Wallowa-Whitman forest becoming battleground for off-road-vehicle limits

Richard Cockle

An unfinished plan to close thousands of miles of roads in Oregon's biggest national forest has drawn one of the most vocal pushbacks in the state as the federal government cracks down on damage to land and wildlife from off-road vehicles.

The U.S. Forest Service is mulling a range of alternatives for the 2.3 million-acre Wallowa-Whitman National Forest that calls for limiting motor vehicle access on anywhere from 2,202 to 6,707 miles of roads. That means no passenger cars, four-wheel-drive rigs, ATVs or dirt bikes -- only hikers, bicycles and horseback riders. The plan doesn't address snowmobiles.

So far, more than 6,000 people have signed petitions urging that all the Wallowa-Whitman's roads remain open. Opponents also have posted prominent protest signs in Wallowa County.

Accustomed to almost limitless federal forest access, some here compare the road closures to the loss of sawmill and logging jobs after federal timber harvest cutbacks or the loss of cattle killed by gray wolves reintroduced to Oregon.

Wallowa County Commissioner Mike Hayward of Enterprise sums it up as "government run amok ... the federal government playing Big Brother." His wife sometimes spends a day riding ATVs with her 82-year-old father on Wallowa-Whitman roads, "and they never encounter another soul," he said.

People widely use Wallowa-Whitman forest roads for sightseeing, cruising on ATVs, hunting deer, elk, chukar partridges and grouse, gathering winter firewood, huckleberrying and picking mushrooms.

Guy Michael , operator of a placer gold mine in Baker County, said the potential for road closures and restrictions on trucks laden with heavy mining equipment angers many in the 250-member Eastern Oregon Mining Association. Baker County boasts more than 1,000 mining claims.

"This is going to blow up and be a really big problem," said Michael, vice president of the association. "All these counties around here were founded because of mining and resource development."

The Wallowa-Whitman has 9,111 miles of roads in Union, Baker and Wallowa counties, the third highest number of road miles among all national forests

The difficulty of winning approval for road closures differs from forest to forest, but tends to be more challenging in eastern Oregon and eastern Washington, said Tom Knappenberger , a Forest Service spokesman in Portland. The flatter terrain and easier access to forest roads on the eastside make the forests popular with outdoor enthusiasts who are reluctant to scale back, he said.

Many Wallowa-Whitman roads were built in the 1970s, '80s and '90s to salvage millions of insect-killed trees, said Cindy Christensen , a Forest Service team leader in La Grande. Reducing motor vehicle use could lead to many of the roads gradually melting into the forest floor and disappearing, but people still will have plenty of areas to ride, she said.

Once in place, the plan will require forest users to consult a free map before setting off, Christensen said. Roads designated off-limits won't be gated or marked, but straying onto a closed road could mean a $5,000 fine, she said.

"It is going to be a change in mindset for people to learn that when you are on the national forest these are the rules you've got to play by," Christensen said.

A final environmental review of the plan, at one point due out in September, is scheduled for release in April, and the closures could start as early January 2012.

Big increase in OHVs

The idea to develop the "travel management" plans dates to 2005, when the Forest Service in Washington, D.C., decided to get a handle on damage and noise caused by off-highway vehicles -- which range from ATVs to Jeep-sized four-wheel-drive rigs. Agency leaders directed each national forest or ranger district to designate roads, trails and areas open to motor vehicle use depending on type of vehicle and sometimes by the time of year.

Nationwide, the work is about three-fourths done, said Josh Hicks , a Wilderness Society spokesman in Denver monitoring the development of the plans. The overall process has faced comparatively little opposition, he said, possibly because the 155 national forests encompass a staggering 523,000 miles of roads.

"I think everybody realizes something's got to be done," Hicks said. "There is a lot of damage that's happening out there. I think everybody's on the same page."

OHVs have increased from 5 million in 1972 to 51 million in 2004, and last year accounted for about 4 percent of the 173.5 annual visits to national forests and grasslands, according to the most recent Forest Service figures.

On the Wallowa-Whitman, fewer than 1 percent of visitors ride OHVs, said Randy Rasmussen of Corvallis, spokesman for the American Hiking Society. While their numbers are few, more control and management of them would help establish the Wallowa-Whitman as a preferred destination for hikers, equestrians, bird watchers and hunters -- the " so-called "quiet recreationists," he said.

Meetings closed

David Mildrexler , conservation director for the Hells Canyon Preservation Council, said 17 areas of the Wallowa-Whitman have been mapped as critically important Rocky Mountain elk habitat, or "elk security areas," and his group wants closures emphasized within them.

Wildlife sometimes flees federal and state lands frequented by motor vehicles and wind up on posted private lands, said Bruce Eddy , an Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist in La Grande. "In general, the science suggests that deer and elk try to get far away from that kind of disturbance," he said.

But Larry Cribbs , a 68-year-old outdoorsman and ATV rider from La Grande, disputes that idea. He approached within 40 feet of a huge, branch-antler bull elk this summer while he and another ATV rider were on a forest road, he said.

"He was just standing there watching us," said Cribbs, though he acknowledged that may only prove "it was just a stupid elk."

Cribbs wants the forest's roads left open and is nervous about recent closed meetings between the Forest Service and other federal agencies. The direction the Forest Service now leans on the road closures "is probably the best-kept secret since the Manhattan project," he said.

Early in the process, the Forest Service and public enjoyed "wide open and constant communication," he said, but that's changed with the entry of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Marine Fisheries Service and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Excluding the public isn't unusual when federal agencies meet, said Judy Wing , a Forest Service spokeswoman in Baker City. "Consultation is not a public process," she said.

Rancher and businesswoman Barbara James fears her family will lose the opportunity to pursue their favorite outdoor activities when the Wallow-Whitman roads close. "We have our favorite places; we go sit on a ridge and watch the bears across the way," she said.

James and her husband, Randy, operate Outlaw Motor Sports Inc. in Enterprise and their sales are falling off as some buyers fear that they won't have a place to ride, they said.

The Wallowa-Whitman's extensive network of roads practically ensures that traffic is scarce across most of the forest, which reduces the pressure on wildlife, Randy James said.

"There's nobody out there," he said. "Show us where the destruction is being done."

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Source: http://dailyme.com/story/2010100800006348/wallowa-whitman-forest-battleground-off-road-vehicle-limits.html

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