With more Forest Service meetings on roads lately, members of the public have reported concerns about more road closures. Marty Hornick, Acting Public Affairs Officer for the Forest Service, assured that the recent two meetings on roads were not about more closures but about restoring already closed roads to a natural state.
Sierra Wave Media heard several times from citizens that they believed the Forest Service would close 480 more roads. Asked specifically about that figure, Hornick said, “We are not closing anything in addition to what was closed under the earlier Travel Management Plan. Hornick said that currently there are three projects proposed to deal with roads closed in 2009.
He said the Forest Service has or will disguise or barricade these roads. He said crews have or will go out to every single route to also see if some of these roads should be opened. He said that so far three additional miles or ten routes will be re-opened. Hornick said, “There are a few small segments closing but we are opening many more based on field reviews.” He repeated that there are no additional closures.
Hornick admitted that he knows some people have misunderstood the intent of the current projects. Feelings do run high over Forest policies to close routes. In fact, some have ripped out barriers placed on closed roads. As more than one resident has said privately, “The Forest Service approach to road closure is terrible.”
Again, the projects about to take place now, according to Mr. Hornick, are about naturalizing already closed roads. More will apparently be discussed about these projects at a meeting of the Mono County Collaborative Planning Team next Thursday, February 28th at 9am at the Town/County Conference Room in Mammoth Lakes at the Minaret Village Mall.
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I kind of hope if sequestration goes through they will quit wasting tax money trying to hide closed roads. What a waste of time and money while the country is supposed to be hurting
Live Free and Ride!!!!!
On with the Sagebrush Rebellion!!!!!
The Forest has no business rehabbing ANY inappropriately closed roads in “Inventoried Roadless Areas” which make up 1/3 of the Inyo. The IRA issue is a debacle that the Forest knows all to well should never have resulted in so many closures! Ask any Forest rep to explain IRA to you and see if they will be honest about it. Doubtful as too onerous to admit and the logic is stunning!
Everyone of the closed roads in IRA were eligible for designation previously and because the Forest was too lazy to take the time to do it, they are now termed “Illegal User Created roads”?? The urban sheep hear that term and automatically think, “the nerve of those rednecks building their own road.”
The vocal minority driven “control all our public lands so that it conforms with the new socialism” agenda fits perfectly with the internal Forest agenda to create inaccessible museum pieces of our public lands. To understand this comfy little arrangement between the enviros and most Forest Staff one must understand that they were all roommates at their uber-liberal colleges while undergoing their Progressive indoctrinations. The chips are heavily stacked against us folks before any public meeting is ever held!!!!
People don’t need 10 ways to get to the same place….if they close 7 out of 10 of roads going to the same place, I’m fine with it….I just wish USFS would enforce the rules…I’m sick and tired of dirt bikers rutting up single track paths that they aren’t suppose to be on. DIrt bikers need their own place to ride..ie. open up the motocross area!!!! and keep them there and out of Shady Rest and other places close to town that mountain bikers ride on. Dirt bikers have to trailer anyway, if they have to trailer out 5 – 10 miles out of town, its not a problem…Mountain bikers should be able to ride close to town without the trails being ruined by dirt bikers…there’s plenty of land for both, but dirt bikers need to accept that their use ruins the use for others, therefore, they need to be limited as to where they can ride….not that they can’t ride, just limited to where.
I’m a avid dirtbiker. We’re headed out in a few hours for the weekend.
I’ll be sure to tear out a few road closed signs while I’m out there.
This is war!
Mark, I think the article clearly states that they are not closing more, but have re opened some trails. I wonder did you take the time to read the whole article or just read part of it .. like the headline.
And open access people wonder why we get ragged on like we do.
What a weekend!
Found a equestrian trail ride going on in our legal ORV area this weekend. I have to question why they would have a trail ride in a popular ORV area on a Saturday? Especially when they can literally ride anywhere else they want.
Then they failed to remove their trail marker ribbons when the ride was over.
After watching closure after closure for the last 40 years, I just don’t care anymore Big Al..
I went to the meeting last night and learned, unexpectedly I must add, that in the Coyote area alone the USFS will be opening approximately 7.1 miles of previously closed roads. Of these roads being opened back up 0.9 mile is for public use. 6.2 miles is for permit use to Southern California Edison only. We were told this is because they (SCE) had previous infrastructure in place and they (USFS) were not aware of SCE need to access. A few of us asked why SCE was given so much access while the public was not afforded the same. No response. In other mapped areas we saw similar additions of roads for other businesses including Pumice Mine Company. I just thought everybody should be aware of our findings and I challenge everybody who enjoys our public land to get involved to stop loss of access.
I agree with your basic idea Sierragrl, but you kind of contradicted yourself, in saying they don’t need 10 roads to get somewhere, if they close 7 out of the 10, then that is cool. But then you say that it upsets you the moto people rut up your mt. bike trails.
Yes I totally understand how moto can really tear up a trail. But you want them on their road to get there, and you have yours to get there. If they close 7 out of the 10 trails then they will be taking your trail as an alternative.
I think even if trails are signed for a specific use, some will take it anyways, even if they are not supposed too. “Some” Some just can not do what is right.
I’m not trying to rag on your idea .. just giving a point of view. I think, that the amount of trails presently out there is not a problem, just, it is how people act that is the problem.
I just want to say thanks to any one that’s trying to keep these roads open. To those who want to protect the dirt, get a life!