Waitin out the snow blog

Its another week in the bottle. Here I sit, at Bradley, waiting out the snow. Heading into Vegas today. Not sure when this will actually get posted.

I’ll tellya… I’ve been saying this for about a year and no one wants to believe me but in comparison to when I first started wheeling, there are at least 3 times the places to wheel than there was back then. The part that people are not seeing is that many of the places we went to back then were and still are illegal. We were wheeling along powerlines and on private property and just didn’t realize it was wrong…Until we started getting “busted” by the landowners/authorities.

Today, we are on the cusp of even more legal roads and properties. There is a lot of excitement! There is a new crop of clubs and enthusiastic wheelers out there who are chaffing at the bit to get out and explore, do trail cuts, clean ups, etc. We have been able to produce lists of unmaintained/unimproved roads that are being researched. We have private properties that need work; we even have private public places that are in need of work, research and planning.

In order for our sport to survive, we will NEED to increase the number of places to go legally because our numbers are increasing. When Eastern 4 Wheelers came into being 20 years ago, there were but a handful of 4x4 clubs here in New England and we struggled to get 30members. Now there are at least 30 organized groups, each with 20-30 members MINIMUM. Some have upwards of 80. That doesn’t include the forum clubs and the forums that aren’t clubs. There are easily thousands of people from Boston to NY who want to be out wheeling each weekend and maybe 30 places for us all to go.

With all the above in mind we have begun scouting the lists of roads and doing work researching other properties. I’d like to thank Cape Cod Jeep Club and JT4x4 for being the first two to step up and volunteer. There are currently two lists published on the EC4WDA Northeast Region forums of the roads in MA and CT. If you and your club would be interested in helping the scouting cause, let me know and I’ll will make sure that everyone is coordinated as to what roads have already been checked, what was found to be good or no good. We will be establishing those lists on the EC4WDA Northeast forum as well. I would like to use that forum as the place to also let people know when you and your club is heading out. These groups need to be small. It’s not a great idea to have 10 rigs out scouting at one location. So, if there are 10 people who want to go on a particular weekend, then we’ll need to coordinate who goes where.

Last week I mentioned that Aili and I had met with Sen Meyer of Guilford. Most of the verbiage that Aili submitted was used in the bill. As soon as I get the go ahead, I’ll be posting who to contact, the bill number, etc. Looking good.

In Ohio, they have finally got their reciprocity bill passed. That means that OH residents can ride in neighboring states with their registrations and other states can ride in OH with theirs.

OTHER NATIONAL NEWS:

*BLUERIBBON COALITION ACTION ALERT!*

*Michigan Department of Natural Resources Seeks Public Comment on Revised ORV Management Plan*

*Dear BRC Action Alert Subscriber,*

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources in cooperation with the Off-Road Vehicle Trails Advisory Board just announced the release of a revised draft management plan for ORV use in Michigan. A copy of the news release is pasted below.

Please take a couple of minute to check it out. Please pass this information along to other recreationists.

*Thanks in advance for your support,*
Ric Foster
Public Lands Department Manager
BlueRibbon Coalition
208-237-1008 ext 107

______________________________________________________

*DNR Seeks Public Comment on Revised ORV Management Plan*

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Feb. 13, 2008

CONTACT: Steve DeBrabander 517-241-3687 or Mary Dettloff 517-335-3014
Agency: Natural Resources

State recreation officials today announced the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, in cooperation with the Off-Road Vehicle Trails Advisory Board, has released a revised draft management plan for ORV use in Michigan.

Revisions to the plan were made in response to public comments on the initial draft plan that was presented to the public in August 2005. The plan provides strategic direction for management of ORV use on public lands administered by the DNR.

The substantive changes to the 2005 draft plan are the inclusion of actions the DNR will take to address illegal ORV use. This includes actions and recommendations from the ORV strategy task force that was established as a result of forest certification, which Michigan achieved from the Sustainable Forestry Initiative and Forest Stewardship Council in 2006.

The new plan also addresses other influences that have come into play since 2005, such as legislative boilerplate language regarding trail expansion and pending legislation concerning ORV operation on public roadways.

The revised draft plan can be viewed online by going to www.michigan.gov/dnr <http://www.sharetrails.org/alertlist/redirect.cfm?ID=3016&MID=916&LID=42>, then clicking on the Recreation, Camping & Boating link to locate the ORV/ATV page.

Public comment on the revised plan, which may be submitted via e-mail at DNR-ORVPlanComments@Michigan.gov <mailto:DNR-ORVPlanComments@Michigan.gov>, has been extended until midnight EST, Feb. 25, 2008.

The DNR will present the revised draft plan to the Natural Resources Commission for information in April, at which time there will be additional opportunity for public comment. Final approval of the plan is scheduled for the NRC monthly meeting in May.

"Public review and comment are integral to the planning process," said Lynne Boyd, DNR Forest, Mineral and Fire Management chief. "All public comments will be taken into consideration as we finalize the plan."

BRC NATION-WIDE ACTION ALERT
PRIORITY LEVEL: CRITICAL

UPDATE! NEW COMMENT DEADLINE ON U.S. FOREST SERVICE ATTEMPT TO IMPLEMENT AN UNLAWFUL "DE-FACTO WILDERNESS" POLICY.

Dear BRC Action Alert Subscriber,

A few years ago, a small select group of employees in the U.S. Forest Service in Missoula, Montana developed an unlawful, de-facto Wilderness policy designed to close 1.3 million acres to all mountain bike, snowmobile and OHV use.

1.3 million acres of de-facto Wilderness established in the dead of the night, with a stroke of a pen, and without any public involvement.

Idaho's Clearwater National Forest is the first individual Forest in Region 1 (in northern Idaho and Montana) that has attempted site-specific implementation of the de-facto Wilderness policy. But it won't be the last.

We need your help. Please read the Action Alert below and take action today!

SITUATION:
The comment period deadline on the draft winter and summer Travel Plan for the Clearwater National Forest is set for February 29, 2008. This is the first time a National Forest in Region 1 has attempted site-specific implementation of their new (and unlawful) de-facto Wilderness policy. COMMENTS ARE URGENTLY NEEDED!

What De-Facto Wilderness Means to You:

Clearwater NF RWA: 200,000 acres
Number of acres of snowmobiling closed = 200,000 acres
Miles of single track motorcycle trails closed = 140 miles
Miles of mountain bike trails closed = UNKNOWN

Beaverhead-Deerlodge RWA: 174,000 acres
Gallatin NF RWA: 180,000 acres
Lewis & Clark RWA: 56,000 acres
Lolo NF RWA: 216,000 acres
Kooteni NF RWA: 117,000 acres
Idaho Panhandle NF RWA: 138,000 acres
Helena NF RWA: 34,000 acres
Flathead NF RWA: 93,000 acres
Custer NF RWA: 19.000 acres
Bitterroot NF RWA: 76,000 acres

TOTAL CLOSED = 1,303,000 ACRES
Warning: Information above is estimated. Actual acreage figures are likely to increase when new Forest Plans become final.

WHAT YOU NEED TO DO:
Send a simple email comment to the Clearwater.
Here is a link to Clearwater's Travel Plan webpage: http://www.fs.fed.us/r1/clearwater/Projects/TravPlan/ClwTravel.htm

The email address is: comments-northern-clearwater@fs.fed.us

IMPORTANT: Put "Comments on Clearwater National Forest Travel Plan" in the subject line and be certain to include your name and address at the end of the comments. A return email address is NOT sufficient! (FS often discards "anonymous" email comments.) Copy the text below and paste into your email.

Lois Foster, Travel Plan Interdisciplinary Team Leader
Lochsa Ranger District, Kamiah Ranger Station
Rt. 2 Box 191
Kamiah, ID 83536

I would like to make the following comments on the Clearwater National Forest Travel Plan. The comment is made using the "issues in the form of questions" format. Please consider these questions in the Alternative development and please also include a full discussion of each question in the EIS. I also request the EIS include a discussion and brief analysis of previous Congressional Wilderness designations so the public may understand how the existence of motorized uses actually impacts Congress's ability to designate Wilderness. I also request that the Clearwater provide a true range of management Alternatives, including one "action" alternative that, at the very minimum, does not reduce the current motorized and mountain bike opportunity.

Question 1) In Montana Wilderness Assoc. v. U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. District Court of Montana found that Congress required the Forest Service to strike--and maintain--a balance between wilderness character and motorized use in WSAs established by that Act. Given that Congress envisioned motorized uses in Wilderness Study Areas they established, what is the Forest Service's rationale for excluding motorized uses in Recommended Wilderness Areas (RWAs)?

Question 2) If the existence of motorized uses does not preclude an area from being designated as an RWA, then what is the Forest Service's rationale for eliminating motorized uses in RWAs?

Question 3) What level of motorized or mountain bike use would disqualify an area from being a RWA?

Question 4) In the Eastern Wilderness Act, Congress designated areas Wilderness that contained motorized uses, structures, maintained roads and even sections of paved roads. Has the Forest Service studied the level of motorized uses that actually precludes Congress from designating an area as Wilderness?

YOUR NAME
YOUR ADDRESS

I think that’s it for this week.

Talk soon,

Dave Brill

EC4WDA National Land Use Chair.

EC4WDA Northeast Region Land Use Chair.