National forests to restrict off-road vehicles

[fgoodwin]

National forests to restrict off-road vehicles

 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/usatoday/20051103/ts_usatoday/nationalforeststorestrictoffroadvehicles

 

By Traci Watson, USA TODAY

 

Americans who ride all-terrain vehicles, dirt bikes and four-wheel-drive trucks will face new limits on where they can travel in some of the nation's biggest and wildest natural areas.

 

Off-road vehicles no longer will be able to travel freely through national forests, the U.S. Forest Service said Wednesday. Instead, motorists will be limited to trails selected by forest officials. The restrictions do not apply to snowmobiles, which don't do as much damage as other off-road vehicles.

 

The nation's 193 million acres of national forest are some of the most popular playgrounds for the growing number of Americans who ride off-road vehicles. These types of vehicles can erode the land and disturb wildlife, and their engines and exhaust draw complaints from others visiting the forest for recreation.

 

Half of the 175 national forests now permit motorized vehicles to roam without any restriction across wide swaths of land. These forests will see the biggest change, because motorized use will be cut back to specific roads and trails. Other national forests already confine riders to well-defined routes, said Dale Bosworth, the Forest Service chief.

 

The agency said the restriction would curb damage from motorized vehicles - one of the biggest problems for the forests - while allowing the nation's 51 million off-road drivers to enjoy their sport.

 

"This is going to help us do a better job of caring for the land and serving people," said the service's Jack Troyer, who helped write the new rule.

 

Clark Collins of the BlueRibbon Coalition, which represents riders of motorized vehicles, said the regulation will "give us some leverage" in forests that have resisted giving access to vehicles. "We feel this is going to be a very positive thing for our users."

 

Jim Furnish, a consultant to the Natural Trails and Waters Coalition, an environmental group, said the rule will do little to curb illegal use of motorized vehicles in the forests. And "renegade routes" already carved out by unsanctioned vehicle use could be designated as trails.

 

"I fear the worst, that the forest supervisors will drag their feet on implementing this regulation," he said. "Then illegal use ... just gets worse and worse."

 

The Forest Service said the rule does not stiffen penalties for illegal use, nor will the agency beef up patrols to enforce the restrictions. Bosworth said the agency should map out the usable routes within four years, but no deadline is set. The limits won't apply until routes are set and published.

[Prairie_Scouter]

I dunno, but it sounds to me like they're not doing anything. Adding new rules, but not adding any way to enforce them. Why bother?

 

Some of text sounds a bit like the time before the Wilderness Act went into effect. The rules were based on areas being roadless, so some forestry companies went on a mad dash with bulldozers to push roads into areas that never had them before, just to get them exempt from wilderness designation.

 

Mixed use is supposed to allow access to all interested parties to some extent. It's a difficult balance. Off-roaders want access to wide swaths of area, but their vehicles inflict the most damage on the land, causing erosion in some areas and soil compaction in others, neither of which is good for the forest. Backpackers and cross country skiiers want pristeen wilderness to travel through, but you can hear the engines of vehicles in the forests from miles away. I'm all for balanced use, but if an activity damages the landscape, it should be limited to areas that we're willing to sacrifice for their use. Those who inflict the least damage should have the most access, I think. From a dollars and sense perspective, it's cheaper to have them using the areas because they require less maintenance.

[CA_Scouter]

In my neck of the woods, the Forest Service has gone to great lengths to notify and educate the public to just was is permitted and what is not, now that this new rule is in effect.

 

Unfortunately, there have been many incidents of bad behavior by off roaders in my area, much terrain damage, litter and they even had to shut down the camping around one lake due to unsafe sanitary conditions ( tp everywhere, unburied waste, etc ). Last year, they had to have a drunk-driving checkpoint out in the woods!

 

Thought the forest is currently shut down, the El Dorado National Forest Adminstration is currently reviewing their maps so that they can designate more roads for off-road use. I think they have to have a plan in place by end of next year.

 

I didn't follow the link to read the article, so I don't know if it mentions this or not, but the Forest Service had to write this rule due to a court order as a result of a lawsuit. The Forest Service didn't just decide to create a new rule because they had nothing to do... :-)