Leaders sound off on off-roading

The effort to designate which Forest Service roads allow motorized use has some Del Norte County officials feeling left out of the loop.

A long-awaited map designating what roads are legal to drive with motorized vehicles in the Smith River National Recreation Area was recently released, and it angered both off-highway vehicle enthusiasts and some of the county’s leaders, who vented some of that anger at a Wednesday meeting with Forest Service officials.

And the Forest Service has decided to re-evaluate the map, which will give county officials and the public another chance for input.

Until the re-evaluation process is complete, and an updated Motor Vehicle Use Map (MVUM) is released, the current one is still in effect.

On Wednesday, at a meeting of county officials and Forest Service representatives, county officials expressed frustration over the recently released MVUM.

The frustration stems from a feeling that the map overly restricts access for motorized vehicle enthusiasts in the Smith River NRA, and that the Forest Service ignored the county’s input.

County officials said they were involved at the beginning of the process, thought they knew approximately what the map would look like, and then were shocked at the actual result.

“If the map you released was like the one you brought to my office and laid out on the floor, it wouldn’t be too bad,” said Hemmingsen to District Ranger Mary Kay Vandiver. “Then we get this map which is essentially blank.”

One issue that was resolved at the meeting stemmed from a county misunderstanding over what the recently released MVUM actually represented.

Because of historic use patterns, and the fact that road closures had never been made official or enforced, the misconception has been that nearly 200 miles of old mining roads were open to motor vehicle use, which, according to the Forest Service, has never been true.

“Even though we didn’t enforce it, this was the map,” said Six Rivers National Forest Supervisor Tyrone Kelley.

While Forest Service representatives tried to reassure county officials that they weren’t intentionally left out of the loop, they also hastened to add that the push to re-evaluate the current MVUM was not due to the county’s frustration.

“What we’ve done is decided to go back and develop a new proposal with public collaboration,” said Forest Service Public Information Officer Julie Ranieri. “Not because of the county’s complaint, but because the original two decisions were appealed.”

The issue revolves around the 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.

After completing a roads analysis, District Ranger Mary Kay Vandiver released a 2005 decision that was appealed by environmental groups because the decision included roads in an area that had previously been designated roadless.

The appeal was upheld by a Forest Service review board, and Vandiver then came up with a new decision that restricted access much more. The new decision was then appealed successfully by pro-access groups.

“We are now inviting the county and stakeholders back to the table,” Ranieri said.

The NRA is inviting the county and other stakeholders to be part of a conflict resolution effort being conducted by an outside federal environmental conflict resolution agency.

“What people don’t realize is that compromises have to be made on all sides,” Vandiver said recently. “We want to bring all the stakeholders to the table and try to come to an agreement that makes everyone as happy as possible.”