. They're something we've got to fight all the time."

In addition to the aesthetic damage, holes made by gophers also create an unsafe environment for recreational sports.

Debbie Britton, Simi Valley's regional commissioner for the American Youth Soccer Organization, canceled all games at Santa Susana High School after determining the location was unsafe.

"The fields were deemed unsafe by the Regional and Area Safety Director, the Regional Referee Administrator and myself, Regional Commissioner," Britton stated in a bulletin posted on the organization's website.

In spite of AYSO's decision to cancel all games at Santa Susana High School, the field is still used by students.

"The students are currently having physical education classes on the field," said Dirk Minzer, a member of the custodial staff at the school. "We take care of the gopher holes as they pop up, and for us, we're pretty good as far as gopher holes go."

Gophers have been known to cause extensive damage to Simi Valley fields by chewing through irrigation wiring.

"When the irrigation controls don't work, the fields start to die because they don't get watered," Roop said.

The school district has been unable to take a preventive approach to solving the problem and instead relies on addressing the gopher issue once it's poked its head out of the ground.

"It's an ongoing maintenance issue, but if you can't see them, you don't want to spend money on the problem," Roop said.

Gopher abatement consists of laying traps with bait and filling holes with sand, according to Roop. Officials estimate that the district spends between $10,000 and $15,000 a year on supplies to correct the problem. The district also contracts with Ventura Pest Control for rodent removal.

"This has been a problem for as long as I can remember," Roop said. "Once the maintenance teams get behind, they have to work extra hard to catch up."

While the school district appears to be locked in a neverending battle with their underground nemesis, the park district has remained unscathed. "None of our fields are af

fected by gophers," said Jim Keppler, a parks district official. "If there was a problem with our fields, we'd knock it out right away, but there isn't one."

The parks district currently contracts with Animal Pest Management and performs rodent removal twice a week.

"We have a lot of pride in our fields and make revenue off tournaments that are hosted at them, so we need to keep them up. Safety is also a No. 1 priority with us," Keppler said.

Even though gophers may be a nuisance, school district officials are quick to point out that the situation could be worse.

"One good thing is that gophers don't carry diseases like rats and other rodents," Roop said.

AYSO Region 121 did not return calls from the Simi Valley Acorn.