As part of their forestwide transportation plan, Inyo National Forest officials have issued a temporary order that bans cross country for motorized vehicles. Starting April 15th, taking your truck, rhino, or motorcycle
off an existing road, track or trail could lead to a citation.

The idea of the ban on cross-country vehicle travel is to stop the creation of new trails, tracks, and roads. Marty Hornick with the Forest Service explained when someone drives off trail it leaves a track. Once people start to follow that track with their vehicles a new trail is created in no time.

The new cross country vehicle ban is part of the long-term transportation plan for the Inyo. The Forest Service has mapped and inventoried every motorized road, track or trail on the Inyo National Forest. The idea is to get public input on which of these roads is used and which should be closed off.

Hornick says that the Forest Service encourages everybody who is interested in the overall transportation plan to look at the maps posted on the Inyo National Forest website. If there is a road that they missed on their inventory you should let them know.

These maps also show which routes are legal when this cross country travel ban goes into effect in April, though Hornick says that if you stay on obvious routes and avoid busting through the brush you wont
get a ticket.

Hornick also notes that the cross country travel ban does not apply to snowmobiles, though the usual rules for snowmobiles still apply.

Inyo National Forest Supervisor Jeff Bailey says that it is important to understand that the order does not close existing routes and that the purpose is to prevent resource damage and the creation of new routes.