Off-road vehicle (ORV) use is exploding across the country. Since 1972, the number of dirt bike, all-terrain vehicle (ATV), and snowmobile use has grown sevenfold, to 36 million in 2000. [1]
Nowhere are the impacts of the off-road armada felt more acutely than in the America's 155 National Forests. The forests today are crisscrossed with 60,000 miles of unplanned, unauthorized ("renegade") ORV trails, to the point that Forest Service chief Dale Bosworth has identified ORVs as one of the four greatest threats to the National Forests (along with fire, invasive species, and habitat fragmentation). [2]
In one forest alone, the Lewis and Clark National Forest in Montana, more than 1,000 unplanned roads and trails stretch over 650 miles, according to Bosworth. [3]
"We're seeing more and more erosion, water degradation and habitat destruction. We're seeing more and more conflicts between users. We're seeing more damage to cultural sites and more violation of sites sacred to American Indians. And those are just some of the impacts," Bosworth has said. [4]
Until now, the Forest Service had no national policy for regulating ORV use. Every forest had its own rules. In many forests, ORVs can go almost anywhere, ripping up landscapes, fouling the air, and disturbing wildlife. Finally, on July 7, the Forest Service issued draft rules that would regulate ORV use in all National Forests and Grasslands.
The draft rules contain some welcome proposals. Cross-country motorized travel across entire forests would be prohibited, while ATVs and dirt bikes could use only specifically designated roads and ORV routes.
In many other aspects, however, the proposal falls short. Although Chief Bosworth has highlighted the need to deal with the ORV problem now, the proposal contains no time frame for determining which routes in the forests would be appropriate for ORV use.
Perhaps more importantly, the proposal does not address the issue of renegade routes. Nor does it clearly require the Forest Service to study the environmental impacts of specific roads and routes that could be opened to ORVs.
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TAKE ACTION
Public comments on the Forest Service's ORV rules must be received by September 13. For contact information and more information about the ORV problem in the Forests, go to the Wildlands Center for Preventing Roads at www.wildlandscpr.org.
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SOURCES:
[1] Environmental News Service, Jul. 8, 2004.
[2] High Sierra Hikers website.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Ibid.
