Oregon: Travel Management needs input on ORVs

Some of the last, best, pristine wilderness quality landscapes in the
Klamath Siskiyou are seeing more and more extreme backcountry off-road
travel. Wildlands proposed by the Forest Service for wilderness
designation on the Rogue-Siskiyou National Forest have been the
frequent scene of conflict between ORV riders and hikers and
equestrians. Landscapes once known for their remote solitude and
rugged biodiversity have been turned into motorized playgrounds. Long
Term Management Decisions Taking Place.

Now Public land managers
throughout northern California and southern Oregon are deciding where
to encourage motorized recreation and where use must be restricted to
protect wildlands and watersheds. With your help, KS Wild is
encouraging local Forests to protect rare plant species, sensitive
wildlands and riparian areas while allowing Off-Road Vehicle (ORV) use
on many existing logging roads and motorized trails. A Crumbling
Infrastructure Impacts Water Quality. So why is something that sounds
as dull as “travel management” such a big deal? During the logging
boom on public lands during the 1970s and 1980s the BLM and the Forest
Service built hundreds of thousands of miles of logging roads that the
agencies now cannot afford to maintain. The financial backlog of road
maintenance on BLM and Forest Service roads is now approaching several
billion dollars! The Klamath National Forest alone has a backlog of
$55.5 million in un-met road maintenance. The lack of maintenance is
leading to plugged road culverts, road failures (such as slides and
blowouts), and the delivery of massive amounts of sediment into
streams and rivers. Badly built, poorly maintained logging roads are
one of the most direct threats to water quality and fish habitat on
our public lands. http://www.kswild.org –
http://www.kswild.org/support-our-work/join-ks-wild

— Posted to http://forestpolicyresearch.com via gmail to posterous and
also to forestpolicyresearch@yahoogroups.com

Posted via email from Deane’s posterous