Lois & all others that use trails on public lands:
Be very aware that with the rewriting of the Forest Plans your use of the
trails there-in are on very fragile ground. BE SURE AND ATTEND ANY MEETINGS
OR AT LEAST OBTAIN A COPY OF THE PLAN AND WRITE COMMENTS!!!!
Your ability to participate in the process can be severely limited at a
later date if you are not registered as a participant in the process early
on.
This comes from my experience on MANY of these. Also be aware of who your
opponents will be. Here in the Sawtooth National Recreation Area the
opponents of equine use were all from a hiking club from Long Island (over
2000 miles away) Form your coalitions now with like users, work with the
motorized sports, and establish useage of the trails. You may even have to
go out and GPS (or like method of mapping) trails to prove use. With out
this proof trails can be eliminated since they are not on the "use map". The
burden is on the users not the Agency. Cultivate your agency personnel!!!
When was the last time you offered to take the Ranger for a ride. At least
let them have the chance of refusal.
You may want to contact the Blue Ribbon Coalition, yes I know it is mainly
motorized but they also help out with the non-motorized users. (did you not
get the word from a 4x4 user?)
Sorry I am not back there to help but we have our own out here and in one
upcoming it could get physical. Hope it doesn't but the Agency has not been
rational.
Make sure you and all your concerned friends ask for, and get, full copies
of the PLAN. That way you are then on the mailing list for meetings. Do it
now!!! Read it before any meeting and be aware of what they propose. Do not
accept any thing not definitive, "in our opinion", or "our studies show" ask
for the studies, or " our professional opinion" (it is not worth a damn if
not backed up by data) Examine all data with doubt. How was it produced, by
who and in what form was it produced?
As an example, the data against horses was obtained by asking negative
questions about horses from hikers only. Skewed?? I thought so. Be aware of
some statistics--- hikers generally use only the first 3 to 5 miles of a
trail from the trail head. Day use is the predominate use and time is about
6 hours.
Have fun and keep us advised
Bob Morris
Morris Endurance Enterprises
Boise, ID