Amanda Fehd
October 28, 2005
Eldorado
National Forest announced last week its proposal for how many trails should
become official off-highway vehicle routes. Around 700 miles of user-created
trails could become officially off limits, while 590 miles of formerly
off-limits roads could be officially opened.
Public feedback is invited for the next 30 days to help refine the plan.
A judge in May ruled 700 miles of user-created trails be closed until the U.S.
Forest Service perform an environmental review of wildlife habitat, user
conflicts and noise impacts. Conservationists and off-road recreation groups
both lauded the decision. The ruling came after a lawsuit was filed by
conservation groups.
But off-roaders have expressed concern that closing trails just concentrates
people into one area and could increase environmental damage to open trails.
"Basically you are going to have twice as many people packed into a smaller
area, so it's just going to make it worse," said Brian Jones, owner of
Mountain Moto in Placerville, whose business depends on the fast-growing
off-highway vehicle industry.
There's a number of ignored positives to the sport, Jones
said, especially in a small town where there's not a lot for kids to do.
"It's a way to keep kids out of trouble," Jones said. "If they
aren't doing well in school, you pull the dirt bike away. I (think they would)
straighten up right away."
It's also a very physical sport, and one which whole families usually do
together, he said.
None of the trails in question are in the Lake Tahoe Basin. The portion of
Eldorado National Forest in the basin is managed by a different section of the
Forest Service, the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit.
"We'll be making a new decision through this process, and that decision may
not be what we have now; it probably won't be," said Lester Lubetkin, who
is responsible for the OHV program at Eldorado.
Copies of the plan are available at www.fs.fed.us/r5/eldorado/.
A separate ...
Off-road routes proposed
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