Trail Crisis in VA - National Forest

["Sally Aungier" <saungier@mindspring.com>]

Please take the time to read this account and to help us.  The Ft Valley
area is the home of numerous distance events, training and pleasure rides.
Please circulate this message to others who you think will support this
effort.
I have made every effort to speak directly the players involved in the saga.
All information provided is based on their accounts.  (I happened to have
ridden this trail only a few days before this happened so it really hit
home.)

Sally Aungier
VHC Trails Committee

Trail Crisis in Virginia
The Facts as of July 28, 2000

What happened:
During the week of July 16, 2000 a trail in the Lee District of the National
Forest was closed to horse traffic.  This closure was not as simple as a
signed saying “no horses”, it was rather an assault by heavy equipment.  The
trail was bulldozed and tank traps were built.  Trees were laid across the
trail for nearly a mile, leaving the area looking like one of total
destruction.  While the new signs indicate foot traffic is permitted, the
trail was so obliterated that even a hiker would have a hard time
negotiating it.

Where:  The trail is one that runs behind Ft. Valley Stable, below the
Taskers Gap ridge.  It is the “dotted i” trail that links the two ends of
the Blue Trail, which traverses private property.  This trail allows riders
to pass through this area with a minimal amount of road riding, especially
if they are heading up to the Kennedy’s Peak trails, Duncan Hollow or the
Turkey Pen area.

Why:  Based on a conversation I had with Mr. Donald Sawyer, district ranger,
on July 28, this trail was closed for one reason - because the Ft. Valley
Stable had a violation.  They had taken a guided ride out in the National
Forest and they did not have a permit to provide this service.  The Stable
was subsequently very heavily fined and banned from further personal or
business use of the National Forest.  The trail was destroyed so that the
stable could not continue to use it for any purpose.   The guided trail
riding operation that was the cause of the violation ceased operation on May
14th and they do not plan on having guided trail rides again.  The Forest
Service was aware that the operation had ceased.


Why we need to request the restoration of this trail?
There are many other users besides the Ft. Valley Stable staff.  Based on
the campsite rentals there alone we have estimated that at least 1000 people
used this trail in 1999 and probably close to 400 so far in 2000.  This does
not count the multiple trips that folks may have made there during a stay,
nor does it count other riders that may have passed through from other
trailheads.  This was a lovely trail that kept us off the local roads for
much of the distance that it takes to get over to the Kennedy’s Peak, Duncan
Hollow, and Turkey Pen Trails.  The Stable provides a valuable service to
trailriders in that there are no other safe camping areas in or near this
part of the National Forest.  The National Forest itself has no designated
horse trailer camping areas in this specific area.  Mr. Sawyer did say that
we could use the area at the dump station at the Camp Roosevelt Recreation
Area for day use parking as long as we do not block the facility.  He also
offered that we could day park along the side of Crisman Hollow Road.
Neither of these alternatives offers the security of leaving your rig at a
private site, nor prevents you from having the hassles of packing up your
camping gear everyday to head out to other trailheads.

Other considerations:
Our National Forests never seems to have the money to help us build new
parking facilities or enhancements yet they spent the money and time to run
a dozer and do chainsaw work for several days to simply keep out someone
that they had already banned.  No small cost to them (or to us, the
taxpayers).  They did not take into consideration that they trail supported
many other users.  They did not consult with any user groups to determine
what the potential impact would be.  To build a new trail environmental
impact studies are often required, yet the destruction of this trail with
heavy equipment did not apparently require any type of study.

What you can do:  I asked Mr. Sawyer what we could do to reopen this trail.
He replied that it would take requests from the trail users that demonstrate
the value of this trail to us.

I am asking you to please send a short letter to Mr. Sawyer, asking him to
repair and reopen the trail behind Ft. Valley Stable to horse traffic.  We
may be able to fix this problem if everyone bans together and takes a few
minutes to write a 3 to 4 sentence letter to him explaining that you think
access to this trail is important to the riding community.

Who to contact:

Letters should be addressed to
Mr. Donald Sawyer
District Ranger
Lee Ranger District
109 Molineu Road
Edinburg, Virginia  22824
(540) 984-4101
dsawyer@fs.fed.us

You might also copy the following individuals:

(National Chief)
Mr. Mike Dombeck, Chief
Forest Service, USDA
Sidney R. Yates Federal Building
201 14th Street SW at Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, DC  20250
mdombeck@fs.fed.us

(Virginia Head)
William Damon
Forest Supervisor
George Washington & Jefferson National Forests
5162 Valleypointe Parkway
Roanoke, Virginia  24019
bdamon@fs.fed.us

(Regional head  - she is a rider, by the way)
Elizabeth Estill
Regional Forester
Region 8
US Forest Service
1720 Peachtree Road, Room 760
Atlanta, GA  30367
eestill/r8@fs.fed.us

John Paul Woodley, Jr.
Virginias’ Secretary of Natural Resources
P.O. Box 1475
Richmond, Virginia 23212
(804) 786-0044
Fax (804) 371-8333