And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
Date: Mon, 3 May 1999 09:23:37 -0600
To: "Wild Rockies Alerts" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
From: Wild Rockies InfoNet <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Medicine Bow Wildlands Alert
***MEDICINE BOW WILDLANDS ALERT***
Your written comments are needed by May 29. Open House Meetings in
Laramie, Douglas and Saratoga.
The US Forest Service (USFS) recently released its proposed Forest-wide
Travel Management Plan for southeastern Wyoming's Medicine Bow National
Forest (MBNF). The USFS is proposing: "In all areas of the Forest,
motorized vehicles [would be] restricted yearlong to designated roads
and trails. Off-road motorized travel [would not be] allowed. Motorized
travel up to 300 feet off of designated routes could occur for such
activities as firewood gathering, dispersed camping, game retrieval,
picnicking, etc."
Given the extensive damage caused by off-road vehicle (ORV) use in
recent years--coupled with the explosive growth of ORV use on the
Forest--it is necessary and appropriate for the USFS to prohibit
off-road travel. The fact that there are so many illegally pioneered
ORV trails on the 'Bow shows many ORV users are acting irresponsibly and
need restrictions. The part of the proposal which prohibits off-road
travel should be supported.
**DETAILS**
Unfortunately, the proposal has some very bad aspects that must be
opposed. The USFS is proposing to include all illegally created
("user-created") roads and ORV trails in the MBNF's list of "designated
roads and trails." Thus, miles and miles of illegally created ORV trails
would suddenly become legal and be added to the Forest Transportation
System. There are a number of serious problems with this:
"User created" roads and trails were never designed for safety or to
protect soils, water quality, visual quality, vegetation, non-motorized
recreation, or wildlife habitat; they were created to take short-cuts
through the Forest, reach inaccessible places (e.g., roadless areas),
and test ORV skills (e.g., stream and bog crossings, steep hill climbs,
etc.); they are causing significant resource problems and do not meet
legal standards necessary to become part of the Transportation System.
If the "user-created" ORV roads and trails are added to the
Transportation System, they would be used even more heavily; thus, their
impacts (e.g., visual scars, soil damage, etc.) would become even worse.
If the USFS added illegally created ORV trails to the Forest
Transportation System, the agency would be rewarding irresponsible and
unlawful behavior; irresponsible ORV users would create more illegal
routes in the future, knowing that the USFS would some day declare those
routes legal too.
The USFS has admitted it does not have nearly enough funding to properly
maintain the existing Transportation System; there is no way the USFS
could properly manage and maintain the countless miles of "user-created"
ORV trails if added to the Transportation System.
Another bad aspect of the USFS's plan is the proposal to allow ORV use
anywhere within 300 feet of a designated road or trail. Given the large
number of roads on the Forest already, this would mean almost every acre
of the MBNF would be open to ORVs. New roads and trails would be
pioneered in the 300 foot buffers on either side of existing roads. As a
result it would be virtually impossible to find areas away from
motorized vehicles and their scars on the Med Bow. The USFS would not be
able to enforce this provision (it would be hard to tell if an ORV is
350 feet off a designated route or 300 feet). For these reasons, the
proposed 300-foot should also be opposed.
*** WHAT YOU CAN DO***
The ORV users are rallying their troops and demanding that the USFS
allow unrestricted ORV use. It is necessary for the USFS to hear from
the many citizens who have witnessed the damage caused by irresponsible
ORV use and who know off-road vehicle use must be restricted on the
Forest. Please write to the USFS (and, if possible, attend one of the
USFS open-houses) and ask for the strongest possible protection. Here
are some things you may want to tell the USFS:
*You support the proposal to prohibit off-road motorized travel, and you
support restricting motorized vehicles to roads and trails that are
CURRENTLY part of the Transportation System.
*Illegally pioneered (i.e., "user created") roads and trails must NOT be
made legal. Tell the USFS that making them legal would only encourage
further misuse of the Forest.
*You want the USFS to select Alternative 5 -- Closing user-created
routes, but allowing travel on Forest Service routes. In the Draft EA,
the USFS refused to consider this option, claiming it would be "too
restrictive." Tell the USFS it must fully evaluate and consider this
alternative because it is reasonable and still allows motorized travel
on thousands of miles of USFS-created roads and trails on the 'Bow.
*With so many miles of existing USFS roads on the 'Bow, there is no need
to add "user-created" roads to the Transportation System.
*The USFS's Proposed Action does not adequately protect natural
resources or wildlife from ORV abuse.
*The USFS must close and re-vegetate all illegally pioneered roads and
trails, as required by law.
*The USFS must increase education and secure funding for responsible ORV
use and problems they cause (i.e. irreparable scaring and soil erosion).
*The USFS must increase monitoring and enforcement and stop illegal
travel on the Med Bow.
*If, after reading public comments, the USFS still wishes to add
illegally roads and trails to the Forest Transportation System, demand
that the USFS prepare a full EIS to assess all impacts that have and
will occur from those roads and trails.
**YOUR LETTERS NEEDED BY MAY 29**
Please write to the USFS:
Medicine Bow National Forest
Attention: Melissa Martin
2468 Jackson Street
Laramie, WY 82070
(307) 745-2371
Be sure to discuss in your letter any experiences you've had with ORV
damage or any difficulty you've had finding places to get away from
motorized vehicles on the Med Bow. Also, be sure to include your name,
address and telephone number and the title of document you are
commenting on (Forest-wide Travel Management Plan Draft EA).
**SPECIAL NOTE TO WYOMING RESIDENTS**
The USFS is having several OPEN HOUSE MEETINGS to take comments from the
public. Hours for ALL of them are 4 pm to 8 pm. You can come and go
anytime between these times. Here are the locations and dates:
Laramie, MBNF Supervisor's Office: May 6
Douglas, Converse County Courthouse: May 11
Saratoga, MBNF Brush Creek/Hayden District Office: May 13
For more information contact:
Patricia Dowd
Biodiversity Associates and Friends of the Bow
P.O. Box 6032
Laramie, WY 82073
(307) 742-7978
--
Jeff Kessler
Biodiversity Associates
and Friends of the Bow
PO Box 6032
Laramie, Wy 82073
(307) 742-7978
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Reprinted under the fair use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html
doctrine of international copyright law.
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Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit)
Unenh onhwa' Awayaton
http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/
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