New map angers off-roaders

Off-roaders ride an old mining road near Rowdy Creek Road. The Daily Triplicate/Bryant Anderson

A long-awaited map designating what roads are legal to drive on in the Smith River National Recreation Area was recently released, and it has the off-highway vehicle community up in arms.

The map doesn’t have any connection to the Redwood National and State Parks, where OHV use is entirely prohibited.

But since about two-thirds of the county is taken up by the Smith River NRA or other publicly owned lands, the new Motor Vehicle Use Map (MVUM) is generating quite a stir.

One of the big sticking points for local off-road enthusiasts is that nearly 200 miles of old mining roads, that they have long driven, are now officially off limits, although the map may still be revised.

According to the U.S. Forest Service, these roads were mostly off limits prior to the map’s release.

It’s a question of recreational access versus resource protection, and the Gasquet Ranger District, which contains the Smith River NRA, has been caught in the middle since the process began prior to 2003.

“This is happening all across the United States,” said District Ranger Mary Kay Vandiver, referring to the fact that the district doesn’t have a choice in making a map.

Motor vehicle enthusiasts want to preserve access that is opposed by environmental groups who are worried about the effect off-highway vehicles (OHV) will have on sensitive natural areas.

Added to the debate is the question of public safety.

According to a Forest Service survey, many roads are unsafe because they haven’t been maintained and weren’t built to current standards.

One of the reasons the Ranger District has taken more than six years to design a MVUM is that the process has been derailed by both sides at different times.

Both environmental groups and the Blue Ribbon Task force, a national non-profit organization dedicated to fighting for accessibility, appealed previous map proposals.

And representatives of each side feel they aren’t being heard sufficiently.

“I don’t have a personal vendetta against motorized vehicle use,” Vandiver said. “And this is not the final work-through of the map. What people don’t realize is that compromises have to be made on all sides.”

It’s exactly the idea of compromise that has Vandiver bringing in the the U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution, an independent and impartial federal program that specializes in cases like this.

“We want to bring all the stakeholders to the table and try to come to an agreement that makes everyone as happy as possible,” Vandiver said.

Judging by their deep-seated and strong feelings, many of the stakeholders will be at that table.

Karl Beyerle, a 56-year-old life-long Del Norte County resident, said the recently released MVUM “essentially takes away every non-system road or trail out there.”

Non-system routes are trails or roads not built by the national forest, many of which were made more than a 100 years ago.

“Some of those roads are historic trails that have been in use since prior to World War I,” Beyerle said.

To some local off-road enthusiasts, it’s like having part of the history of their county taken away.

“Not only have most of us been going up into the woods on those roads for our whole lives, it’s a big part of the culture around here, we are also getting to places we wouldn’t be able to by foot,” said Steve Bigham, the past president of The Cliffhangers, a local jeep club.

He listed off his different surgeries, including a knee, that make walking long distances over stiff terrain unrealistic.

According to both Beyerle and Bigham, many of the people who use the roads do so responsibly, often at slow speeds due to the ruggedness of the landscape.

Despite this, conservationists believe OHV use damages natural areas.

Scott Greacen of the Environmental Protection Information Center, who was involved with appealing the original roads analysis, has no problem identifying the dangers posed by OHV use.

“I have not seen the new map yet,” Greacen said. “Our concerns remain the same as they did then, however. OHVs have a major impact on the environment.”

From erosion to the spread of Port Orford Cedar Root Disease, Greacen believes that OHV use directly threatens rare and endangered plant species and sensitive natural areas.

“Access is very precious,” said Vandiver. “But at the same time, we need to find a balance between natural resource protection and public access.”

The current version of the MVUM is still a work in progress.

According to Vandiver, the Forest Service is in the process of a final Environmental Assessment, which will take another look at the controversial roads and unauthorized routes.

 She hopes that the EA, along with the resolution process, will help craft a MVUM that satisfies both sides.

“You always hope for the best,” Beyerle said of the upcoming resolution process. “But as it’s gone in the past, it’s hard to expect much.”