Forest districts study off-road vehicle rules

The Hungry Horse and Glacier View ranger districts are treading into tender territory, asking for pubic comments on a travel management rule that designates where off-road vehicles can and cannot go.

The districts held an open house on the proposal in late January and have been getting feedback ever since. After a March 21 comment deadline, an environmental analysis will be developed followed by another comment period and a final decision by late summer.

"Every time we deal with motorized access on this forest it generates a lot of interest," District Ranger Jimmy DeHerrera said.

The Flathead National Forest is developing travel planning rules for off-road vehicle district by district.

The initial proposal for the Hungry Horse and Glacier View districts focuses on trail designations in the Cedar Flats area north of Columbia Falls; trails near the town of Hungry Horse; the Emery Bay camping area on Hungry Horse Reservoir and the reservoir's high-water perimeter; the North and Middle Fork Flathead Rivers, and trails on the crest of the Swan Mountain Range.

The designations are part of a national directive aimed at curbing a wanton proliferation of freelance trails on national forest lands and managing a growing number of off-road vehicles on the landscape.

"It's a big change. Everything used to be open unless it was designated closed," DeHerrera explained. "Now it's a 180-degree reversal: Everything is closed unless it is designated open."

The Forest Service also is adopting an enforcement approach similar to those applied to hunting and fishing laws: It's the users' responsibility to know where they can and can't go.

"We don't have to sign these routes on the ground," DeHerrera said, adding that a forest travel map will be "the legal instrument indicating where motorized access is allowed."

The initial proposal on the two districts accounts for areas where motorized use has evolved over the years, establishing trail designations for vehicles less than 50 inches wide.

It considers designating about nine miles of trails in the Cedar Flats area and building two-short segments of trail to provide trail loops.

At Hungry Horse, there already is a designated motocross track, and the proposal calls for designating two miles of nearby trails. Motorized use would be prohibited on one road and an adjoining spur road.

A designation of about one-third of a mile is proposed near the Emery Bay camping area.

All existing routes along the Wild and Scenic River corridors of the North and Middle Forks of the Flathead Rivers are proposed for designation.

The proposal includes designations for specific areas below the reservoir's high-water marks.

And the proposal includes a seasonal designation, from July 1 through Sept. 30, for trails on the Swan Crest. An array of trails on the crest was closed as part of a post-fire management project west of the reservoir several years ago.

Past travel management decisions are not being reconsidered in the process, DeHerrera said.

Many of those decisions were driven by forest plan standards aimed at providing secure grizzly bear habitat. Those standards, adopted under forest plan Amendment 19, put an "overriding constraint" for off-road route designations in some areas, DeHerrera said.

So far, the district has received input from people who oppose designations and people who believe the proposal does not include enough motorized trail designations.

"We're getting the full spectrum in comments," DeHerrera said.

One of the most detailed comments comes from Montanans for Multiple Use, a group that is highly critical of the forest for not considering the cumulative effects of past access closures.

"We believe that a process that only considers additional closures time after time is not only illegal but does not implement the statutory intent of truly considering public input," wrote Fred Hodgeboom, the group's president.

Hodgeboom expressed concern that forest maps outlining the proposals do not depict "historic roads" that have been closed and are important management resources, particularly for firefighting.

The group's comments go on to specify detailed areas on both districts where motorized access should be expanded.

DeHerrera said his staff will be sorting through a "full spectrum" of comments on routes that should and shouldn't be designated.

The best way to evaluate the initial proposal, he said, is to review maps that are available at the district or on the forest's Web site at http://www.fs.fed.us/r1/flathead

Those with questions can contact the district's project coordinators, Paula Peterson or Michele Dragoo, at 387-3800.

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by e-mail at jmann@dailyinterlake.com