News
Posted July 10, 2006
U.S. Forest Service is deciding where you can ride
A massive effort is under way in the U.S. forests nationwide to designate where you can ride.
"This is a great opportunity for off-road enthusiasts to ensure that we get designated routes where we can legally ride," said Royce Wood, ATVA / AMA legislative affairs specialist. "Once these routes are on the maps, it will be very difficult for local land managers to close them."
About a year ago, the U.S. Forest Service announced a new rule to guide recreational motor vehicle use in national forests and grasslands nationwide. The new travel management policy requires each national forest and grassland to identify and designate the roads, trails and areas that are open to motor vehicle use.
Even unplanned, user-created trails are supposed to be considered in this new effort.
The Forest Service expects that it will take up to four years to complete the designation process for all 155 forests and 20 grasslands in the nation. Once the designations are made, each forest or grassland is supposed to publish a motor vehicle use map that shows the legal routes to ride. Motor vehicle use off these routes and outside these areas--what is known as cross-country travel--will be illegal.
So it makes sense for off-road enthusiasts to get involved in the process as soon as possible to try to ensure the designation of acceptable routes and trails. After all, the Forest Service calls unmanaged recreational use "one of the four major threats affecting our nation's forests and grasslands."
In June, the Forest Service released a schedule for the national forests and grasslands nationwide to designate the roads, trails and areas that will allow motor vehicles. Some U.S. Forest Service Districts are supposed to have their designations finished as early as this month, while others won't be finished for another three years.
The forest and grasslands officials are taking public comment on the designation of routes, so it's up to you to be sure you submit comments, or attend public meetings. You can find out more about the schedule for designating routes in your area by contacting your nearest national forest or grassland, or going to the U.S. Forest Service website.