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General Moto | Off-Topic Posts
Help save the Colville National Forest - need letters!
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[QUOTE="bbbom, post: 738566, member: 16301"] [b]NMA's Official Position on Forest Plan Revisions (edited)[/b] Below is a letter that outlines the Northwest Motorcycle Assoc.'s official position on the Forest Plan Revisions. I cut out the Forest Specific Recommendations that were in the original letter from the NMA Rep that referred to specifics for each of the three forests, in order to shorten the post. If anyone wants the specific rec's for any of the three forests involved here, let me know and I will post them or email them. ========================================================== January 11, 2004 Forest Plan Revision Team 1240 Second Avenue South Okanogan, WA 98840 Re: Inputs to Wenatchee-Okanogan and Colville Forest Plan Revisions This letter comprises the formal inputs of the Northwest Motorcycle Association (NMA) to the current process for updating and revising the Forest Plans for the Wenatchee-Okanogan and Colville National Forests. With close to 1500 members, NMA is Washington States' leading offroad motorcycle organization. For over thirty years, our users have continued to work closely with district managers and other users (both motorized and non-motorized) to enhance and expand our states full multiple-use trails. Our users annually put in many thousands of hours of volunteer work to clear and maintain the motorized trails in this state. We urge the Forests to address the issues and concerns we have identified below so that motorized users will have a fair share of recreational resources and access to quality trails. General comments to all Forest Plans (Wenatchee/Okanogan and Colville: NMA is opposed to any new Wilderness designations. Wilderness designations exclude too many legitimate recreation uses and waste additional taxpayer money due to the increased cost of maintaining trails in designated Wilderness due to the many restrictions imposed. While the Forests may be required by law to periodically consider and identify areas that may be potentially suitable for new Wilderness, NMA asks the Forests to look for other alternatives to Wilderness such as the proposed Backcountry Recreation Area designation that is being strongly promoted by the Blue Ribbon Coalition in Washington DC and is receiving increasingly support from many different recreation user groups. Demand continues to increase for motorized trail recreation. The Forests need to be planning for and providing for this increased demand with new motorized trails. Reasons supporting an increase in motorized trails include: The continued high growth in numbers of off-road motorcycles. The continued decrease in trail miles available for trailbikes is causing unnecessary impacts and maintenance costs from concentrated use. There are many motorized and non-motorized trails on the Forests in a state of serious disrepair due to lack of regular maintenance .. some present real safety hazards for travel. Motorized trails must be given a fair share of resources and priority to keep the trails maintained to design standards. To help address this problem, the Forests must develop and implement a trail maintenance plan that routinely calls for 1) an annual review of all trails and 2) creates a list of trails with major wear/damage that requires implementation of heavy maintenance and repair within five (5) years or sooner after placement on the list. The Forests currently close trails to motorized use, but not pedestrian use, when user conflict is alleged by hikers. In many cases the allegations have proven untrue and the complaints appear nothing more than a strategy to being used to close trails to motorized use. There currently is no risk to hikers for making false claims of conflict. This is not fair. To help reduce and eliminate false allegations of user conflicts, and to protect motorized trails from closure to such attacks, NMA asks the Forest to implement a new trail management policy that gives districts the option of closing motorized trails to hikers or other users to reduce false complaints of conflict. NMA requests that the Forest Plans maintain open to motorized designations for all trails currently open to motorized use. NMA requests a new policy for replacing trails which may be closed to motorized use in the future for any management reason or for legislated land reclassifications such as new Wilderness designation. This policy should require that "every mile of motorized trail closed to motorized use shall be replaced by a mile of new motorized trail on the Forest of equal or better quality". The Forests need more beginner motorized trail opportunities. The Forests should expand OHV trail opportunities by converting roads to trails to connect isolated trail segments into OHV loop trail opportunities, The Forests should restore trails that were obliterated by fire fighting activities, or road building and timber harvesting. ATV recreationists need more legitimate places to ride on the Forest. ATV opportunities can be created from road to trail conversions. As the USFS decommissions roads, they should be looking to see if ATV opportunities could be implemented within these decommissioned roads. Thank you for opportunity to provide inputs to the Wenatchee-Okanogan and Colville Forest Plan revisions. Please keep NMA informed of all actions and decisions related to these Forest Plans including any additional public hearings or periods for public review and comment of proposed changes. [/QUOTE]
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General Moto | Off-Topic Posts
Help save the Colville National Forest - need letters!
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