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Recreational Groups Take Next Step To Save Tellico

14K views 59 replies 23 participants last post by  NIB-98TJ 
#1 ·
RECREATIONAL GROUPS TAKE NEXT STEPS TO SAVE TELLICO

May 7, 2010

Organizations dedicated to active recreation management today announced their latest efforts to save access to the Upper Tellico OHV System. The Southern Four Wheel Drive Association, United Four Wheel Drive Association, and BlueRibbon Coalition filed a NOI, Notice of Intent to sue, with various federal agencies outlining possible claims under the Clean Water Act. The claims target the U.S. Forest Service decision dated October 14, 2009, to close the Tellico trails to motorized travel. The organizations filed administrative appeals from the decision, which were denied on January 15, 2010.

“The agency’s actions do not surprise us, but are cause for deep concern,” said Roger Theurer, President of the Southern Four Wheel Drive Association. “It is apparent the Forest Service has disavowed any interest in continuing historical, or any vehicle access to the System. We hope that our organizations have been equally clear that we will fight for reasonable and sustainable access. This is but one step in that continuing effort,” Theurer concluded.

The NOI is a jurisdictional prerequisite to a citizen’s suit under the Clean Water Act.

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The BlueRibbon Coalition is a national recreation group that champions responsible use of public and private lands, and encourages individual environmental stewardship. It represents over 10,000 individual members and 1,200 organization and business members, for a combined total of over 600,000 recreationists nationwide. 1-800-258-3742. www.sharetrails.org

United Four Wheel Drive Associations is an international organization comprised of four wheel drive enthusiasts, clubs, associations, and businesses dedicated to providing community services around the world, education in responsible land use and safe vehicle operation, and protection of our natural resources through conservation practices. 1-800-448-3932. www.ufwda.org

Southern Four Wheel Drive Association (SFWDA) was founded in 1987 to promote responsible land use and to keep public lands accessible for motorized recreation. For more information on the activities and accomplishments of Southern Four Wheel Drive Association, please visit www.sfwda.org or contact us at 1483 N. Mt. Juliet Road, PMB # 222, Mt. Juliet, TN 37122
 
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#5 ·
I really hope this isn't too late.

The rating looks like an award from 2005. Scroll down - "We won United's
Best Web Site 2005 Award"
 
#10 · (Edited)
Everyone has been yelling for SFWDA et al to file the NOI and to have a bigger presence on Pirate - so now that they have filed the NOI and posted it on Pirate why don't we give them a pat on the back for doing what many of you have been asking?

Southern - how will the NOI effect the current RFP to 'obliterate' the trails? Will the NOI stop the contract from proceeding? What is the timeline from public advertisement of the RFP to awarding of the contract to start of work? If the NOI won't stop the RFP from being awarded and work commencing what else will Southern do to stop the trail obliteration?

Please keep us up to date on anything that happens.
 
#13 ·
Not being a lawyer (and not staying at a Holiday Inn last night) I'm very curious to the timeline/playbook and what is going to happen from this point out. Doesn't the NOI have to be filed 90 days out from an actual lawsuit? I'm not sure on the amount of time but 90 days sticks in my head for some reason...
 
#23 ·
so is there going to be some kind of cease and desist on the trail obliteration?
Obviously we would like to get an injunction to stop the FS before they begin their "obliteration" proceedings.

JC, SFWDA's lawsuit was filed roughly 15 days after this NOI was issued and certainly before the 60 days required by the NOI had expired. Does that mean, that once the 60 days is up SFWDA will be filing a second lawsuit or has this fallen by the wayside and is no longer needed? Or has SFWDA screwed up by not waiting the full 60 days? MsMarbury
What JBC said :)
 
#20 · (Edited)
JC

SFWDA's lawsuit was filed roughly 15 days after this NOI was issued and certainly before the 60 days required by the NOI had expired. Does that mean, that once the 60 days is up SFWDA will be filing a second lawsuit or has this fallen by the wayside and is no longer needed? Or has SFWDA screwed up by not waiting the full 60 days?

MsMarbury
 
#29 ·
I'm thinking about moving to Asheville, I live in Ohio now and we have some good local wheeling at Wellsville.

Are there ANY places to wheel in the Tellico area? Ive never been there,
not familiar with the area. Basically... What is the local legal wheeling options in and around Asheville and over toward Tellico? I like hard trails, rocks... Is there anything really fun left to wheel?
 
#32 ·
coal creek is nice, but man thats an expensive weekend ... $17 x 2 people x 2-3 days + camping or hotel = $$$$ I couldn't imagine bringing a family along at $17/person/day!

Harlan, on the other hand is $30 a YEAR per vehicle. We usually get 2-3 trips in per year on one pass, so even though its a long haul (7hrs) we can make it a pretty reasonably priced trip with all of the inexpensive camping options they have.
 
#39 ·
it's not just $17. in order to wheel there more than a day and make the trip worth while you have to camp. There is no free camping. Tents are $20. So that's $37/day. I know you're real good with money ;) so multiply that by 2 and give me a figure. That's what it costs. You'd think they'd cut some slack one way or the other but no. You essentially pay $37/day to ride. I'm sure someone such as yourself has no problem forking out that kind of money but for the ones with more realistic budgets that's a PITA after gas, food, propane, etc.
 
#41 ·
If it's that big of a deal roll in Saturday morning. Yea that's on the high end for parks around here and not worth it for Windrock IMO (there are much better places to wheel). Either way when you consider the fact that this is one of the most expensive hobbies I know of, $37 is a drop in the bucket to get out and beat on your shit.
 
#40 ·
We're in for $35 per day as a driver, plus a $15 yearly membership fee, plus $7 each per passenger per day. And it's a 300-mile round trip. Camping is free but you get what you pay for.

I've wheeled at the Hammers, Colorado, Harlan...it amazes me how much people take this shit for granted.
 
#42 · (Edited)
$17 a day for ONE person ... where they get you (and my point) was that you have to pay the $17 per person not vehcile ... which means passengers are paying for just being in the truck

We have guys in our group who bring 2-3 kids along plus their wife, so when you're paying $17 a PERSON for a 5 person family... its gets pretty damn expensive to ride there for more than a day. and if I'm driving 3-4 hours to get somewhere, it makes sense to go somewhere that we can ride for more than just ONE day.

$85/DAY for your whole family just to ride around the park, plus camping/hotel, food etc.

where as in say, Harlan, we pay our $30 once a year regardless of how many people we squeeze into the truck and how many times we go... and there's some cheap camping in town, so despite the distance, its a much less expensive trip, especially when every meal comes from the Dairy Hut for $5 :D


and we have gone wheeling 2 (sometimes 3) weekends out of almost every month for the past year and a half - so yeah, I do consider our budget when we pick where we're going and to which events we'll attend.
 
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