Oregon

Garth Guibord

The Mount Hood National Forest ultimately could close many miles or roads and trails to operators of off-highway vehicles, but first it will gauge public opinion — which could be strongly divided.

The national forest will host two open houses this month where anybody — from hikers to all-terrain-vehicle owners — can share their thoughts on the future of motorized recreation on the forest.

Abby Haight

Logging, water quality degradation and climate change threaten the wild Rogue River, while mining and off-road vehicles could spoil Oregon's "Yellowstone" -- the proposed Siskiyou Wild Rivers wilderness.

Oregon Wild issued the warnings today in a report that identifies the state's 10 most endangered places, areas prized by conservationists for their unique wilderness attributes but threatened by the march of development or climate change.

Matthew Preusch

The Mt. Hood National Forest is moving toward limiting off-road vehicles such as ATVs and dirt bikes to just a few select areas in the 1 million-acre forest east of Portland, dramatically curtailing their presence on the mountain.

Forest officials Thursday released a draft plan that would ban any cross-country travel by such machines, confining them to designated roads and trails to limit their environmental impact.

For more than a quarter century, trail bike riders and four-wheelers have been allowed to drive just about anywhere their wheels would take them on 14,000 acres of rolling volcanic hills south of Highway 20 and north of the Mount Washington Wilderness Area, 70 miles east of Eugene.

The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department is recruiting volunteers for four positions on its new 12-member all-terrain-vehicle advisory committee.

The new committee's responsibilities include revising the ATV class definitions and safety issues. The new law, passed as Senate Bill 578, gives responsibilities for recommending ATV program grants to a five-member subcommittee composed of an ATV at-large member, three rider-group representatives and a law-enforcement representative.

One volunteer each will be chosen from groups representing all-terrain vehicle users, 4-by-4 vehicle operators and motorcycle riders.

Stuart Tomlinson

An orchard worker died last night when his ATV crashed and rolled on top of him in The Dalles.

Lt. Gregg Hastings, a spokesman for the Oregon State Police said Ricardo Romero Camacho, 49, of The Dalles, was killed while working at the Geiger Orchards, 2845 E. 12th Street.

Hastings said Romero was found underneath the ATV he was riding through the orchard at around 8 p.m.

Conservation groups and off-roaders are squaring off over a draft plan for access to part of the Big Cypress National Preserve.

The plan applies to about 147,000 acres added to the preserve along Interstate 75 and State Road 29 in 1988.

Both negatively impact wildlife and degrade water quality and both were allowed to expand far beyond the U.S. Forest Service's maintenance and enforcement resources. The oversized road network facilitates much of the damage by ATVs.

National forest land managers are adjusting their forest plans to regulate motorized recreation.

For years, off-highway vehicle users were allowed to ride in an area unless there was a sign telling them they could not. Now, they can ride only where the maps say they can.