travel management plan

[hayduke.klr07]

anybody looked online yet at the decision and or the maps?  the paper did no justice to the FS.  their headline was "forest service to shrink rideable terrain" or something to that effect.  they could have said, "forest service releases plan for largest FS trail system in america."  great journalism.  that being said......  i think the plan looks pretty good.  700 miles of "trails"  90 miles of singletrack  3500 miles or so of twotrack.  a few relatively big areas of non motorized.  i'm excited for those.  no jackasses hunting them on ATVs.  check out the plan at
http://fs.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsinternet/!ut/p/c4/04_SB8K8xLLM9MSSzPy8xBz9CP0os3gDfxMDT8MwRydLA1cj72BTMwMTAwjQL8h2VAQArb-_RA!!/?ss=110203&navtype=BROWSEBYSUBJECT&navid=130110000000000&pnavid=130000000000000&accessDB=true&position=Project*&groupid=22263&ttype=projectdetail&pname=Black%20Hills%20National%20Forest-%20Projects
one sad note....the 429 is going away.  better ride it while we can.  will be open til august sometime til the plan takes effect.

[hayduke.klr07]

no comments on the TM plan???

[loingrader]

i don't think most people have any concept of how much land, (millions of acres) is being pulled to all recreation and called "wilderness" even though it does not even remotely fit the definition.  all over the u.s. land is being lost to use, by anyone, and even more is being lost to motorized travel.  i like a peaceful stroll as much as the next guy, but calling land with established trails, power lines, etc, wilderness, that i can't even mountain bike thru is pretty crazy.

we are fortunate, spoiled really, at the amazing access we have to trails for motorized and non motorized transportation here in sd.  it is because of a good relationship with the access groups and the natl forest service that help make it happen. 

no one here is really concerned because everyone takes it for granted that we will always have access to thousands of miles of trails, even though the push all over the u.s. (by the powerful, loud, rich, minority) is to lock up lands as wilderness. 

the fs in sd, along with everyone who helped with mapping trails, did an awesome job!

if there is ever a time when the fs wants our help with trail building/maintenence/etc, let us know.  you seem to be pretty on top of this stuff hayduke.

[Sportfaller]

hayduke is our resident FS insider, and a man full of useful knowledge, and full of other "stuff" too .  we better get our 429 fix before august!   

as far as the travel management plan, I think it could have been a LOT worse, and while I dont agree on the OHV sticker requirements, I'll pay my $25 and not complain.  At least as long as the forest service actually reinvests the money into the trail system.  Too many forest service fees vanish never too be seen again.

Overall, the TMP will not change much, the people who abuse the land will continue to bypass gates and closures, create new cross country trails, and bury trucks in the creek.  Their stance is "Lets see them catch me" "There are only 3 FS cops in the black hills, and they cant ride like I can".  The honest tread lightly folks wont see much impact, other than being hassled more.

[fringefan]

 There is a reason Utah, CO, and even the Hills are such destinations for outdoor activites and what that does for local economies. I think there is getting to be a new breed of management at the FS accross the nation meaning that the old guard that seems to come more from a ranching background is comming around to the idea of open accress and more trail management instead of just shutting down areas which causes less revenue. I love wilderness areas but for me it is a tuff sell on what damages a trail more when I have seen first hand what a horse can do to a wet trail.

On another note
I was out last weekend in the jeep to show the wife a camp spot off Victoria Lake Rd the kids and I used last year when I took a wrong turn and went up a really nice rocky climb only to find an area where what looked like a small militia had target paratice while consuming a few cases of beer and wiskey. Besides the fact they left if all over the ground for the pleasure of everyone else to see I was glad to see they had did practice safe sex judging by the codoms they left all over the ground and they where smart enough to at least make a fire pit out of rock. Since the market and school is closed friday the girls and I are planning to head back up there to clean it up if anyone wants to tag along. With any luck they will be back but I am sure even they would not want to camp there with that mess. Amazes me what people will do to a beautiful area and then those same people will complain when an area gets shut down. 

[loingrader]

maybe you should camp out there with a sniper rifle and eliminate some of those pesky varmin.

i friggin hate that too...   people making a mess of a beautiful area because they are careless and stupid.  if sniping them is too harsh, we could send them all to mexico.