Holly Springs National Forest

[OldTimer]

The US Forest Service is in the process of trying to close off-road vehicle use in the publicly owned Holly Springs National Forest. Now is the time for all interested parties to let these public servants know that there are large numbers of citizens who wish keep our lands open for responsible well-managed OHV use. Whether you live in the area or not, you should try to do all you can to keep our sport alive. One more closure equals one more nail in the coffin of OHV use nation wide.
Here is a copy of the post Mark Story placed on our local web site:

"...I submitted our (MMC) Holly Springs Proposal last night and again this morning. It is scheduled to arrive tomorrow (Thursday). Five packets went out in total.

Now, everyone must send an email to the email addresses below stating your support of the Memphis Motorcycle Club Proposal / Alternative. It only takes a couple of minutes and very important if we are to have a chance of winning this. We are doing the same on the MMC website.

abuma@fs.fed.us ; jhahn@fs.fed.us ; fjsmith@fs.fed.us

In short the responses need to be that you have reviewed and are in full support of the MMC alternative relating to Holly Springs National Forest and encourage the USFS to adopt our proposal. Likewise and if this proposal is accepted, you agree to help manage the forest and all those trails it contains.

Any local residents or Motorcycle Shop owners must state this in their response as this will help us with the political side of the fight.

Please take a moment to send an email. There are many, many man hours in this project already but it will fall short if not enough show an interest.

Thanks.

Mark Story"

"I... request that everyone cc: me in on your email response to the USFS (mark.story@adamskeegan.com) as I need to keep a copy in our records. I plan to challenge the USFS on those who oppose (favor closing the HSNF) and how many responses they actually received.

Eventhough they always tell us numbers don't matter, I feel that is not always true.

Mark"

Thanks for your help!!

 

[tn_tuxedo]

What are the USFS's reasons for closing the forest to OHV use? Are they concerned about erosion and noise? Or is this another attempt to create a mountain bikers and hikers only club? Hey you! Secure that happiness!
Numbers DO matter. They just need to have a $ in front of and alot of 0's behind them.

 

[OldTimer]

What are the USFS's reasons for closing the forest to OHV use? Are they concerned about erosion and noise? Or is this another attempt to create a mountain bikers and hikers only club? ...

Firstly, the closure is a result of quad damage, but the big picture is that hey are unwilling to designate and maintain a trail system. In the past, riders just unloaded and ran helter-skelter through the forest, cutting trails at will and creating mud-boggs where ever they happened to be. The Memphis Motorcycle Club has volunteered to map the area, erect bridges over waterways, and help maintain a trail system. It seems the Forest Service is not willing to allow an outside agency to maintain the area, nor are they willing to do it themselves. The problem is that, as owners of the land, we demand that we be allowed to use the land in a responsible manner and it's the DUTY of the Forest Service to make the area available for use. True, there are many different interests as to what use the land would best be suited, but as for now, it seems the interest of hunters is being catered to with little regard as to how other groups might also share in the benefits of ownership. With proper management, there is enough room to serve the interests of many different groups and also to rotate usage areas so as to maintain a balance. For instance, if a hunting area were zoned for trail usage for a season and vise-versa, the land in each respective zone would have a chance to recover from prior usage and at the same time could be used for a different type of activity.
Makes sense to me anyhow.

 

[Nevada Sixx]

Most likely,,,its about the lack of money,,,I know how things go in mississippi,,bet those email links will turn out to be dead soon.

 

[OldTimer]

Most likely,,,its about the lack of money,,,I know how things go in mississippi,,bet those email links will turn out to be dead soon.

Thing about that is... it's the NATIONAL Forest Service.
I agree though, it's probably a dead end street, but email is free and I think we should down swinging rather than just assuming the "fetal position".

 

[paddy]

The above email addy's are NOT USFS, they are for USDA. A group that USFS basically asked to help out. Helping to get the land closed that is, however the USFS did not realize that USDA does NOT support the idea of closing this area but helping to manage the area. It is still closed but we are fighting this, I am working with Mark and we have a appt this coming week so time will tell.