Oregon Land Use Meeting Summary

On August 21, 2004 about 50 individuals interested in maintaining access to the public lands gathered from as far away as California, in Bend, Oregon to discuss the formation of a group to facilitate communication and to improve their effectiveness in fighting land closures that are being proposed throughout the State. I was fortunate enough to be among the group. A facilitator provided by the National Blue Ribbon Coalition was leading us. He is also currently helping several other States accomplish the same tasks as ours. Most notably Idaho, Arizona and Utah.

The group had some notable names in attendance;

Colby Marshall, Aide to US Congressman Greg Walden (A big fan of our cause in Washington DC)
Chuck Burley, running for local District 54 (Bend area) seat.
Del Albright and Joni Mogstad from the National Blue Ribbon Coalition
Dick and Joani Dufourd
Dean Waters from Off-road.com
Tom Harris from PNW4WD – Region 6
John Wainwright from Back Country Horsemen of Oregon
Greg Hendrich from Cascade Off-Roaders

There were also people from the following organizations, (my apologies for not getting all of your names):

The AMA (American Motorcycle Assoc.)
Moon County Snowmobile Club
MRA (Motorcycle Riders Assoc. I believe)
The Lobos MC Club
Mt. Scott Motorcycle Club
OMRA
Trailsmen Motorcycle Club

These were the notables that I wrote down. There were more, but they were naming off too fast for me to get them all. These were the “movers and shakers”, (as Joani Dufourd put it), that were about to make a big impact on the faces of recreation and Government in Oregon. The most important thing to note here is that by forming this group, we now will have an official voice to have our issues heard within the state and federal government.

Following are the notes from the meeting:

Agenda

Welcome
Introductions
Ground Rules
Overview of the Access Situation in Oregon
Identification of Issues
Select Group Name
Develop Mission Statement
Establish Position Statements
Identify Action Items
Identify Volunteers
Next Meeting

Issues

Following is a list of issues identified by the group.

· We are losing volunteers because of the unreasonable Forest Service certification requirements
· Some areas may have illegal closure signs installed.
· Motorized use is allowable in Late Successional Reserves (LSR) on BLM lands but not on National Forests
· OHV Community is not well organized.
· Irresponsible use creates a poor image and reduces opportunities
· Planning within the agencies is inconsistent
· We have lost trails because we were not involved in the process
· The OHV Community are legislatively insignificant
· The shift to designated routes could result in loss of opportunities if we are not active in the process
· Trails are being closed and opportunities are being lost throughout the state.
· With the increasing demand we will need more new riding areas
· The Wolf Management Plan could result in significant closures.
· Funding in the state is limited and the legislature is looking for additional funds. This could threaten OHV funding.
· Increased emphasis on water quality impacts
· Establishment of Riparian Zone Setbacks
· Increased regulations in general
· Ballot measure #34 the Tillamook 50/50 initiative will result in significant lost opportunity.
· We need to educate our own folks on rules of responsible use
· The Wyden Wilderness proposal for Mount Hood will close large areas
· We need to preserve existing rights-of-way through private land in the urban interface
· We need to be involved in the Upper Deschutes Management plan
· We need funding for potential future legal action
· Need to consider handicapped and elder access
· Need to be more involved with counties as they may be a source of opportunities in OHV parks
· Permit or training requirements for minor riders
· Registration requirements for OHV use on roads
· Back Country Discovery Route needs to be reestablished
· Sale or Exchange of public land may threaten OHV opportunities
· Many areas do not have trail maps
· Closure of Dutchman Flat and Tumalo Mountain based on manufactured safety conflicts.
· Federal funding is being reduced. Groups need to help.
· Restoration after fires may result in lost opportunities
· We need to be involved in all the planning that is being done throughout the state.
· Groups need to be educated in how to effectively influence the processes.
· Leash laws may limit use in many areas.

At the completion of issue identification, there was an agreement that a group needed to be formed to address the issues.

Name
A number of names were suggested. The selected name for the group is:

Oregon Recreation Coalition

Mission Statement

The Oregon Recreation Coalition is a recognized, statewide, collaboration of Oregon recreation enthusiasts and others that will identify and work together on recreation issues in cooperation with land managers, legislators and the public to ensure a positive future for responsible outdoor recreation access for everyone, now and into the future.

Group Positions

The group reviewed and adopted positions on several important issues that are affecting access to public lands. Specific positions adopted at this meeting are listed below.

Wilderness Designation

The Oregon Recreation Coalition supports Wilderness designation only in areas that truly meet the characteristics identified in the 1964 Wilderness Act, and where evidence of human activity does not exist and has not existed. We also support management of Wilderness areas for the use and enjoyment of the American people as required in the Act.

Areas of public land that show evidence of human influence such as roads, mines, timber harvest, motorized or mechanized use or other activity should not be included in any new Wilderness. Where such lands are of limited productivity, more sensitive, or capable of producing high quality recreation experiences, they should be included in a new Congressional classification such as Backcountry.

Route Designation Process
Motorized Wheeled Off-Highway Vehicles

The Oregon Recreation Coalition supports the policy of allowing wheeled off-highway vehicles (OHV) use to roads and trails. Cross country travel should be limited only in areas where cross country use of OHV has been adequately studied and shown to cause adverse impacts. An open classification, which includes cross-country travel, may be appropriate in areas such as sand dunes, borrow pits, play areas, and other open lands. In areas where existing trails are causing detrimental impacts, relocation, or reconstruction shall be evaluated. Additional trails and connector routes should also be developed in areas where existing roads and trails are not providing the necessary quantity and quality of recreation experiences.
During the planning process, motorized travel shall be limited to specific designated routes only when a complete inventory and route analysis process has been completed. Use shall be limited to existing routes where no route analysis has been completed. Route systems should be interconnected to increase available opportunities and to disperse use wherever possible.

Route Designation Process for Snowmobiles

The Oregon Recreation Coalition acknowledges that an essential aspect of the snowmobiling experience is the freedom to travel off groomed routes to explore scenic snow-covered landscapes.
The establishment of groomed and ungroomed snowmobile trails should be determined by appropriate agencies in cooperation with state and local snowmobile organizations, other land management agencies, private landowners and other publics. The Coalition recognizes that limiting snowmobiles to designated routes may be appropriate in unique areas as determined by land managers using a thorough analysis and public involvement process.

Land Management Planning

The Oregon Recreation Coalition supports development of a travel management vision during Forest Plan revisions. Specific route designation should be accomplished in a separate process. Travel management planning must address reasonable, high quality access to all public lands. We recognize that some areas may not be appropriate or suitable for motorized routes, but motorized users should be able to access significant portions of the public lands with the attributes they enjoy. The process must comply with the following principles or guidelines:

General Travel Planning

Travel planning activities must recognize the clear distinction between providing an opportunity to reach a specific location and providing linear recreation facilities such as trails and scenic roads. Both are essential to adequate travel management decisions.

Travel management decisions reached in land management plans should include only guiding principles or decision criteria. Specific route decisions should be included in a separate document. Specific route planning may be completed concurrently with larger land management plans.

Trail Planning

All planning for trails and recreation roads (linear recreation facilities) must adopt a “systems approach” which includes:

· Identification and preservation of existing trail opportunities.
· Identification of new trail connections necessary to complete an interconnected system of trails that:
o Provides loop opportunities
o Provides access to desirable areas
o Provide access to other recreation and support facilities
o Provide visitors with options to experience the full range of recreation experiences from easy family rides to challenging routes.

Road Closures

Prior to closure of any road determined to be surplus to the agency administrative needs, the route should be considered for conversion to a trail. The road closure decision should document this analysis and the reasons for eliminating the trail conversion alternative.

Road obliteration or decommissioning should not be undertaken if a non-inventoried roadless area of 1000 acres or more would be created by the action. Roads in these areas may be administratively closed to traffic if necessary but they should remain in place.

Prior to a route being closed because of environmental effects, a reconstruction or relocation alternative must be considered. If relocation is a viable option, the relocation must be completed before the closure is implemented.

The differences in types of motorized recreation should be recognized. Over snow vehicles, for example, operate in a different time frame and have very different impacts on resources than wheeled vehicles operating on the land itself. These differences also exist within the wheeled vehicles. The experience of a motorcycle rider will be different on a single-track trail than it is on an ATV trail. The experience of an ATV rider will be different on a narrow ATV trail than it is on a logging road. Travel management should be tailored to the specific activity, place and time of year, not broad-brushed.

Endangered Species Act (ESA)

The Oregon Recreation Coalition supports the original purposes of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). These include conservation of ecosystems that provide important habitat for listed species, and implementing a program to recover their populations. However, we believe that the law has been misused and recommend that it be revised to include the following principles:

Listing decisions should be based on analysis of clearly distinct species, not questionable subspecies or isolated populations.

Marginal or occasionally used fringe range should not be managed as critical habitat. Only habitat truly and demonstratively important to survival of a species should be considered critical and its management modified for that purpose.

The full financial and social effects of all listings and habitat designations must be analyzed and disclosed.

Any listing or habitat designation that reduces, modifies or otherwise affects the value and uses of private land may be implemented only if the landowner is compensated for any loss of value.

Prior to any modification of land use activities, a clear and irrefutable link between the activity and adverse effects on the listed species or designated habitat must be established.

All listings or habitat designation decisions must be congruent with rigorous, objective, defensible and robust scientific review

When species recovery has met guidelines established in the recovery plan or where species have been erroneously listed, the delisting of such species must be expedited.

Action Items

The following action items were identified:

Action Item Responsible Individual Due Date

Identify funding sources for:
Operating CostsImage/Pr
CampaignLobbying Activities

Establish a Communication Network Del Albright / Don Amador
Identify needed group infrastructure
or officer Joani Dufourd / Joni Mogstad

Establish Goals and Objectives

Increase Membership Jim Hill / Joni Mogstad / Vanessa Johnston

Identify Additional Issues All will review and submit comments to Joani Dufourd

Develop a Wyden
Wilderness Strategy Jim HillJoni Mogstad Sept 1

Develop strategy to oppose
Kalmiopsis Wilderness Addition Tom Harris Sept 1

Identify Key Contacts for Each Group
Each group will identify their key contact and inform Joani Dufourd Aug. 25

Identify possible sources
for Grant Funding Paul Becker will contact his daughter Sept 1

Develop a Web Site Del Albright / Don Amador

Next Meeting

Date: October 9, 2004

Time: 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM

Place: Eugene, Oregon

Site: to be determined
Vanessa Johnston will find a site
Lunch to be arranged by Joni Mogstad

Funding for meeting:

The following groups offered funding commitments subject to necessary approvals from their organizations

Moon Country Snowmobile Club $50
MRA $100
Lobos MC $100
Mt Scott $100
Region 6 – PNW4WDA $100
OMRA $100

Until a treasurer is identified all funds will be handled by:

Trailsmen Motorcycle Club
11576 Grouse Lane NE
Aurora, Oregon 97002

Send money to above address and indicate that it is money for Oregon Recreation Coalition.

In closing, I urge anyone that is interested in being able to continue to use the forests to support us in any way you can. Just adding your name to our roster helps, but assistance is letter writing, email or telephone campaigns helps also. We have been losing ground for 20 years, now it's time to stem the tide and start winning! If our opponents get their way, you could not drive anything off of the pavement. Unless it was private land and you had permission. This will greatly affect camping, hunting, fishing, and many other tourist related industries, as well as our right to travel responsibly on public lands.

The key here is participation and responsible use. I cannot stress enough the responsible use side of this equation. Littering on the trail or "blazing your own path" only adds fuel to their fight and diminishes ours. PLEASE, think of the big picture before you venture out AND while you play! The future of our way of life is at stake!