July 23, 2010

	Featured Story: Legacy Roads & Trails: A Two-Year Evaluation Two years ago Congress set out to invest in fixing the watershed problems caused by Forest Service roads by creating the Legacy Roads and Trails Remediation Initiative...so is it working? We felt it was time to take a closer look at the program’s successes and challenges.
	News: Colorado revamps moto-trails grant program Depending on who’s talking, off-road vehicle use in Colorado is either part of a multi-use recreational utopia on public lands, or a looming disaster for wildlife and other natural resources.
	News: Nesting loggerhead turtle run over on beach (VA) Park officials on Ocracoke Island say a nesting female loggerhead turtle was hit and killed by an off-road vehicle earlier this week. Check out this related opinion piece.
	News: Kootenai timber sales halted by grizzly bears (MT) Three Kootenai National Forest logging projects have been halted because they failed to properly analyze how the work would affect a dwindling population of grizzly bears there.
	News: Arizona curtails wildlife crossings Arizona is putting the brakes on some of its wildlife road-crossing projects aimed at making sure cars don't collide with elk, deer and other animals. Environmentalists say this reverses years of work to make highways safer for both people and wildlife.
	News: Court ruling backs ban on watercraft (FL, MS) Gulf Islands National Seashore officials are reviewing a judge's ruling last week that the National Park Service violated federal law in allowing unlimited personal watercraft use in the Seashore. Here's another opinion on the issue.
	News: Motorized ban lifted for some roads and trails (MT) U.S. District Judge Sam Haddon lifted bans and seasonal restrictions on motorized travel on 40 trails and roads in the Lewis and Clark NF after the agency and motorized user groups negotiated a compromise in their legal battle over the plan. Read Adam's blog about this issue.
	Opinion: The Forest Service's Fatal Flaw Oedipus Rex, Macbeth, Willy Loman, Tony Soprano, and … the Forest Service? A diverse group with a common theme-tragic or fatal flaws...it seems to me that the Forest Service may have a fatal flaw when it comes to implementing their new restoration vision: accountability.
	Opinion: Wild Rivers Not for Vehicles (AZ) At 51 miles long, from the hot springs just below Pleasanton to the highway bridge at Clifton, the majority of the river represents the best example of a place that should be protected from ORV's in either the Gila or Apache National Forests...or so you'd think.
	Resource: Road RIPorter Volume 15.2, Summer Solstice 2010 The 2010 Summer Solstice issue of our quarterly journal, The Road RIPorter, is available online now! Read about how the oil spill in the Gulf relates to our work, what we're doing in the field, program updates & more...