Forest Service "Chief" condemns ORV use

[sherry]

Has any of these gov. employees ever gone on a trail drive with a group of nice people or friends ? .. They might have a good time and meet some great folks. Ya know, their .... fellow American, neighbor, new best friend. Take the camera ... a lunch ... the kids, and ofcourse the dog. AND HAVE A GOOD TIME.

And ofcourse TREAD LIGHTLY ... that way we can enjoy it again !

[Fjamming]

sherry previously said:

Has any of these gov. employees ever gone on a trail drive with a group of nice people or friends ? .. They might have a good time and meet some great folks. Ya know, their .... fellow American, neighbor, new best friend. Take the camera ... a lunch ... the kids, and ofcourse the dog. AND HAVE A GOOD TIME.

And ofcourse TREAD LIGHTLY ... that way we can enjoy it again !

We actually had a ranger do a escort on a closed trail for us a few months back. He opened up a gate and brought us through (about 20 cars). Got to talking about trail adoptions and other other conservations. Seem like a cool guy, but never answered my emails.



Can you spot the ranger?

[WEREWOLF WON]

The unfortunate problem, and this seems to happen when ever people use the outdoors (be it for OVR’s fishing, hunting whatever), is that for every person who is diligent about protecting the environment there are ten who don’t give a ****. I purchased my FJC because I live to fish, and in it I’m able to get into places that I could not go before. I still have to hike into the back country, but the hike is not as far  I’m consistently stunned and amazed when I get to some seemingly remote river and find trash, spray painted rocks, fire rings with broken glass, used condoms etc. I don’t expect to be the first person to find this river, I’m not that naive, but I’d like to expect people who took the time to get here to respect the place and leave it as they found it for others to enjoy as well. I’d like to be able to say it’s not the fisherman who are trashing the place, but empty bait boxes, balls of used fishing line and gutted fish remains are pretty damning evidence. By and large I’d say most of these “fishermen” are most likely unlicensed and not practicing catch and release fishing, but they are most visible and condemn the rest of us.
Just as it’s not the organized groups that abuse the trails, it’s the people who use those same trails that these groups are attempting to maintain and keep pristine that are the problem. Big Brother steps in and closes the trails, just as they close rivers and hunting lands; and it’s the baby that goes out with the bath water.
The only good thing about finding used condoms is that at least I know the SOBs are not multiplying.
Jon

[spertierra]

Sean K. previously said:

I hope it works out better for you in CO than it has for us in AZ. Working with BLM and NFS has only resulted in more closure here. Sure, we've been (and are being) told that they will actively seek to not only maintain but also open new areas to OHV, only to have our route inventories taken and then summarily shut down one by one. Apparently, this has happened in AZ several times before and new OHV people fall for the same old trick every time.

I wish you the best there, but here in AZ our secrets are being closely guarded.

Sean

Same thing happened here in California. They asked off-road groups to contribute to an inventory of trails, then used that inventory to close more trails.

[Woodsman]

It is sickening to see how so few can affect what so many derive enjoyment from. So many of these folks are so out of touch with reality and only look at things with blinders on. My sister fits into this category and even having a conversation with her is difficult due to her one-sided view. The whole off road community needs to band together and ensure that we are as well represented as the extremists that are taking away these trails and public lands. In addition, we must continue to let our elected officials know what we are thinking and make sure they know what they need to do to keep earning our votes.

[cruzinwyo]

Much of what "Chief" Kimbell (and yes that is her real title) says is based on ATV use escalating so fast in the last 10 years, and now there is the new larger UTV's. (which is where the 50" rule comes into play)
The USFS has to have a plan in the books inorder to manage the land for everyone. As you can imagine a singe track hiking trail turning into a motorcycle trail and then his buddy on the ATV follows one day and then next weekend a UTV sees a pair of tracks roaming into the woods so he takes it....then we come along in our passenger cars. There has to be a point where it stops.

One of the "four threats" that the USFS has concerns with is noxious weeds. The stems and seeds of some plant gets attached to some part of your suspension and all along your drive you are spreading seeds of plants that don't normally grow there. This is messing up the ecology of our landscape. Look across the Sonoran landscape of Arizona where this spring saw knee high grass in places, there is not supposed to be grass in a sonoran desert. Why is that a threat? Well now there is knee high dried grass that burns. This is in an area that gets some of the highest lightening concentrations in the west. This statement might seem too small or too big for here, but it's how things have to be looked at when managing a landscape.

My comments on the "condemned" ORV use

Goal 4. Sustain and Enhance Outdoor Recreation Opportunities
(USDA Objective 6.3)
"The condition of the land, recreation facilities, and transportaion infrastructure, including off-highway-vehicle access, must be considered if we expect to preserve high-quality recreation experiences."
That is a really broad political statement. Of course things need to be considered.

Objective 4.1
Improve the quality and availability of outdoor recreation experiences.
e. Performance Measure: Percentage of road systesm intended for passenger-car use that is suitable for passenger-car use.
This is simply stating that if a road is of a particular type it needs to be maintained that way. How many people complain about a road in there neighborhood filled with potholes? It's because there is a standard we have that if a road is paved it should be in a way that that can be traveled at a constant steady pace. Same goes for grated roads or fire roads.

Objective 4.3
Improve the management of off-highway vehicle use.
a. Performance Measure: Percentage of NFS lands covered by new motor vehicle use maps reflecting a designated-use system of roads, trails, and areas.
Simply put: all new maps need a legend saying the thicker the line on the map the easier it is to travel. If the line is a different color it's not intended for cars. If it's dashed you might need 4 wheel drive.

Means and Strategies for Accomplishing Goal 4
"Provide tools, guidance, and resource management to provide a safe recreation use and to prevent or mitigate the ecological impacts of recreation activities (including off-highway vehicle impacts)".
There needs to be money (ie the resource) placed in the local areas of managment to monitor these activities. This puts the management decision down to the local level.

A note on this remember that the local "rangers" live and play in the same areas that we do. Go to a USFS or BLM office and look at the employee parking lot. I garuantee you will see Jeeps and Tacomas and FJs. They use it to! I'm not saying don't be proactive...in fact I highly encourage it!