BLUERIBBON COALITION, INC.

NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE



Contact: Paul Turcke 208.861.1334 or Don Amador 925.625.6287



Date: May 9, 2005

ACCESS GROUPS CLAIM LEGAL VICTORY ON ELDORADO FOREST LAWSUIT



SACRAMENTO, CA (May 9) -- A national trail-based recreation group and state
off-highway vehicle organizations claim huge access victory in today's legal
ruling. Over 2,000 miles of recreational roads and trails will remain open
on the Eldorado National Forest. The anti-access advocates had asked the
court to close the entire National Forest to motorized users.



Senior U.S. District Judge Lawrence K. Karlton issued a tentative ruling
today that directs Forest Service attorneys to prepare an order authorizing
vehicular travel on approximately 2,245 miles of recreational system roads
and trails. The judge had issued an earlier ruling that found the 1990
Travel Management Plan and 1999 Rock Creek Trail Plan to be out of
compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act.



Groups praising the ruling today include the California Enduro Riders
Association, the California Association of 4 Wheel Drive Clubs, District 36
of the American Motorcyclist Association, the California Off-Road Vehicle
Association, and the BlueRibbon Coalition.



According to Paul Turcke, lead counsel for the recreation groups, "I think
Judge Karlton looked at all the issues and decided to try and find some
middle ground. This ruling also directs the agency to further analyze travel
management on a forest-wide basis and orders them to follow their 1999 Rock
Creek Trail Plan."



Don Amador, western representative for the BlueRibbon Coalition, states, "I
think this is a huge victory for those of us who champion responsible use of
our forest lands. The anti-access groups had wanted to close the entire
forest to the public but they were wrong. I think the judge looked at the
various partnerships that exist between the agency and user groups and that
had a positive affect."



The case is entitled Center for Sierra Nevada Conservation v. Berry, Case
No. CV-03-325.

The anti-access crowd is claiming victory too. :shaking:

--------------------------------------------------
Center for Biological Diversity
Center for Sierra Nevada Conservation
California Wilderness Coalition

NEWS RELEASE: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Tuesday, May 10, 2005
Contact: Karen Schambach, Center for Sierra Nevada Conservation: 530-333-1106

Judge Closes 700 Miles of Off-road trails on Eldorado National Forest

Sacramento – A federal court judge yesterday tentatively ordered the United States Forest Service to close over 700 miles of roads and trails on the Eldorado National Forest to off-road vehicle (ORV) use. Judge Lawrence K. Karlton announced his tentative order at the conclusion of a remedy hearing in a lawsuit brought by environmental groups challenging the Forest Service’s management of ORVs throughout the Forest. The court’s closure order follows its February determination that the Service adopted its 1990 ORV plan for the Forest in violation of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

Judge Karlton also gave the Forest Service 30 days to propose a time-schedule for completing the required, forest-wide NEPA analysis for its forest-wide ORV plan. The plaintiffs, Center for Sierra Nevada Conservation, Center for Biological Diversity and California Wilderness Coalition, and the ORV groups that intervened in the lawsuit, will have 30 days to respond to the Forest Service’s proposal before Judge Karlton makes his order final.

Environmentalists, who had requested an order generally suspending illegal use of ORVs in the Forest pending NEPA compliance, call the closures and the imposition of a fixed timetable for NEPA compliance a good start. “These non-system routes are largely unplanned, user-created running sores on the landscape that contribute to sediment in our streams, habitat fragmentation and wildlife disturbance,” said Karen Schambach of CSNC. “Closing these most damaging trails while requiring the Forest Service to analyze and designate a legally defensible off-road travel plan will have huge benefits for the Forest, both in the short-term, and in the long-term.”

The ruling marks the second, significant defeat for ORV groups in the case, who initially argued for no closure of the unauthorized and illegally created trails while the Forest Service reconsiders its ORV route designations. The first defeat for the ORV groups came in Judge Karlton’s February ruling, when the judge threw out their claims of standing under NEPA. In dismissing the ORV group’s proposals, Judge Karlton noted that the Forest Service had ignored NEPA and its own regulations in allowing illegal routes to proliferate across the Forest for the past 15 years, despite undisputed documentation of ongoing ORV violations leading to environmental damage across the forest during that time.

"Once again, when common sense and the law are applied, nature wins and the bad guys lose," said Daniel R. Patterson, Ecologist with the Center for Biological Diversity. "We support Forest Service efforts to reduce damaging off-roading, and this decision on the Eldorado will help by maintaining access, while curbing off-road excess."

The News release was printed in the Mountain Democrat this morning along with comment from some local Forestry officials.

WTF is what I want to know. Should I be happy or sad or both? This whole fight is getting more convulted, frustrating and stupid each step of the way. I'm losing hope.

does anyone know WTF these articles mean in practical application?

does anyone know WTF these articles mean in practical application?

Yes. :p

Yes. :p
so who is this person? because obviously it's not you :flipoff2:

does anyone know WTF these articles mean in practical application?


Contrast the spin ...


Immediate result of the ruling:

Over 2,000 miles of recreational roads and trails will remain open on the Eldorado National Forest. The anti-access advocates had asked the court to close the entire National Forest to motorized users.

“These non-system routes are largely unplanned, user-created running sores on the landscape that contribute to sediment in our streams, habitat fragmentation and wildlife disturbance,” said Karen Schambach of CSNC.

The system routes, the routes with USFS System designation numbers (1N02, etc.), will remain open (apparently 2000 to 2245 miles of such routes).

The non-systems routes, the routes the USFS has failed to inventory and number (the spurs, bypasses, and parallel challenge trails that have no official recognition other than location markings on topo maps), will be closed (apparently 700 miles of such routes).

The CBD & fiends wanted nearly 3000 miles of established routes closed, and succeeded in closing 700 miles. The good access folks wanted the 3000 miles of established trail to remain open and were able to succeed, except for 700 miles.

Deeper result of the ruling:

The judge had issued an earlier ruling that found the 1990 Travel Management Plan and 1999 Rock Creek Trail Plan to be out of
compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act.

The court’s closure order follows its February determination that the Service adopted its 1990 ORV plan for the Forest in violation of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

Judge Karlton also gave the Forest Service 30 days to propose a time-schedule for completing the required, forest-wide NEPA analysis for its forest-wide ORV plan.

The USFS has 30-days to correct the violations of NEPA that were apparent in the 1990 Plan (what the USFS calls the Travel Management Plan and the Eco's call the ORV Plan).

Maybe someone can fill in the details of what the NEPA violations were?

thanks Ed! looking forward to hearing more as it becomes available.

Maybe someone can fill in the details of what the NEPA violations were?


Anyone?

If this is a true success, a rollback of over 2000 miles of threatened closures, maybe the experience can be used in the future to protect other areas.

Happy Trails!

The bottom line is that 700 miles of allegedly illegal roads and trails will be closed. Schambach and her merry band of little green gnomes keep harping on "user created" roads and trails but what constitutes "user created"? As near as I can determine, every road on the face of the planet was created by some user at some time . . . So what's the criteria for "user created"?