Fed proposal to vastly expand motorized access.

[elkduds]

​

From BHA, today.

Fellow Public Land Owners,



Today, the U.S. Forest Service announced a Notice of Intent outlining significant potential changes to the 2005 Travel Management Rule, the longstanding framework governing motorized activity across our national forests and grasslands.



The Notice of Intent is anticipated to be published in the Federal Register next week; if that happens, it will kickstart a 30-day public comment period. It’s important to note: this notice does not change existing Motor Vehicle Use Maps or travel designations. What it does accomplish is it begins the environmental review and rulemaking process that will inform a future proposed rule.



This announcement follows the May 29 rescission of two executive orders that guided federal off-highway vehicle management for more than 50 years. At the time, I told you that action did not immediately open new roads, trails or areas to motorized use, but that it could lead to significant changes in how federal agencies balance access with wildlife, habitat and other public land values.



Today, we have our first look at what some of those changes could be:

• Establishing an “open unless closed” presumption, meaning existing roads and trails could be presumed open unless a closure or restriction is required by law or justified by other circumstances.
• Removing existing national minimization criteria that currently direct managers to consider minimizing damage to soils, watersheds, vegetation and other forest resources; harassment of wildlife and significant disruption of wildlife habitat; and conflicts among recreational uses.
• Reconsidering closed or highly restricted routes, subject to available funding.
• Replacing the Minimum Road System requirement with an “adequate and appropriate” transportation system.
• Revisions to the procedures governing public participation, governmental coordination and monitoring associated with travel designations.
• Providing for limited off-route motorized uses for activities such as downed big-game retrieval, dispersed camping and firewood collection.
• Excluding Class 1 e-bikes from treatment as motor vehicles under portions of the Travel Management Rule on trails where traditional bicycles are permitted, while retaining seasonal, site-specific and other management restrictions.

For hunters and anglers, this matters. For backcountry hunters and anglers, this matters a heck of a lot.



Travel management is not simply about deciding where people can drive or ride. It is one of the most significant tools we use to conserve the places we go, and the fish and wildlife we find when we get there