Unlike any other time since the inception of the National Forest System, our forests are at a monumental cross-road to stem the damage from off-road vehicles. As required by the Forest Service's own Travel Management Rule of 2005, the agency is currently designating which roads, trails, and areas of each forest are for use by off-road vehicles. These decisions will determine the scope of the impact these vehicles will have on the land and its natural resources and will decide where hikers, bird watchers, anglers, and other quiet recreationists must go to have a quality experience outdoors to enjoy the natural sights, sounds, and smells of nature.
Prior to the current approach being undertaken by the agency, off-road vehicles had free range of our forests and were essentially allowed to drive wherever they wanted with minimal consideration of the consequences their actions have on other recreationists and the environment. The Forest Service's requirement to designate specific routes for dirt bikes, four-wheelers, and ATVs to drive is an incredible opportunity to achieve a sustainable, evenhanded recreation policy on our national forests.
Furthermore, while this route designation process is a good first step to managing off-road vehicles, more needs to be done. The Forest Service needs to apply a sustainable approach to planning that takes into consideration, among other things, wildlife, water, vegetation, ancient cultural ruins, and other natural resources as well as the interests of quiet recreationists, which are the majority of public lands recreation users. Individual forests need to manage for motorized recreation by considering the larger landscape, which would entail looking at watershed and ecosystem functionality as well as outstanding areas for quiet recreationists to experience nature.
The Wilderness Society and its coalition of partner groups are urging the agency to follow the intentions outlined by President Bush's previous U.S. Forest Service Chief, Dale Bosworth, when he initiated this travel planning process. Chief Bosworth identified unmanaged recreation, particularly off-road vehicle use, as one of the four greatest threats to America's National Forests. Further, he recognized the severity of the damage that these vehicles have on land, water, wildlife and other visitors and highlighted the proliferation of unplanned - or renegade - dirt bike and all-terrain vehicle routes that criss-cross many National Forests. With high ranking presidential appointees recognizing the need to address the damage caused by these vehicles, it shows that this is neither a political issue nor a diminutive threat, but a serious, wide-spread environmental issue with important environmental and social consequences.
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