Below is an article I wrote for the Pioneer Newspaper located in Snowflake Arizona. I have long been an avocate of access to our public lands for recreation, camping, hunting, and natural resource development. In the last 15 years we have been on the fast track to locking up our lands being driven by the goals of the radical environemntal groups whoes organizations make huge dollars scaring and manipulating the public with mis-information and faulty science.
I love the out doors and want to protect our environement but I have learned over the last 15 years that excessive regualtions and laws do very little for the environmental but destroy our economy and individual liberties. Our Forest Service is reviewing its Transportaion Plan and writing new rules. This means that access to our forestlands will he highly impacted. At the end of the article is an address where you can write and send your public comments.
By Sylvia Tenney Allen
HEBER* Does your family like to camp, hunt or take a long drive through the forest on back roads looking for wildlife? According to the Citizen’s for Multiple Land Use and Access that is about to change with the new rules being implemented by the Forest Service, Travel Management Plan.
At a recent Republican meeting, held October 23rd, in Heber/Overgaard the guest speakers were from the Citizen’s for Multiple Land Use and Access (CMLUA) located in Eagar Arizona. They formed a year ago to get involved with the public comment process required by NEPA when government agencies are changing their management plans.
Doyle Shamley, president of the organization gave the background on the Forest Service Travel Management Rules. Before Chief Forester Dale Bosworth left as head of the Forest Service he had worked with private and environmental groups to redo the Forest Service Travel Plans. The Morse Udall Foundation paid for studies to be done and to rewrite the rules and definitions of what a road or trail is. Bosworth directed all 177 forest districts to make the changes.
Many of the environmental organizations were involved with these meetings. It has long been the goal of these groups to close access to our public lands. On the Wildlands Project website they share information and work with federal agencies on how to demolish forest roads.
“Fifty to eighty percent of forest roads will be closed and they will still control what is left,” said Shamley. “In the news release sent out by the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest on October 17th is says, ‘The rules for game retrieval, fuelwood gathering, and dispersed camping opportunities are proposed to change with an emphasis on the protection of natural and heritage resources…’ read Shamley. Continuing on, ‘Where it is appropriate and necessary, the designations will also specify seasons of use, type of vehicles permitted, and types of use for those roads, trails and areas.’
Forest Service notice in the Federal register, Oct 10, 2007 Dept of Agriculture, Forest Service, page 57514-57517 also listed these items:
“Removal of lighter forest products such as plants, plant parts, dry cones, grass seed, herbs and edibles, mistletoe and mushrooms would not be generally authorized.”
“This proposal would allow cross-country motorized game retrieval up to l mile from a designated route of legally harvested elk and mule deer…”
“Motorized cross country retrieval of other game animals would not be allowed…”
“In addition, hundreds of miles of currently used closed roads…would no longer be open to motorized use..”
“Unauthorized new routes would not be authorized.”
“This proposal would allow dispersed camping off designated routes, in certain areas, under certain conditions. In all cases where dispersed camping is allowed, motorized vehicles would be restricted to within 300’ from the centerline of designated routes…”
Shamley says this is an issue of freedom, “our most basic liberty is the freedom to move and to have access to these lands where we live. If we shove 2,000,000 visitors a year into 20 percent of our forest what kind of damage will that do? If you close it off visitors will just stay home. Our communities are depended on recreation use dollars our economy will be impacted.”
“No economic impact studies have been done by the Forest Service,”
Shamley pointed out, “this is not a law passed in Congress this was never heard on the floor of the house but is being done through admistrative directives from unelected bureaucrats.”
“By closing roads you have made wilderness and only Congress can designate wilderness areas.”
The Citizens groups has generated close to 6000 comments from people and say they have not seen any of these comments reflected in the new road maps that have been presented for closure. Yet environmental groups comments are requesting that at least 50% of the roads to be closed and that is being reflected in the new road maps the Forest Service is showing at the public hearings.
Another huge concern of CMLUA is wild land fires. How will forest fires be fought if there is no access to get to where the fires first start? They will be left to burn. It will also be the end of harvesting trees for our sawmills and the stewardship contracts will soon dry up. “If roads are closing then new roads surely will not be built.”
“The Forest Service intends to enforce these closures with a $5000 fine if you camp in an area or travel on any roads that have been closed,” said Shamley.
“ATV users will be shoved into very small areas and on some maps not at all,” this was a concern to the group.
The group said that all they have left is the courts. Although it will take hundreds of thousands of dollars to litigate the group feels that access to our lands and to have the freedom of movement within the forest is worth whatever the cost. “It just isn’t right,” replied Shamley.
Public Meetings all start at 5:00 to 8:00 pm:
November 6, Tuesday, Blue Ridge Junior High School Cafeteria, 1200 West White Mountain Blvd.
November 7, Wednesday, Eagar Town Hall, 22 west 2nd St.
November 8, Thursday, Clifton Community Center, Clifton Train Depot, 100 N. Coronado Blvd, US Hwy 191.
November 13, Tuesday, Rim Country Senior Center, Overgaard, 2171 B. Street.
November 14th, Wednesday, Alpine Community Center, 42661 US Hwy 180.
You have until January 3rd, 2008 to get your written comments to:
Apache Sitgreaves National Forests
Attn: Plan Revision Team
P.O. Box 640
Springerville, Arizona 85938
Filed under: Our Forests | Tagged: apache-sitgreaves national forest, camping, CMLUA, congress, Dale Bosworth, Doyle Dhamley, eager arizona, economy, elk, fishing, forest service, hunting, individual freedoms, mule deer, natural resource development, NEPA, Pioneer Newspaper, public lands, radical environmental groups, republican, Snowflake arizona, sylvia tenney allen, wildlands project
