Yesterday, Laramie-based Biodiversity Associates, seven other conservation groups, and three individuals filed an appeal of parts of the new Travel Management Plan (TMP) for the Medicine Bow National Forest. The TMP sets the rules for off-road motorized vehicle use in the Forest. The groups appealed only parts of the Plan and supported the remainder.

Among the points the groups appealed were:

• leaving open user created routes and trails (which are by definition illegal), and posting route markers/signs on these user-created routes
• allowing off-road travel 300 feet on either side of every road (thereby making the more than 2,800 miles of road on the Forest 600 feet wide; this is more than 300 square miles left open to ORV damage)
• failing to address snowmobile management.

There are so many illegally created trails on the Forest now that officials expect that it will take 5-7 years to examine them all. In the meantime, these routes will become even more entrenched and impacted. "Clearly the Forest Service needed to do something, but some of their decisions will only make the problems worse," said Biodiversity Associates spokesperson Jeff Kessler.

"Most significant is their decision to turn almost all user-created roads and trails into officially open, 'designated' routes. These are routes were created illegally and cross through some of the most environmentally sensitive areas on the Forest. User-created trails damage soils, permanently scar the landscape, damage streams, harm wildlife and sensitive plants, and destroy the natural character of the Forest," said Kessler. "It's getting harder and harder for people and wildlife to find sanctuary away from the sounds of motorized vehicles."

Federal laws and regulations prohibit visitors from constructing roads and trails, and require the Forest Service to close user-created routes unless it is clear they aren't causing problems. "It's a classic case of leaping before they look," stated Erik Molvar of Biodiversity Associates. "Instead of halting illegal use first, and then carefully examining which routes should be opened, the Forest Service is doing the opposite. This decision turns the whole process on its head," Molvar added.

However, the groups expressed support for the Forest Service's move to prohibit cross-country travel. "Motorized off-road damage is a serious problem on the 'Bow, as is the creation of illegal routes across the Forest. That's why we support the decision to prohibit go-anywhere off-road travel. This will help protect Forest resources and wildlife," said Kessler.