National Forest Travel Management Planning

[MountainDon]

I pulled out another soapbox I have had laying about for some time; just never got on it in this forum before... Some thoughts in Glenn's topo thread got me thinking about this matter...

From the FS website...

ABOUT TRAVEL MANAGEMENT PLANNING & THE RULE

On November 2, 2005, the Forest Service announced final travel management regulations governing OHVs and other motor vehicle use on national forests and grasslands.

On June 8, 2006, Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth approved the agency's schedule for implementation of the travel management rule. The schedule will guide local efforts over the next four years to designate those roads, trails, and areas open to motor vehicle use through a collaborative travel planning process emphasizing public involvement and coordination with state, local, and tribal governments.

What does this mean to you? Basically it means that the FS is working towards a system where roads and trails (4x4, ATV, motorcycle) will be CLOSED to use unless MARKED AS OPEN. There will be a reduction in vehicular access. How much loss depends on citizen input.

This is occurring in every National Forest in the nation. For a National Forest near you go to
http://www.fs.fed.us/
At the top find your forest by state or forest name. Once at that forest website look for the Travel Management Plan info.

There are people, groups, organizations who would love to close the majority of forest roads and trails because of a misguided (IMHO) desire to return the forests to what they call a "natural" state. We have loads of those areas already. They've been designated as Wilderness areas. The west in particular has official wilderness areas all over the place. (Official Wilderness areas are closed to all mechanized access, even bicycles and wheelchairs. Horses are allowed, which in my view is incorrect as horses can also cause trail damage, especially when wet. But that's beside the current point/rant.)

If you have property in or near a National Forest it might behoove you to look into the process underway. You might wake up some morning and find some favorite road or trail closed if you sit back and let the other guy do it. Of course there are some reading this who are against motorized access. To you I say, think again. The National Forests are a national treasure, a treasure for all to enjoy. All means everybody, hikers, mountain bikers, motorized recreational users, resource extraction companies, ranchers, fishermen, hunters, fuelwood cutters, Christmas tree gatherers, and the list goes on. The motto "Land of Many Uses" used to be featured prominent;y on FS signs and information. That premise seems to have been lost without anyone asking me about it.

IMHO, YMMV

[glenn kangiser]

It's happening all over around here -- BLM  - FS all illegally closing public access off that has been in use for decades.  

[Sassy]

That's the UN's "Agenda 21 & Sustainable Development" for you    ("sustainable" doesn't really mean what you would think it means  :-/ )

[MountainDon]

... and the UN doesn't mean / stand for what a lot of folks think it does either.

[benevolance]

Well there is a double standard and it can be one way or the other...

The reason there are "federal Lands" is to ensure massive swaths of land will always be available for public use....So if that use is driving a 4 wheeler or gathering blackberries....SO BE IT

The only arguement I have against the 4 wheelers and off roaders... Is that they like to play....and to that end back in Nova scotia they would punish the local mud holes.... often messing up drainage ditches which would cause flooding and roads would get washed out....

Or driving on roads in springtime when they can rut up easily...

If a system was in place to ensure the trails were kept up I do not think that any other federal citizen has the right to tell another federal citizen what they cannot do on Federal lands...

They are there for ALL of us to enjoy

Otherwise they need to be sold off to private land owners and developed as they see fit

Federal does not mean a few people with their nose in the air  that want to shape the land according to their tastes and likes...

It means land needs to be deignated accordingly so no matter what you like to do....As long as it is legal and no long term damage comes to the land....You can have a place to do it on federal lands...

[glenn kangiser]

That would be nice but the ones wanting legislation don't want anybody to get to use it unless it's by their terms.