Trail Partnership Key To Success Of OHV Program In Southern Oregon

Cave Junction, OR – Representatives from several Oregon-based OHV groups and Sharetrails.org/BlueRibbon Coalition (BRC) met with staff from the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest to review the importance of collaboration and partnerships between users and the agency.

Representatives in attendance for the meeting and field trip were from the Curry Citizens for Public Land Access (CCPLA), Oregon Motorcycle Riders Association (OMRA), Pacific Northwest Four Wheel Drive Association (PNW4WDA), Rev Limiter Offroad Racing Club, Motorcycle Riders Association of Medford (MRA) and Sharetrails.org/BRC.

The Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest is approximately 1.8 million acres in size and is home to the McGrew 4WD Trail and other high quality dispersed recreational opportunities which include driving for pleasure on forest roads, OHV use on designated routes, hunting, fishing, sightseeing, mountain biking and camping.

According to the agency Rob MacWhorter, forest supervisor, signed the Final Record of Decision in June 2016, selecting a modified Alternative 5. This decision designated approximately 4,434 miles of roads open to public travel, with 3,082 open to mixed-use that includes both highway-legal and off-highway vehicles. The remaining 1,352 miles of roads are open to highway-legal vehicle use only. This decision also designates 180 miles of trails that allow motorized use.

"I think combination meeting/field trips where users and forest leadership go out and 'kick some dirt' and review travel management prescriptions or concepts in real-time are invaluable," said Don Amador, Western representative for Sharetrails.org/BRC.  

"With declining federal recreation budgets, I think both users and the agency realize that partnerships are the only way that high-value motorized opportunities such as the McGrew Trail will remain viable for future generations of OHV enthusiasts. I think the field trip highlighted the need for a substantive volunteer program on the forest so that current and future OHV trails can be maintained for public use," Amador concluded.