By D'Val Westphal | The Albuquerque Journal
December 2, 2007
New Mexico has millions of acres of national forest land.
But should everyone have access to all of them?
According to the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance— folks who appreciate the quiet solitude of the forest and all that has to offer— no. Dirt bikers and all-terrain-vehicle riders— folks who appreciate the room to ride— say their tax dollars are just as green as everyone else's and should provide them entry.
Forest Service officials say OHV (off-highway vehicle) use has skyrocketed, from 5 million vehicles in 1972 to 51 million in 2004, with more than 11 million people riding on Forest Service land in '04. To limit environmental impacts, and settle the debate who can go where on what, officials came up with the Travel Management and Off-Highway Vehicle Program in 2005.
The program will designate on maps which roads and trails are open to motor vehicle use, unlike today, where everything is open unless otherwise marked. The plan is scheduled to be fully implemented in New Mexico's national forests by 2010.
But the Wilderness Alliance questions just what the Travel Management Rules are promoting— and if they are even enforceable. One testimonial on an 11-minute video the group is distributing points out allowing multiple use can easily translate into sanctioning single abuse. The group says GPS technology allows off-road clubs to spread the word of unauthorized trails, leading to more than noise problems as riders inflict sometimes irreparable damage on watersheds and wildlife corridors.
"The bottom line is our forests, grasslands, canyons, rivers and the quiet recreation found in these areas remain threatened by off-road vehicles," a briefing paper from the group says.
Tom Dwyer, the Travel Management Program manager for the Forest Service's Southwest Region, says the new rules are a move to keep that from happening. This is finally an attempt "to manage what is not a managed use or situation." While today the "vast majority (of trails are) open to motorized vehicles, (the new rules) will prohibit" their use on most.
The system first has officials at the individual forests do travel analyses of their land, Dwyer says. That means open meetings on the existing authorized road and trail systems— should any be subtracted? And the existing unauthorized road and trail systems— should any be approved? Rules for the Cibola are expected next year, for the Carson, Gila, Lincoln and Santa Fe in '09. Each forest's Web site can be accessed from www.fs.fed.us. All contain timelines for rule implementation and contact information so residents can weigh in.
After the first phase, officials compile the information into a proposal that goes through an environmental policy analysis, which includes more public comment. Changes may be made based on environmental effects. Then final maps come out.
In the case of the Santa Fe National Forest, which is moving into phase two, there have been more than 100 public meetings. The result: 8,000 miles of authorized and unauthorized routes have been slashed to 3,168 miles where vehicles would be allowed.
But is that enough? No, says Francois-Marie Patorni, president of the Santa Fe Watershed Association and a member of Preserve Glorieta/Rowe Mesa.
Once a trail is marked "open and advertised, it's a magnet for ATVs," he says.
And Kevin Stillman, who lives in the Jemez Mountains, says the motorcycle crowd is "trashing the place. They're destroying it." Riders have "washed out berms, eroded a creek with endangered cutthroaths (trout), cut through fences, torn down signs." He points out the Forest Service has funding to maintain 50 miles of official trails in the area and asks how will it manage more than 3,000 more?
Craig Chapman of the Wilderness Alliance echoes those concerns and says the service is "understaffed and underfunded."
Dwyer doesn't argue that.
"It's going to be challenging for us. It's expensive to close unauthorized trails, and it's challenging from an enforcement standpoint. ... The vast majority of (OHV) users, once they know the rules, they obey the rules— they recognize there's value in that, for their kids and grandkids. But there's always a small percentage of outlaws. And the only way to stop those folks is to catch them."
And catch them riding on trails clearly designated as not open to that use so they face consequences.
Patorni says too much access and the resulting damage is what his groups are worried about. "Our fear is for the future." And Stillman says "it's up to the people" who live near, use and value the forests to commit to protecting the landscape in the long haul. Because many in the motorized crowd are "just out there for the ride."
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