Forest Service developing off-road vehicle plans

Mary Swift

The message on the sign posted by the U.S. Forest Service on Deer Gulch Road near Liberty is clear.

"This mixed-use road is open to ATVs on a trail run," the sign says. Then it lays down the rules: Stay on the designated road, no cross country (leaving the roadway travel). Respect private land and other forest users.

"Abuse It/Lose It," it warns in closing.

This summer, ATV users will lose it.

The road connects a popular camping area to an equally popular four-wheel drive area.

After two years of allowing mixed use (street legal vehicles as well as off-road vehicles called ORVs or ATVs), the Cle Elum Ranger District is closing it to ATVs.

Tim Foss, Trails, Wilderness and ORV manager for the Cle Elum Ranger District, points to a series of photos showing dirt trails carved like scars into the forest by ATV enthusiasts who leave the designated road and head off cross country. Three times this past year, crews closed off these "user-created" trails. Each time, he says, off-road enthusiasts reopened them.

The damage left the side of the road looking like an ORV park. Foss says there are plenty of responsible ATV enthusiasts. His problem is with those who don't live by the rules.

"There are a lot of mom and pop riders who just want to ride down the road," he said. "The problem is I can't figure out how to keep them on and the scofflaws out."

Foss' photos illustrate what the U.S. Forest Service faces in trying to protect the natural environment while allowing responsible use by motorized forest users.

In the past, motorized users had the ability to go cross country if they wanted, plunging off designated roadways into the brush as they saw fit.

No longer.

In 2005, the federal government issued the Travel Management Rule, ordering that each national forest and grassland designate roads, trails and areas that are open to motor vehicle use. A key change: At present, unless a road or trail is designated closed, it's considered open. Under the new rule, roads, trails and areas will be considered closed to motorized use unless they're designated as open.

Concerns about both environmental impact and the quality of recreation for both motorized and non-motorized users prompts the changes that are coming. The number of people accessing national forests on off-road vehicles has grown dramatically in recent years, challenging the Forest Service's ability to keep pace with use. Unmanaged recreation has been identified as one of four major threats to national forests.

Officials say unmanaged ORV use on federal lands has resulted in unplanned roads and trails created by users, soil erosion, watershed and wildlife habitat damage, safety concerns and a loss in opportunities for solitude, primitive hunting and other quiet experiences and increased conflicts between users.

"Nationwide we were seeing a lot of damage to the land by people driving off into the bushes," Foss said. "This is about trying to maintain the best recreation system we can while protecting the environment."

In accordance with the Travel Management Rule, Forest Service officials in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest have been collecting public comment and staff input to develop a proposal.

(Among the changes: Hunters will no longer be able to go off designated ORV trails to retrieve game. By the same token, mushroom hunters who once might have driven their car to a favorite spot will have to park and walk in if the site is off-road.)

The Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest includes seven ranger districts, each developing a plan specific to its challenges. That's because this isn't a "one size fits all" proposition, says Todd Stiles, a member of the Travel Management Team working on the issue.

"What works in the Tonasket Ranger District may not work here," Stiles said, noting that in part because of its proximity to a large population base on the West Side, the "Cle Elum (Ranger District) has by far the most motorized opportunities of any ranger district. Next highest in motorized trails is Naches."

The district includes 793 miles of trails, including 298 non-motorized use trails for recreation ranging from hiking and horseback riding to mountain biking.

The motorized trails include some designated specifically for motorcycles, some for ATVs and others for 4-by-4 use.

Non-motorized users are also allowed to use motorcycle, ATV and 4-by-4 trails.

Foss said the Cle Elum Ranger District includes about 11 miles of "mixed-use" roads. But that number would be cut down to eight under the Travel Management Plan proposed action being presented this week by Forest Service officials.

Mixed-use roads pose safety concerns for Forest Service officials because potentially both street-legal and off-road vehicles can use them at the same time. Under state law, even children can drive ATVs though they are supposed to be under the supervision of an adult. The question is how to define "supervision."

Potentially, staff at the Cle Elum Ranger District say, you could have a 10-year-old operating an ATV on the same road being used by a logging truck. Still, some mixed-use roads make sense, such as in the case where the road can connect ATV riders between the ends of two off-road trails.

Forest Service officials introduced the proposed travel management plan for the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, developed over two years through public hearings and staff input, at an open house in Ellensburg Monday night. Three more presentations - one in Yakima, one in Cashmere and one in Okanogan - are scheduled this week. A fourth is scheduled next week on Mercer Island.

The plan, the first step in the National Environmental Policy Act environmental analysis process, is "a starting point, not a decision," officials emphasize.

The public has until May 7 to comment on the proposal. Forest Service officials said what they are seeking are comments specific to particular routes or areas of concern.

A tentative schedule calls for a draft environmental impact statement to be released in the winter of 2009-2010 with a final environmental impact statement and decision scheduled in the summer of 2010. A new motorized vehicle map is expected to be produced by fall 2010.

Source: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009007627_apwamixeduseroads.html

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