Forest services considers limiting motorized trail use

Scott Sandsberry

A year after many rain-softened National Forest frontcountry trails and nearby meadows were turned into rutted mudholes by heavy Memorial Day use, the Forest Service is considering keeping many of those trails off-limits to motorized use in this and future years until three weeks after they're typically open.

A week and a half ago, Forest Service representatives from the Naches and Cle Elum ranger districts met with staffers from the Department of Natural Resources, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Yakima County Sheriff's Department to discuss the logistics and likelihood of keeping motorized trails closed to those motorized user groups -- motorcyclists, ATV users and four-wheelers -- until the Father's Day weekend, June 18-19.

That comes three weeks after the Memorial Day weekend, which land managers typically use as a target date for having trails cleared of downfall and other debris because of its popularity as the first major camping weekend of the year.

And the prospect of not having popular trail systems, particularly those in the ultra-popular Little Naches area, already has the various four-wheeler forums buzzing.

"I think most people's thoughts on it are, if it has to be done, it needs to be done," said Wade Kabrich, safety/education director for the All Wheelers Off Road Club. "Some folks are going to hit the fan. That's just the way it is. You can't please everybody.

"But due to the damage last year, I don't blame the Forest Service at all. Those trails got ripped up last year, and I think this could cure a lot of the damage problems."

Last year, following a relatively mild late winter, Naches Ranger District officials made the decision to open the trail systems in time for Memorial Day. But late April and early May turned out to be quite rainy in the high country, and the heavy traffic on that popular camping weekend left an indelible mark. Several trail systems and dispersed camping areas -- notably the Long Meadow and Ponderosa areas of the Little Naches and the Kaner 676 trail -- were "really mucked up," said Yakima County Sheriff's deputy Steve Sutliff, who patrols off-road vehicle use over the Chinook and White Pass corridors.

Forest Service officials expect to make the final decision on the trail-opening date within a few weeks, but the state public lands using the Green Dot road system -- the DNR and WDFW -- expect their trails to be open as usual.

"If the National Forest trails aren't open for Memorial Weekend, a lot of that will spill over onto DNR land, we know that," said Mike Williams, the DNR's regional recreation program manager. "The campgrounds in the Ahtanum and the trails will also be open.

"It's the biggest weekend of the year, practically, for us. You get way more use that weekend than Fourth of July or even Labor Day. My staff and the law enforcement guys will be out all that weekend. We do get some resource damage, some mudding; it kind of depends on how wet it is. But that kind of thing happens all summer long, too. But there will definitely be an enforcement presence (over Memorial Day weekend)."

WDFW enforcement Capt. Rich Mann said that presence will be not only from state and county enforcement officers, but also from members of the reputable clubs trying to keep the non-law-abiding trail users in line.

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