Comments on Colville NF Requested ASAP

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The deadline for comments on a few issues for the Colville was supposed to be today but Jan Bodie of the FS said go ahead & send them up to her.

There are 6 questions so please fill it out & email it or snail mail it to the address listed at the top of the attached questionaire. You can copy the text below to an email, then fill out your comments and email it to mbodie@fs.fed.us . If you want the Word Doc emailed to you, post here or email me at pantratrails@hotmail.com and I'll get it over to you:

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What Do You Think is Special About
the Colville National Forest?

Please spend a few moments reflecting on these questions. Jot down your observations and opinions. Please return your responses to Jan Bodie, Colville National Forest, 765 S. Main St., Colville, WA 99114 by November 12, 2004. email: mbodie@fs.fed.us

UNDERSTANDING WHAT IS UNIQUE AND OF LONG TERM PUBLIC VALUE
1. What is unique or exceptionally distinctive about the Colville National Forest and/or the recreation opportunities it provides?



2. 25 years from now, what do you expect the public to value the most about the Forest?




UNDERSTANDING RECREATIONISTS’ IMPACTS
3. What are the greatest causes of environmental impacts related to recreation use?






UNDERSTANDING OUR VISITORS
4. What are the things that Forest visitors are most concerned or dissatisfied about?






5. What are the things that Forest visitors are most satisfied about?






6. What is the importance of the Forest and/or the recreation opportunities it provides to the local communities?

 

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Here's what I said:

What Do You Think is Special About
the Colville National Forest?

Please spend a few moments reflecting on these questions. Jot down your observations and opinions. Please return your responses to Jan Bodie, Colville National Forest, 765 S. Main St., Colville, WA 99114 by November 12, 2004. email: mbodie@fs.fed.us

UNDERSTANDING WHAT IS UNIQUE AND OF LONG TERM PUBLIC VALUE
1. What is unique or exceptionally distinctive about the Colville National Forest and/or the recreation opportunities it provides?

The most unique thing about the Colville is the amount of good singletrack dirtbike trails available. The Batey Bould and LPO trail systems are some of the only SINGLETRACK trail systems that are have not been closed to motorized use or widened (ruined) by ATV use.

The second unique thing about the Colville is the diversity of recreational opportunities available. A family can go camping and from the campsite they can enjoy dirtbiking, ATV’s (to a limited degree), mountain biking, horsebacking, hiking, fishing, swimming, boating, berry picking etc. The Colville is one of the few locations where you CAN do it all!

2. 25 years from now, what do you expect the public to value the most about the Forest?

I feel that more and more the public will value the motorized recreational opportunities provided in the Forest. The number of ATV and dirtbike trail riders continues to grow. Membership in our dirtbike club has increased by nearly 30% over the last 2 years and many of these new members are also new to dirtbiking.

This increased interest in OHV use is coupled with a decrease in riding opportunities on both private and public lands. Private land that was once open to recreation is constantly being developed or closed to public access. The private land that remains open to public access is being closed to MOTORIZED use, this makes the Forest even more important to those of us that enjoy motorized recreation.


UNDERSTANDING RECREATIONISTS’ IMPACTS
3. What are the greatest causes of environmental impacts related to recreation use?

The greatest cause of enviro impacts is a lack of an adequate number of well designed, well built, well maintained trail systems for the various users of the Forest. If there is a reasonable amount of trail miles with varying degree of difficulty for the 4 main recreational uses – 4x4 (roads), ATV (dualtrack), dirtbikes (singletrack) and non-motorized - available and it is maintained, most environmental impacts can be mitigated.

A lack of trail miles for any certain use creates problems with bootleg trails, encroachment on other types of trails and overcrowding. When looking at the various uses one needs to keep in mind that non-motorized users can and do utilize all of the trails available to both motorized and non motorized uses including singletrack, dualtrack and even roads. Dirtbikes can and do utilize all of the motorized trails, singletrack, dualtrack and roads. ATV’s can utilize dualtrack and roads and 4x4’s are limited to roads. The various uses need an adequate number of miles so they do not need to bootleg trails or use inappropriate trails. There must be a variety of trails for each type of use, some non-motorized, some singletrack moto, some dual track moto and of course some roads.

With an adequate number of miles for the various uses, maintenance becomes the key factor in mitigating environmental impacts. Any use of a trail causes an impact but by properly maintaining the trail, the impacts can be mitigated. Even on motorized trails, if impacts are addressed on a regular basis, they can be corrected. Using volunteers for this is a great way to protect the trail system!

UNDERSTANDING OUR VISITORS
4. What are the things that Forest visitors are most concerned or dissatisfied about?

Visitors are most concerned about the lack of adequate trail miles for motorized use, especially ATV’s. Without enough trail miles for the motorized users, the existing systems get overused and user conflicts become more common. With the ever-increasing number of ATV riders and the lack of ATV trails, our singletrack trails are being destroyed. More motorized trails for both dualtrack and singletrack uses would alleviate the conflicts and overuse.

5. What are the things that Forest visitors are most satisfied about?

We are most satisfied with the overall experience in the forest and the openness of the management to work with the various user groups. We would like to see more trail miles for both dual track and singletrack because we feel there is plenty of opportunity already available for non-motorized uses. We love the trails we have, and we have already devoted numerous volunteer hours working with the FS on the Batey Bould and LPO systems. We would like to see more high quality motorized trail miles available as the number of users keeps expanding.


6. What is the importance of the Forest and/or the recreation opportunities it provides to the local communities?

The Forest and the recreation opportunities it provides are important to the local communities both from a social and an economic aspect. It provides a place for residents to enjoy the open space of the Forest. It provides a place to enjoy various forms of recreation. Not many people have access to open tracts of land where they can “get away from it all” and enjoy a day away from civilization either hiking or dirtbiking or whatever they choose to do.

Recreation also brings visitors to the area, which helps bolster the local economy. These visitors buy gas, food, knick-knacks, rent cabins, boats, etc. at the local business. If it were not for the recreational opportunities available in the Forest, many of these visitors would go elsewhere. Motorized users are in general a pretty affluent group and I know those in our group tend to make it a point to always spend a few bucks at the local business’s when we go riding.

Thank you for the opportunity to provide comments on the Colville.

Lori Jordan
Panhandle Trail Riders Association

 

[Tod]

Thanks for the heads up Lori!

I just got back from the far east (Hong Kong and other yucky places) and I hope that comments will still be considered.

My first chance to visit the Colville area was this summer and it was a great. Riding the LP with my daughter was something special, in great part, because of the quality of trails and riding experience available.

If you like the area, please take Lori's suggestion and send your input to the FS.