Nor-Cal route designation meetings

[cougarfreak]

I know many of you just like to wheel, and rely on others to do the hard work of keeping your trails open for you.

THIS MUST CHANGE!!!! THE EL DORADO NAT'L FOREST IS UNDER FIRE!!!!! READ THE FOLLOWING AND DO SOMETHING, OR DONT COMPLAIN WHEN IT IS ALL GONE. THIS IS THE REAL DEAL!!!!!!

ALL who ride in the Eldorado National Forest – Extremely Urgent

PLEASE make sure you attend at least one of these meetings. It is of EXTREME importance because they will be held AFTER the Draft Environmental Impact Statement is released and DURING the 45 day public comment period.

Time is of the essence!!!! The 45 day period will begin on July 20th and END on September 4th, 2007

PLEASE pass the word on. Post on a your club/community BB’s and any place else you think will be effective.

If you are in a club, ask your entire club to attend at least one of these meetings. We need a VERY large presence at these last 5 meetings.

Please refer to the Land-Use section to become aware of the ways you can help in this FINAL step of the Route Designation Process in the Eldorado National Forest.

Thank you

The Eldorado National Forest website can be found here… http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/eldorado/pro...te/index.shtml

7/24 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm Public Meeting Draft EIS Release Placerville - Marshall Building El Dorado County Fairgrounds, 100 Placerville Drive, Placerville, CA 95667.

7/25 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm Public Meeting Draft EIS Release Jackson - Civic Center, 33 Broadway, Jackson, CA 95642.

7/26 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm Public Meeting Draft EIS Release Markleeville - Turtle Rock Community Center, 17300 State Route 89, Markleeville, CA 96120.

7/31 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm Public Meeting Draft EIS Release Folsom - Lake Natomas Inn, 702 Gold Lake Drive, Folsom CA 95630. To be confirmed.

8/2 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm Public Meeting Draft EIS Release Concord - Pleasant Hill Recreation Center 320 Civic Drive, Pleasant Hill, CA 94523.

[petescoffee]

HERE IS THELINK TO THE DRAFT EIS http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/eldorado/pro...is/index.shtml IT IS A VERY LARGE DOCUMENT AND NOT DIAL UP FRIENDLY TO DOWN LOAD. YOU CAN ORDER A CD OF THE DOCUMENT BY FOLLOWING THE DIRECTIONS ON THE WEB PAGE.

as of July 17, 2007

[cougarfreak]

Link not work. Here it is corrected:

http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/eldorado/pro...is/index.shtml

[cougarfreak]

Everyone, educate yourselves here:
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=596279

[cougarfreak]

Print and pass these out!!!

[cougarfreak]

I'm curious about a universal letter. We should gather and come up with one to raise our chances of having the most letters put in by Sept. as possible. The less work the masses need to do the more likely they are of sending something in. I think one thing we all need to know is how do we "be specific" about trails we want on the map? Are they looking for trail name, road # (if there is one designated to every trail), GPS coordinates... Has anyone asked this question yet? I'll ask tonite in Concord and post here if it gets answered. This would be key to having any chance of getting trails put back on the map.

[surfpig]

Originally Posted by cougarfreak

I'm curious about a universal letter. We should gather and come up with one to raise our chances of having the most letters put in by Sept. as possible. The less work the masses need to do the more likely they are of sending something in. I think one thing we all need to know is how do we "be specific" about trails we want on the map? Are they looking for trail name, road # (if there is one designated to every trail), GPS coordinates... Has anyone asked this question yet? I'll ask tonite in Concord and post here if it gets answered. This would be key to having any chance of getting trails put back on the map.

That is a LONG list of closures, even for Option B! I'm just now beginning to take a look at it... I have a feeling that they do want specifics as much as possible. I spent a good amount of time last night reading the FAQs they have on the website, and was disheartened to see that many of the answers to questions concerning access were "beyond the scope of the study". It looks like they're just going to close trails anyway and sort it out later...

My main concern is this: if there's more OHV travel impacting the environment in the NF, isn't closing off a lot of the existing trails going to concentrate that impact into a much smaller area? And isn't that added impact simply going to lead to closure of whatever remaining trails they keep open?

Lose-lose...

[Shipwreck]

Originally Posted by cougarfreak

snip ... I think one thing we all need to know is how do we "be specific" about trails we want on the map? Are they looking for trail name, road # (if there is one designated to every trail), GPS coordinates... Has anyone asked this question yet? I'll ask tonite in Concord and post here if it gets answered. This would be key to having any chance of getting trails put back on the map.

I was hoping to ask this same question at the Concord meeting tonight.

I assume we need to be very specific in regards to which road we would like to be removed from the closure. The one thing that has not been addressed is how much detail and supporting evidence do we need to provide to back up our request for change in route designation. Again, I assume that just saying that you don't want a route closed bcause it has been historically used for recreation or that it limits access to the forest is not going to be enough.

The complete list of routes along with their maintenence level and usage for each proposed plan can be found in Appendix F of the DEIS. They are described according to road number; ie: 07N02F You have to cross reference the number to the route designation map.

As you probably know, all of the DEIS chapters and maps can be downloaded here:
http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/eldorado/pro...is/index.shtml

Hope to see you and many more MUDers at the meeting tonight.
-Craig

[surfpig]

Originally Posted by Shipwreck

As you probably know, all of the DEIS chapters and maps can be downloaded here:
http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/eldorado/pro...is/index.shtml

Hope to see you and many more MUDers at the meeting tonight.
-Craig

The FS is giving the maps out for free, too. They also have the route #'s on them...

[chicago]

I was gonna try and make the Pleasant Hill meeting tonight till i realized that it is almost in San Fransisco...From Reno, that is just too far of a hike!
Please, if you will, post up the the events of the meeting!

From all that I have read concerning this issue, it seems as if Surfpig is right...They have their minds set!
I sure hope Im wrong though...
I had thought the same thing that you had mentioned...the compounded effects down the road, as a result of the closures.
Im really curious to hear about how they will respond to this!

Chicago

[surfpig]

Originally Posted by chicago

I was gonna try and make the Pleasant Hill meeting tonight till i realized that it is almost in San Fransisco...From Reno, that is just too far of a hike!
Please, if you will, post up the the events of the meeting!

From all that I have read concerning this issue, it seems as if Surfpig is right...They have their minds set!
I sure hope Im wrong though...
I had thought the same thing that you had mentioned...the compounded effects down the road, as a result of the closures.
Im really curious to hear about how they will respond to this!

Chicago

I think if a LOT of people write comments voicing this concern, it may have an effect...

(I hope)

[cougarfreak]

The meeting wasn't as bad as I figured it'd be, but it still wasn't Woo Hoo. I heard between 420-470 people in attendance, and a pair of Anti-Access-I-like-my-quiet types voiced their opinion. On the positive side there were many questions/comments mentioned that help our attempt to put routes on the map.

1 in particular dealt with writing in to the FS and tell them to strongly consider Alternate "A" instead of their proposed "D" then close on an as needed shown by scientific proof basis.

If it's resources they want/are lacking, offer assistance. Give the forest service your name and address and let them know you'll volunteer your time to help keep the trails open.

Tell them you want the proposed seasonal closures to be based on an "as needed" basis instead of a hard Nov-April

Their Stand (FS) is "It's a dynamic system and trails will be considered for adding or subtraction to or from the map on an annual basis". So, According to them, "Closed" isn't necessarily forever (remember, positive thinking).

Be specific about where your route is that you want added (FS site has route numbers for most of the trails. Those that don't have route numbers, use GPS coordinates and/or include a hilited spot on a map to indicate SPECIFICALLY which routes you want put back on the map). The better your "Why" is the more power it can punch, but a simple "favorite wheeling spot" is apparently an acceptable reason.

Send your comments to:
A) Ramiro Villalvazo, Forest Supervisor
Attn: ENF Travel Management DEIS
Eldorado National Forest
100 Forni Road
Placerville, CA 95667

B) via e-mail in plain text (.txt), rich text (.rtf), or Word (.doc) To:
comments-pacificsouthwest-eldorado@fs.fed.us

In your mail subject line include:
ENF Travel Management DEIS

Eldorado Travel Management Hotline is 530-295-5666

[chicago]

Thank you for posting up the result!
It doesnt sound as bleak as I would have expected, based off of the other comments that Ive read about it!
Sounds like there may be SOME hope!

Chicago

[cougarfreak]

WITH THE FS UNDER COURT ORDER, WE HAVE UNTIL SEPTEMBER 4TH TO GET IN OUR COMMENTS ON ALL CALIFORNIA FOREST ROUTES WE WANT TO KEEP ON THE MAPS, NOT JUST ELDO!!!!! We need to get ahold of all Forest maps and look at routes in other forests as well.

You can find the route numbers for Eldorado NF under app.F Alt.D routes and cross reference them to map 12 here:
http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/eldorado/projects/...eis/index.shtml

All of California's National forests are listed here: A similar form to the one below can be sent to any of the National Forests whose addresses can be found on their respective web sites.
http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/forests.html

for Eldorado Forest: PRINT THIS OUT, FILL IT OUT, AND SEND IT IN!!!!

[chicago]

THANK YOU

and thanks for the updates!

Chicago

[petescoffee]

Record Crowd In Sf Bay Area Says National Forest Trail Plan Is Flawed

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BLUERIBBON COALITION, INC
NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Don Amador
Phone: 925.625.6287
Email: brdon@sharetrails.org
Date: August 6, 2007

RECORD CROWD IN SF BAY AREA SAYS NATIONAL FOREST TRAIL PLAN IS FLAWED

PLEASANT HILL, CA (Aug. 2) - A record crowd of off-road recreationists and public land users objected to a federal trail plan that threatens to close 75% of off-highway vehicle (OHV) routes on forest lands in the Sierra Nevada. On August 2, over 350 concerned citizens attended a public meeting in Pleasant Hill, California, to review the newly released Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for motorized travel management on the Eldorado National Forest.

Members of the OHV community spoke up in strong protest to the Forest Service's proposed plan to close over 1,000 miles of popular jeep roads and dirt-bike trails.
Trail enthusiasts stated that many of their favorite routes in the remote backcountry would be closed if the Forest Service follows through with this draft plan.

Don Amador, Western Representative for the BlueRibbon Coalition, a national trail recreation advocacy group, stated, "This is certainly the largest OHV access-related meeting in California that I have attended since starting with the Coalition in the early 1990s. The record crowd was informed and highly motivated. It is clear they care deeply about their continued access to and active management of federal forest lands. They also understand that the Eldorado National Forest is just the tip of the route planning iceberg."

"For the last few years, the OHV community has shared concerns about the route inventory and designation process in California. We are particularly concerned, after seeing the Eldorado draft plan, with the value the public has received from more than 8 million dollars of state 'green-sticker' OHV trust funds supposedly applied to this effort," Amador concluded.

At present, public comments on the Eldorado DEIS are due on September 4, 2007. The BlueRibbon Coalition has submitted a formal request for the agency to issue a supplemental EIS to address certain errors in the plan. View a copy of this document at http://www.sharetrails.org/uploads/P...L_08.02.07.pdf.

# # #

The BlueRibbon Coalition is a national recreation group that champions responsible use of public and private lands, and encourages individual environmental stewardship. It represents over 10,000 individual members and 1,200 organization and business members, for a combined total of over 600,000 recreationists nationwide. 1-800-258-3742. www.sharetrails.org

[450 DUDE]

Thanks for the update.



ken

[chicago]

X2!

Chicago

[70yota]

Hi Everyone,
This is a very important cause.
I'm a web developer and have donated time and server resources to auto generate an e-mail to the appropriate party as well as record electronic signatures for the petition.
The Contra Costa Jeepers and other well know 4x4 organizations are sponsoring this petition.
This letter is pre-written and lists the trails that will be closed.
Your e-mail address will be keep private and stored for signature verification if necessary.

Please take the time to check out the site and sign the letter.
Please pass the link on and hopefully we can keep these great trails open.

the site url:http://www.preserveourtrails.com

NOTE: we are finalizing the letter and will enable the final letter portion sometime on the 24th. In the meantime please sign in and confirm. I will back send the letters.