A.    Off-road vehicle use in the National Park System where it has not been legally authorized is a widespread and serious problem.  To combat this problem, under the Settlement, the National Park Service ("NPS") will commence a pilot program in 10 National Parks.

(1)    The NPS will develop - and distribute throughout the National Park System - a brochure about the unauthorized use of off-road vehicles.  The brochure will explain that off-road driving is prohibited in the National Park System, except in a few legally authorized places.  The brochure will explain the damage caused by off-road vehicles and the reason those vehicle are generally prohibited.

(2)    Each pilot park will undertake a local outreach program to those who could help reduce or eliminate illegal use in the park, such as local gateway community leaders, off-road vehicle user groups, local media, U.S. attorney's offices and friends groups.  The program will seek to educate them about problems experienced with off-road vehicles in the park, the harm that has been or could be caused and the reason for the rules prohibiting that use.  The park will seek the input of those audiences about ways of improving compliance and how those audiences could help in doing so.

(3)    A critical deficiency in the current enforcement system relating to off-road vehicles is the fact that, when violators are apprehended, citations issued by NPS law enforcement officers are for minimal fines, often as little as $25 and almost never more than $100.  This is simply not enough of a deterrence to stop illegal off-road vehicle use.  The park management is to work with local federal prosecutors and courts to raise the level of such fines to create a true deterrence.

(4)    The NPS will conduct training programs for park officials concerning the remedies and procedures available under the National Park System Resource Protection Act, 16 U.S.C. § 19jj.  Under that Act, if a person causes damage to the resources of the National Park System, that person is liable to pay for restoration and other corrective actions.  But that remedy has only rarely been used by the NPS against persons who cause damage using off-road vehicles.  Greater use of this power could deter violators.

(5)    One of the deficiencies in the NPS's current procedures for dealing with off-road vehicle violations is that its reporting system does not separately identify incidents that involve off-road vehicles, and it does not capture the resulting resource damages.  The NPS will correct those deficiencies in a new case reporting system now being developed.  This change will be implemented throughout the National Park System.

(6)    The NPS will conduct training programs for park officials concerning the importance of law enforcement personnel's reporting off-road vehicle resource damage to appropriate resource management specialists and the importance of coordinating follow-up action with those specialists.  The training program is also required to teach effective procedures for accomplishing those tasks.

(7)    The park will post on its website information about actual off-road vehicle use in the park and the damage it has caused, including photographs.  This posting is designed to work in conjunction with the outreach program to provide an ongoing reminder of the restrictions against off-road vehicle use and graphic illustration of the damage they cause.

The effectiveness of the pilot program will be evaluated on the third anniversary of the settlement.  A copy of the NPS's written evaluation will be given to the Plaintiffs.  Based on that evaluation, the NPS is to consider expanding the programs to other units of the National Park System, after making changes the NPS believes are needed to improve effectiveness.

These are the units chosen for the pilot program:

• Big Thicket National Preserve, Texas
• Death Valley National Park, California
• Joshua Tree National Park, California
• New River Gorge National River and Gauley River National Recreation Area, West Virginia
• Ozark National Scenic Riverways, Missouri
• Parashant National Monument, Arizona
• Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, California
• Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Michigan
• St. Croix National Scenic River, Wisconsin
• Wupatki National Monument, Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument and Walnut Canyon, Arizona

B.    The NPS has acknowledged that Glen Canyon National Recreation Area and Cape Lookout National Seashore have been permitting off-road vehicles in violation of law.  The NPS will diligently work to bring those units into compliance.  Meanwhile, the NPS must comply with an interim management plan for regulating, monitoring and enforcing off-road vehicle use in those units.  Within fours years of the date of the settlement, the NPS will either terminate authorized use in those units or adopt special regulations to legally authorize such use after conducting required environment impact statements.  If the NPS fails to do so, Plaintiffs are free to renew their legal challenge to such use.  If the NPS adopts such special regulations, Plaintiffs are free to challenge those regulations.

C.    In any unit in which the NPS legally authorizes the use of off-road vehicles, the following steps must be taken:

(1)    Many units have recognized that off-road vehicle use causes significant damage, but have taken no steps to address the damage by restricting off-road vehicle use, as required by Executive Order 11644 as amended.  Also, a number of units have recognized that they simply do not have the manpower needed to control the mushrooming volume of off-road vehicle users.  The NPS headquarters will send a memorandum periodically to the superintendents of all units which authorize off-road vehicle use reminding those superintendents that they have the power to terminate, restrict or impose conditions on off-road vehicle use in the unit.  The appropriateness of using that authority will be noted when there are concerns about resource damage arising from the off-road vehicle use or when there are concerns about the adequacy of the unit's staffing to monitor and manage off-road vehicle users.  This part of the settlement is designed to provide political support for superintendents to encourage them to make use of the powers they have under those circumstances.

(2)    Currently, there is too little information available about the restrictions on the use of off-road vehicles in units that authorize them, such as restrictions to particular routes.  Therefore, the settlement requires those units to publish on their websites a map showing where such use is authorized and where it is prohibited, as well as the text of the applicable regulations and restrictions.  Notices and maps must also be appropriated displayed.

(3)    The NPS will consider the utility of a permit system for managing off-road vehicle use as a means of enforcing rules and regulations.  Where a permit system is used, the suspension or termination of a permit would provide an enforcement tool for the NPS.

D.    Amistad National Recreation Area and Big South Fork Recreation Area have in the recent past permitted off-road vehicle use without complying with legal requirements.  They have now terminated such authorizations.  However, if the NPS proposes to authorize such use in those units in the future, the settlement requires that the NPS first duly adopt a special regulation authorizing such use, after completing the required environmental impact statement.

E.    The Plaintiffs had sought in their 1999 rulemaking petition to convince the NPS to adopt a definition of "off-road vehicle usage" for the purpose of administering its off-road vehicle restrictions and regulations.  The absence of an effective definition of that term creates a large loophole in the administration of current restrictions.  Unit management can simply claim that a route or trail is a "road" and that the restrictions on off-road vehicle use do not prevent those vehicles on those routes or trails.  The NPS never responded to that portion of the petition.  The NPS has agreed to consider that part of the petition now and to respond to it.

F.    The NPS must report to the Plaintiffs on the status of its performance on the first anniversary of the date of the settlement.  In addition, the NPS must report to the Plaintiffs the status of its compliance at Glen Canyon and Cape Lookout on each one-year anniversary of the settlement.