By Saul
Hubbard
The Register-Guard
Florence,
Ore. - The webs of trails that border vast expanses
of open sand in sections of the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area slice
through woods, shrubbery and beachgrass.
Some of the trails are wide and well-established. Others are
narrow-just 4 or 5 feet wide-or have been reclaimed by nature, having fallen
out of favor with their main users: drivers of all-terrain vehicles and other
motorized off-highway vehicles.
OHV users have ridden many of these trails-which, in some
spots are so dense they resemble spiderwebs in aerial photos-for decades.
During that time, the area has won a national reputation as a premier West
Coast dune riding spot.
In the winter, the trails are often quiet. But the rest of
the year they're alive with the whine and roar of OHVs.
And technically, according to federal management plans
dating back to at least 1994, OHV use of the vast majority of these trails is
illegal, banned because of fears that the riding trashes the environment, and
in order to let other people enjoy the public land in different ways.
For nearly two decades, the U.S. Forest Service, the agency
that manages the dunes, hasn't enforced the restrictions. Forest Service
officials say that's because they had more pressing priorities in regulating
the areas that are legally open to OHVs.
In 2003, the agency banned alcohol on the dunes. In 2005, it
corralled overnight campers into 133 so-called "sand camps," at which a limited
number of campers and vehicles can stay, ending years of camping free-for-alls.
Now, after 3.5 years of work with stakeholders, the Forest
Service is nearing the end of its process to determine which of the many
illegal trails it will designate as legal, and which it will close.
The agency released drafts of five alternatives this fall,
and public comments on the proposals have poured in, to the tune of 1,200 in three
months.
The issue has deeply divided Oregonians and others who enjoy
the dunes. OHV riders are furious, saying the federal government is taking away
their long-established rights. Environmental advocates, meanwhile, criticize
the agency for backing away from its 1994 plan.
Jerry Ingersoll, the supervisor of the coastal Siuslaw National Forest, is expected to make a
final decision this year, potentially as soon as this spring. At that point,
the Forest Service's "laissez faire" attitude to the trails would end,
officials say. Barriers and hard-to-miss signage would go up to shut the
trails. The agency would beef up the enforcement staff. It would then issue
warnings, and later, tickets, to violators.
The fights with OHV users over the alcohol ban and camping
restrictions were contentious, but the ferociousness of the tussle over the
trail closures is almost unprecedented, said Frank Davis, a planner at the Siuslaw National Forest.
Indeed, because the Forest Service's attitude to the trails
has been schizophrenic for so long, both sides of the debate, OHV users and
environmentalists, feel they will lose something in the new plan, regardless of
how it turns out.
For OHVs, Steady
Shrinkage
For OHV users, enforcing the 1994 dunes management plan
means losing both a significant amount of space and what they refer to as "the
trail riding experience"-which they consider a big part of the Oregon Dunes'
draw.
OHV users also see this as part of a wider trend: the
gradual shrinking of the areas where they can ride.
"We're protecting what is left of our space," said Jody
Phillips, president of the advocacy group Save the Riders Dunes.
When the federal government created the recreation area in
1972, OHV users could ride on roughly 91 percent of the 29,000-acre expanse of
sand that's 40 miles long and up to 2 miles wide in places, and runs from Florence to Coos
Bay.
Today, they have full access to 5,930 acres of what is
classified as 10(B) land-mostly open sand. That constitutes roughly 21 percent
of the recreation area. On 10(C) land, where the 1994 Dunes Plan stipulates
that riders use only a handful of designated trails, mainly in order to get to
different sections of 10(B) lands, there are an estimated 135 miles of trails
that are illegal, but that riders use anyway.
Anywhere from 24 percent to 48 percent of those illegal
trails would be declared legal under various revision scenarios.
Environmentalists, meanwhile, want the Forest Service to
stick with the 1994 plan very closely, although they are not stridently
opposing the legalizing of some well-established illegal trails.
"The '94 plan was already a compromise. ... (OHV users) got
what they got," said Doug Heiken, the Eugene-based conservation and restoration
coordinator for Oregon Wild.
Hiking, mushroom picking and other uses that could be
occurring on the 10(C) land are limited because of OHVs on the trails, Heiken
added. It's space that riders "took over without any official decision allowing
them to do so."
Heiken said there are also some "very sensitive" native
plant communities-including lichens and mosses-that could benefit from the
trails being closed to OHVs.
OHV Advocates Push
Back
Since the Forest Service issued its first tangible proposal
in June 2011, the agency, under pressure from OHV advocates and local elected
officials, has edged toward legalizing more and more of the trails.
"People wanted a trail riding experience here," said Mike
Northrup, assistant fisheries program manager for the Siuslaw National Forest.
"We heard that loud and clear."
The Forest Service's initial pitch would have effectively
legalized 33 miles of illicit trails, and enforced closure of 100 miles of
illegal trails. The agency's latest preferred alternative would legalize 51
miles and shut down 84 miles.
It would be very difficult to map and maintain mazes of
newly legalized narrow trails to existing Forest Service standards, so the
agency proposes to open up those trails by converting swaths of mostly
vegetated land from a 10(C) to a 10(B) designation. That would give OHV riders
free rein on that redesignated land to create unlimited new trails, Forest
Service officials acknowledge.
In the agency's latest preferred alternative, 455 acres
would be redesignated this way. Another alternative would open up 966 acres to
full OHV use.
For Heiken and others, that's a huge red flag.
"The more land they propose to re-designate, the more
concerned we're going to be," Heiken said.
The conflicting demands from interest groups have put the
Forest Service in a squeeze.
As an example, Northrup pointed to one small area just south
of Florence that he says riders kept asking to be opened up to OHVs.
"Everyone's saying: `This is a great, quiet spot for kids to
learn,'?" he said. "So I'm thinking `That's the type of situation we're trying
to fix.'"
Then, at a recent open house, a Florence resident approached him about the
same area, Northrup said.
"`Whatever you do, don't open that up,' (the man) said. `I
live right across from there and the noise is terrible,'" Northrup said.
One outcome that the Forest Service is no longer seriously
considering: leaving things the way they have been on the ground for decades,
with no enforcement against the illegal OHV trails.
Issues Left
Unaddressed?
OHV advocates feel Forest Service discussions about the
trail closures have ignored or failed to put enough emphasis several key
issues.
Chief among them is the economic impact of OHV tourism on
the coast. Of the estimated 1.1 million annual visitors to the dunes recreation
area, 650,000 are OHV users. Many of those individuals buy equipment and fuel
at local stores, while spending nights and eating in nearby hotels and
restaurants.
The Lane, Douglas, and Coos
county boards of commissioners recently stressed the financial boost of OHV
activity in letters they sent to the Forest Service.
"That's a huge part of the coastal economy right now," said
Lane County Commissioner Jay Bozievich at a board meeting last week.
Forest Service officials say they aren't downplaying that
impact, but they don't believe the trail closures would change the overall
volume of OHV ridership much. OHV users warned that their numbers would drop
after both the alcohol ban and the camping restrictions, Northrup said, but no
noticeable drop-off occurred in either instance.
"We think a change in the price of gas would have more of an
effect than any (trail closure) alternative we could choose," he said.
The other issue is safety. Serious accidents and minor
collisions occur fairly regularly on the dunes. A smaller area for OHVs to use
means a higher likelihood of accidents, riders say.
The sheriffs of Lane, Douglas and Coos county sent a public
comment to the Forest Service that stresses this concern.
"There are many public safety issues that need to be
accurately shared and discussed," the letter reads.
But the Forest Service's Davis says the dunes are rarely near the
maximum capacity set by the agency of two OHVs per acre of open sand.
"We only approach capacity at big (riding) events," he said.
None of the proposed maps are "believed to be potentially
dangerous to OHV riders, taking into consideration the inherently dangerous
aspects of the activity," reads the Forest Service's draft impact statement for
the project.
"The effects on rider safety of any of the alternatives
being considered ... are essentially unknowable."
Appeals Are Expected
Any decision made by the Siuslaw Forest supervisor can-and
most likely will-be appealed to the agency's regional office in Portland. The
matter could then be appealed to court.
Oregon Wild's Heiken says he isn't "sure what the endgame
will be."
While no local or state government agencies have any direct
power to shape the Forest Service's decision, OHV advocate Phillips says that
won't stop his group from drawing as much attention to the issue as he can.
"We will see the governor on this," he said. "Because in Oregon there are only
two or three things that are huge national draws and this is one of them. ...
We're losing and so is everyone else."
- To view maps of five alternatives proposed by the U.S.
Forest Service, visit: 1.usa.gov/13O3Ahw
The public comment period on Oregon Dunes' OHV Designated
Routes project ends on Jan. 24.
Written comments can be sent:
- By mail to: Jerry Ingersoll, c/o Angie Morris, Recreation
Planner, Siuslaw National Forest, 855 Highway 101, Reedsport, OR 97467
- By fax to: 541-271-6034
- By e-mail to:
comments-pacificnorthwest-siuslaw-centralcoast@fs.fed.us
In written comments, include your name, address, and (if
possible) telephone number; title of the document on which you are commenting;
and specific facts or comments along with supporting reasons that you believe
the responsible official should consider in reaching a decision.
