Instead of allowing (vehicles) everywhere they are not explicitly prohibited, they will now be prohibited everywhere they are not explicitly permitted.
By MICHAEL DOYLE
BEE WASHINGTON BUREAU
WASHINGTON — California's off-road enthusiasts will face new limits under first-of-their-kind Forest Service rules made final Wednesday.
Some favorite Sierra Nevada play areas might go out of bounds.
Overall, though, Forest Service officials contend that the new restrictions will better balance recreation and resource conservation.
"Our goal is to improve opportunities for motorized recreation and still ensure the best possible care of our land," Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth said.
With political engines revved up on all sides, the Forest Service did not impose a single national standard. Instead, each national forest — including the 19in California that together span 20 million acres — must now identify which areas are open for vehicle use.
Currently, some forests restrict vehicles to certain areas while others let them roam generally free. By requiring all 155national forests and 20 national grassland areas to spell out where off-road vehicles can and cannot go, the new rule gives land managers the order they've long wanted.
"If recreation use is not well managed, we end up with damage to the land," Bosworth said.
The new forest rules will identify what kind of vehicles will be permitted on what roads and trails, and during what time of year.
More generally, the new rules reverse how the Forest Service regulates vehicles. Instead of allowing them everywhere they are not explicitly prohibited, they will now be prohibited everywhere they are not explicitly permitted. Some forests already are moving in this direction.
Maps to be done in 2008
The Eldorado National Forest, for one, tallies off-highway vehicle use on about 2,100 miles of roads and trails. By October, acting under court order, the forest will have completed its environmental study formally designating what can remain open to vehicles.
The Stanislaus National Forest likewise just completed public hearings in September on its vehicle-use plans, while the Sequoia National Forest is close to issuing orders banning cross-country vehicle use.
By September 2008, aided by $2 million a year in state funds, all of the national forests in California are supposed to finish their own vehicle-use maps.
"They're finally taking their responsibilities to manage off-road vehicles seriously," said Karen Schambach, president of the Center for Sierra Nevada Conservation, "but they should have been a lot bolder."
Schambach's conservation group, based in the El Dorado County town of Georgetown, ...
