Change in off-highway vehicle use proposed for national forests

National Forests and Grasslands in Texas Forest Supervisor Fred Salinas is proposing to prohibit the cross-country use of motor vehicles and restrict their use to designated roads, trails, and areas on the Angelina, Davy Crockett, and Sabine National Forests, and is asking for public comments on the completed Environmental Assessment.

The Environment Assessment (EA) can be found on the web at www.fs.fed.us/r8/texas/ planning/nepa_index.sht ml

The change is required to implement the Forest Service Travel Management Rule regulations, which restrict motor vehicles to designated roads, trails, and areas on national forests and grasslands nationwide.

The proposed change would also prohibit crosscountry motor vehicle use off of roads and trails for big game retrieval.

This will make the prohibition across all of the NFGT the same as the current prohibition on such use in designated Wildlife Management Areas, Salinas added.

Most of the NFGT lands outside of wilderness areas are within mile of an existing road.

The closing of areas to OHV will not occur at the time of the final decision but at a later date to be determined and coordinated with publishing Motorized Vehicle Use Maps.

However, the plan is to designate road corridors and campsites for dispersed camping for hunters in areas where there have historically been hunter camps. Corridors will be designated on either both sides or on one side of selected roads.

Dispersed hunter campsites will also be designated at the end of some roads.

In the past, unmanaged off-highway vehicle (OHV) use has been allowed on the NFGT, but in the late 1980s, restrictions on OHV use were imposed on the Sam Houston National Forest and the Caddo/ LBJ Grasslands.

Today, OHV use is restricted to designated trails on the Sam Houston National Forest and is restricted to roads on the Caddo-LBJ National Grasslands and the Angelina National Forest Longleaf Ridge Special Area.

"OHV use is projected to continue to increase in the foreseeable future," Salinas said. "In some areas of the forest, OHV use has not caused major impacts or problems, but in other areas, there has been severe damage that requires a change in policies in how we manage OHVs now and in the future."

"In order to ensure that national forest lands retain their current integrity now and for future generations there is a need to implement this change on the NFGT," Salinas said. "It is not possible to accommodate all user demands on all National Forests while also protecting water quality, wildlife and plant habitat, and other natural resources that people come to enjoy."

"I invite your constructive comments on this proposed Plan amendment and I value the publics' interest and ideas for management of the National Forests and Grasslands in Texas," Salinas said.

Comments on the proposed actions may be emailed to commentssouthern texas@fs.fed.us or may be mailed to the Supervisor's Office, 415 S. First St., Suite 110, Lufkin, Texas, 75901.

Comments should include your name, address and phone number, title of the proposal (OHV Plan Amendment) and specific facts or comments along with supporting reasons that should be considered.

Deadline for submitting comments is Aug. 13, 2007.

Two websites that offer additional information on the use of OHVs on national forests are: www.fs.fed.us/recre- ation/programs/ohv/fina l.pdf http://www.fs.fed.us/r8/ texas/planning/nepa_ind ex.shtml

For additional information concerning this proposal or if you would like to have someone meet with you or a group, contact Don Benner at the Forest Supervisor's Office, 415 South First Street, Suite 110, Lufkin, Texas 75901, or call 936-639- 8581.