North Idaho Trail Mods ONLINE NOW!!!!

Here is the link to the 2002 Proposed Modifications to the Panhandle Area Travel Management Plan. It is a little late but the Forest Service will take comments up to the 12th of April.

This plan came out in January but due to an oversite by the Forest Service, it was never publicized except for some small notices in the newspapers. PANTRA & the Brush Bunch found out about the proposed mods and scheduled a meeting with the Forest Service to discuss the proposal.

After the meeting the Forest Service sent copies of the proposal to all that had signed up for them and I requested that they make the information available on-line so here it is.

Go to the site
http://www.fs.fed.us/ipnf/eco/manage/nepa/
and scroll down to the COEUR D'ALENE RIVER RANGER DISTRICT section, scroll down to the 7th bullet titled TRAVEL PLAN - 03/2001 and click on the 2002 Travel Plan Revision link.

There are several good trails that they are proposing to close to motorized vehicles, some that they want to decommision and some that they want to open to 4 wheelers. If you are familiar with the trails let them know what your opinion is. If you are not familiar with them then at least let them know that you are opposed to the closure of trails to OHV's and that closures only create more problems for the trails that remain open.

We can not allow them to close these trails because the will not be reopened and we all know that the trend will continue in that direction. It is easier to keep them open than to get them reopened.

At the very least express to them that these trails are a great source of family recreation and the local clubs are more than willing to do our part to help maintain them and preserve them.

Go get em XRP!!! :aj:

Open to ATV means bikes and ATV's.

The main concerns that I have identified in the list are the following:

Page 1 Item 3 Trail 28 of Canfield (map on page 9 of 59) - the plan is to eliminate that trail because the bikes can use the road. We have told them that we don't consider a road a worthy alternate for a singletrack trail. This trail needs some work but we have volunteered to do what needs to be done on it. I've been told that this is a great little stretch of singletrack.

Page 2 Item Bud Howard/Totten Pond Trail (map on page 13 of 59) - again some nice singletrack that they want to eliminate and say doesn't exist simply because they didn't build it. I guess that if they don't show it on their map it doesn't exist. Cross country travel is not allowed but if there is a recognizable, established trail is should be left open. I vote for getting the trail on the map.

Page 2 Item 4 Trail 323 (map page 15 of 59) - I'm not familiar with the trail but looking at the map, it appears that this section of trail is pretty well established (it's mapped) and it connects the Magee Historic Site to the Pierson Peak and over to Trail 958 which is also singletrack motorized use. Sounds like the hikers and horsebackers are trying to kick the dirtbikes out just because they like the trail too.

Page 3 Item 5 Trails 32, 407, 451 & 700 Remove from inventory (map page 47 of 59) - My understanding is that these trails were motorized but they were deemed non-motorized a while back. The matter is unclear and I am trying to get more background information but the bottom line is, they state that they want to remove them from inventory because of non use yet they are deemed non motorized. So are we to ride our bikes's on them even when they are supposed to be off limits or risk losing them - I think these trails need more input.

Page 4 Item 1 - Shell Ridge Trail (map page 48 of 59) - one of the few trails in the Bumblebee Area. Again, they are saying that it shows limited us but that should not be grounds for eliminating OHV's. If there is not much use how did the trail get to need significant amounts of repair?

Page 4 Item 5 Kings Pass Sunset Peak Trail 151 opening to ATV (map page 52 of 59) - hate to see it but looking at the map this is the only singletrack trail in the area so what good does it do unless you are hanging out with a bunch of quad riders. I do not know this trail but looks like a concession we could give them, anyone else know this one?

Page 4 Item 6 Lost Creek to be non motorized (map page 53 of 59) - approx 4 mile of singletrack to be eliminated because there are lots of roads around it - doesn't sound reasonable to me.

The points I tried to get across were:

Elimination of trails just concentrates the number of users which compounds erosion and user conflicts.

It also makes it more likely that people will ride illegal trails.

The amount of trail typically ridden is generally greater for dirtbikes than any other outdoor recreational sport. A good day for a hiker is probably 10 miles, a good mountain bike ride is 20 miles, a good horseback ride is 0 miles – okay what say 20 miles? A good ride on a dirtbike is usually minimum 40 miles and after 70 I’m out of gas and turned into a hiker.

There is no scientific proof that people traveling through these trails adversely affect the wildlife. I know at my place, the deer, elk and moose will run if spooked but 9 times out of 10, they stand there looking at us as we pass by – be it on foot, bicycle, dirtbike, snowmobile or pickup truck. They sure do like to follow our snowmobile tracks in the winter though.

The trails that show erosion are simply in need of some repair. Any use will cause some erosion but our club and other’s like ours are more than willing to volunteer our time and tools and skills to help with the repairs. We would take care of it on our own if we could, like we do on the other areas that aren’t owned & maintained by the Gov’t.

Kwi-Chang, thanks for the support. These are some great trails up here. If I ever get time I will actually post some of the pics of the areas we’ve ridden in Northern Idaho. Hard to believe when you are out there, that there’s anyone else around for miles especially when you’ve run outa gas!

Update

We had our club meeting last night and there is some good news on these trails. One of our officers who had worked with the Forest Service on the management plan a couple years back met with several of the higher up Forest Service people and explained that they had agreed on the plan back then and it was to be a 10 year plan. He expressed his opposition to closure of the singletrack trails and some of the other changes especially since our club, another local club and many many anonymous dirtbikers maintain the majority of these trails at our own expense with very little help from the Forest Service.

Apparently, he got his point across and he is fairly confident that the closures won't happen BUT, we need to get our comments into the District Ranger.

I understand what you are saying about the Bud Howard trail slowbutthere and I don't know if it is even something worth arguing for but, according to the maps, that trail is on National Forest Property and not Private Property. Maybe we need to pack our little maps if we think we'll be on it. ;)

As for Trail D, the FS main concern (so they say) is erosion. There are a couple areas that apparently have some sizeable ruts (good riding but it looks bad) so we have told the FS that we are more than willing to fix the problem areas but we don't want to be put out on the roads and lose the trail.

You hit the nail on the head about the maintenance though - what maintenance that is done is usually done by the dirtbikers. We need to get better at taking credit for the work though.

If you do any trail work on a FS trail, be sure to document it. ITMA has forms, BRC website has forms or just PM or email me with the info - what trail, who did it, what you did, how much trail and how long it took you and I will make sure it gets documented. You don't need to be a club member. The more credit we can get for dirtbikers, the better we can use it to protect our trails.

Canfield work party is this Saturday, anybody interested in helping email or pm me and I'll give you information on it.