Anderson Creek ORV

[lingo]

I do not know how many of you are familiar with Anderson Creek ORV near Blue Ridge, GA. But those of you who are or live in the the area need to be aware that there is going to be a meeting on August 6 in reference to the permanent trail closings.

This is a forwarded message from Dave Logan, President of Friends of Anderson Creek. Please read the entire message for information about the August 6 meeting and directions to the Forsyth County Public Library in Cumming, GA. Hope to see some of you there.

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Hi folks,

Here’s the latest information about the Anderson Creek OHV trail system. Ranger Alan Polk has decided to close the OHV trails at Anderson Creek.

Based on previous Emails, this should not surprise many of you. The Friends of Anderson Creek organization was founded to cooperatively work with the Forest Service as a Volunteer Partner in order to repair and reopen these trails. Unfortunately, after studying the NEPA environmental survey results, Ranger Polk has decided not to re-open these trails. http://www.andersoncreek.org/

The Scoping letter for this proposed action will be issued in the next few days. If you’ve subscribed with the Forest Service, you may get a letter in the mail announcing this. It will also be announced in a local newspaper in Blue Ridge, GA. It may appear here: http://www.fs.fed.us/conf/welcome.htm

There will be a 60 day public comment period following the announcement. Public comments are designed to allow the public to offer new ideas or solutions that the Ranger may not be aware of. It is not a popularity contest in which the group that makes the most noise wins.

So chaining ourselves to a tree won’t work. ;-) As we saw, the rally for Rich Mountain didn’t work either.

Once the Ranger has heard from the public, he will consider his options again and issue a Decision Notice. Once the Decision Notice is issued, it’s final.

Stefan Roth and I have asked Ranger Polk to come to Atlanta to meet with the 4WD community to explain why he feels he needs to close the Anderson Creek trails.

He will have his deputy Ranger, Tina Tilley, and possibly an OHV specialist there too.

I spoke to Tina Tilley a few times today and she confirmed that they will visit us on Saturday, August 6th at 11AM in the Forsyth County Public Library in Cumming.

Here is a link for the directions to the library.

http://www.forsyth.public.lib.ga.us/...ing_branch.htm

I think it is important to respectfully show the Rangers that we care about the OHV trails in their care. Ranger Polk also manages the Beasley Knob trails, as well as several ATV trail systems. A good turn out will give them an idea of how big our 4WD community is and that we want to protect trail access for full size 4WD vehicles.

Folks, please mention this meeting at your July Club meetings in an attempt to get a good turn out.

Please also keep in mind that the Forest Service regularly monitors our web sites and forums. Stefan and I have seen direct quotes and pictures from the Southern Jeeps web site at Forest Service meetings. On-line bitching in forums will not help our cause. ;-)

In order to keep the meeting to a reasonable length of time, you may want to come up with a short list of questions / comments for the Rangers. In addition, if time runs out, there is the option to write to the Rangers during the Public Comment period.

Thanks for caring and spreading the message about losing the Anderson Creek trails.

Dave Logan

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Anyone who can attend please do so this is a beautiful area and is one of the few good stock to mild build trails in the area.

Thank you in advance
Mike
Georgia Cruisers

[CruisinGA]

Got the email today.

Definatly going to try and make the meeting.

I got to run part of Anderson Creek through the back entrance from Amicalola Falls one time right after I got my cruiser. It would be nice to run it again sometime.

[Trevor]

I'll miss Anderson Creek, too. It was one of the few trails in the area that I could wheel my stock Cruiser.

[Trevor]

By the way, is the NEPA report available to the public?

[lingo]

Originally Posted by Trevor

By the way, is the NEPA report available to the public?

I don't know. Jim or Phil would probably be able to hook you up if you were that interested.

mike

[k9crazy]

Since Anderson Creek has still not been officially closed, we are taking another crack at it.

This time we are going to try to work with the USFS to see if there is a way that we can work with the USFS, the adjacent landowners, and the environmental groups to come to some sort of a compromise.

Wish us luck and I'll post up as we learn more.

[k9crazy]

Long awaited update. We (SFWDA) have a meeting with the USFS today to discuss the much anticipated Environmental Assessment (EA) that has been "underway" since the temporary closure all those years ago.

I'll update the thread after the meeting.

[LDowney]

Heather,
Received a letter from the FS the other day on Anderson Creek. Here is the link to pdf copy of the letter that the FS has posted (http://www.fs.fed.us/conf/sopa/documents/2007_Anderson_EA_Letter_for_Comments.pdf) . The preferred option is to close all trails in Anderson Creek per Alternative 2. However, they are accepting comments from the public on this decision until 30Jan2008. This does not look good because this is the same legal team that closed Rich Mountain and is now attacking Tellico, correct? (Emory law school funded by Ted Turner's endowment)

Thanks

[k9crazy]

Yep, Larry, the EA is out. I have had a chance to review it and my take is that the issues at Anderson Creek are not that sensitive and that if the FS wanted, they could have a viable, sustainable OHV area. The key is that they don't want it and they don't want to maintain it.

We need to start writing letters and making comments...