Ken Madsen looked forward to peace and quiet when he bought a three-bedroom home in semi-rural Elverta in mid-2006.

But his tranquility was short-lived.

Within a week of moving in, Madsen said, he was startled by the raging din of more than 40 motorized dirt bikes racing on a 35-acre field near his new home.

"Their noise is unbearable," Madsen said of the cyclists, who have repeatedly trespassed onto the property at all hours.

"On hot days, when they are there, the entire field turns into a dust storm."

Now, relief may be on the way for Madsen and other residents who have complained about the motorcycles and four-wheel vehicles that invade private properties in Rio Linda, Antelope and Elverta.

In mid-August, Sacramento County began cracking down on trespassing off-roaders. Since then, violators have been subject to misdemeanor citations that can result in a fine, jail time, or both, upon conviction. The number of people cited to date was unavailable at press time.

"For the most part, those involved in illegal off-roading are teenagers and people up to their mid-20s, who live in the immediate surrounding neighborhoods," said Jenneil Parks, a code enforcement officer for the county's Department of Neighborhood Services.

"It's a form of entertainment for them, something fun," she said. "But they're trespassing onto private property, without permission to be there.

"And they're creating a public nuisance with the noise and the dust," she said.

In what some are calling "a community outreach program," three county agencies have formed a partnership to help stop illegal off-roading.

With code enforcement overseeing the campaign, the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department is citing violators, and the District Attorney's Office is prosecuting them.

"If this program works, we're hoping other communities will also have similar partnerships not just for this type of problem" but for other community concerns, said Shelly Orio, spokeswoman for the District Attorney's Office.

The terrain that attracts trespassers on wheels covers dozens of acres, making it difficult for the landowners to fence off their lands, a county press release said.

Some of the sites, such as the one near Madsen's home, west of Rio Linda Boulevard and Aldea Drive, are owned by absentee parties.

Some of the landowners, including Elverta-Rio Linda Partners 17 of San Francisco, have recently posted "No Trespassing" signs, some of which have been taken down.

To help deter trespassers, landowners have built deep trenches and dirt berms on access areas to their lands.

"It's a tough situation," Nick Stephens, of Partners 17, told The Bee. "I don't mind motorcyclists per se, but I definitely have trouble with people trespassing on the property and potentially making us liable for any injuries that may come along."

Partners 17 owns a vacant parcel of about 60 acres on Elverta Road near Rivergreen Drive. The tract may one day be occupied by a housing development.

"Our plan is to hang on to this property for a while and see what happens with the housing market," Stephens said.

"We're really looking forward to seeing how the community outreach program turns out," he said. "We hope that's very effective … but we know that some people will disregard (the new measures) and proceed regardless."

In late July, code enforcement officers visited more than 400 households in Rio Linda, Elverta and Antelope, to spread word about the crackdown.

As part of the "knocking and talking" effort, each household was handed a letter from the District Attorney's Office announcing that off-road riding would no longer be tolerated on neighboring private lands.

"Only a couple of people were upset, because their kids ride on the properties," Parks said. "They were concerned about where their kids were going to ride."

The letter contained a list of several places that legally cater to dirt bikes and off-road riding, such as the Prairie City State Vehicular Recreation Area in Rancho Cordova and the Cycleland Speedway in Chico.

Rather than abide by the rules of legal places, some riders prefer illegal rides. Illegal riders compound the problem by using backhoes and other equipment to create "jump mounds" on private property, county officials said.

"One owner came in with a bulldozer to remove an illegal course that was on his property, and within two weeks, the track was rebuilt" by trespassers, Parks said in a prepared statement.

Anyone convicted of building an illegal recreational facility – a zoning code violation – or riding on it faces a fine of between $1,000 to $5,000 and up to six months in jail, Parks said.

To report illegal off-road activities, call the Sheriff's Department's non-emergency line at (916) 874-5115.

Madsen applauded the county's crackdown.

"I'm all for it," he said. "I'm tired of the problem. It's a drag."

Call The Bee's Edgar Sanchez, (916) 321-1088.