Plan to close unauthorized dune trails progresses
CORVALLIS, Ore. (AP) — An environmental review of a plan to close some unauthorized off-road vehicle trails in the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area has been released for public comment.
Opinions on the 150-page draft review are due to the Siuslaw National Forest by Dec. 10, the Gazette-Times reported (http://is.gd/kk02KD).
The recreation area covers 29,000 acres from Florence to North Bend along the Oregon Coast. It's a popular playground for riders of dirt bikes, dune buggies and four-wheelers.
Some 5,930 acres of open sand have been set aside for off-road vehicles. There are another 4,455 acres of vegetated areas where riding is allowed on 34 miles of designated trails.
Over the years, however, riders have carved out a 135-mile web of trails through the vegetated sections. Now the Forest Service is cracking down on riding in unauthorized areas.
The plan aims for something of a compromise that likely would include a modest expansion of the authorized trail network and the open riding areas while enforcing rules for unauthorized areas.
None of the alternatives being considered would shrink the official on- or off-trail areas now open to riders.
"Those 34 miles (of trails) currently designated, nothing is happening to those," said Angie Morris, a recreation planner with the Siuslaw National Forest. "There's no negative impact to open riding; there's only additions. We're not going backwards."
The areas proposed for reallocation to open riding already tend to be popular with users of off-highway vehicles and vegetated with invasive species, Morris said. Route additions proposed connect open riding areas either to each other or to the beach.
Information from: Gazette-Times
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
Suprise, suprise... the fascist government takes more freedom away.... Soon you wont be able to hide any freedom from the police state.
First off all these trails you are closing are legal trails. Until a few years ago all of the National Forest including the dunes was open to cross country travel. When the process started we the riders mapped all of these trails for the Forest Service only to have them closed. This was a huge slap in the face for the riders that worked so hard to help with the process