Blog Archives for August, 2008

Last week a Wyoming judge overturned the Clinton roadless rule once again. Today, the New York Times editorialized that, "There ought to be a roadless law." It's a short editorial, but it does argue that leaving this to the courts isn't going to solve anything - it's time for Congress to take action and pass the National Forest Roadless Area Conservation Act.

The Salt Lake Tribune recently publshed this editorial regarding the Richfield BLM's newly proposed management plan: "No management plan: BLM makes gift of land to off-roaders, drillers"

It was way back in 1997 that the Clinton Administration first began a process to protect roadless areas from new road construction.  After a long public process, with hundreds of public meetings, Clinton signed the "roadless rule" a few days before leaving office in 2001.  Since then, the rule has been referred to as a last minute approach to protect roadless areas, and it has been caught up in politics and litigation.

The Washington Post published an article today that examines the growing violence of off-road vehicle recreationists. The article ­ 'Off-Road Rage' Climbs as Trails Get More Crowded ­ sparked an interesting discussion in the comment thread. One comment in particular caught my attention. A hiker going by the handle “tharmon” wrote, "My solution to this issue has been to confine my hiking trips to places where vehicles of any kind cannot go."

The Arizona State Parks Trail User Survey is currently underway. Log on and take the survey. Quiet users can help set priorities for trail management in Arizona, and to help determine how a portion of the Heritage Fund and the OHV Recreation Fund should be spent. You know the off-road vehicle users will be flocking to the survey.

The Kitsap Sun published a great article Saturday about road removal and other watershed restoration efforts in the Skokomish watershed in Washington. The opening line in the article reads as follows:     "The Skokomish River is sick, experts say, and intensive care is needed for any hope of recovery."