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2 Comments
How about opening and maintaining trails along Sierra Pelona, Sawmill Rd and the old ridge route. I hike and dual sport motorcycle ride the open areas and is strange your restrictions and methods for restricting riding and travel along closed trails and roads. You turn up and ruin a foot of soil and vegetation 30 feet wide and along the whole trail and it seems that that in itself does more damage then proper recreation use. Open trails and let the community volunteer to help maintain and enjoy what beauty the area has to offer.
ANF and the rest of the Forest Service have a tough job. Congress (with the voters’ permission) keeps cutting budgets without cutting responsibilities of the FS. The ANF faces additional pressures due to the amount of urban-forest “interface” that exists compared to other NFs. Over the last 25 years, they have focused more on policing and controlling the user impact on the forest than they have on traditional “Ranger” roles.
One of the ways they meet their goals is by limiting access. Budget restraints limit patrolling, so by limiting access many gated trails and roads do not need to be patrolled as often. Small, limited access areas that can be easily patrolled (and closed as needed) are usually open. Fire prevention is also enhanced, because hikers rarely start accidental fires. Even properly equipped and operated OHVs and street vehicles are a much greater fire risk than hikers.
It’s easy to find this out by talking to people who are involved with the forest.
I don’t agree that this is what they should be doing; it goes against everything that was intended when the National Forest program was begun in the 1890’s. Then again, this isn’t the 1890’s anymore.
So, without a rebellion of the voting members of our population we can expect to see access limited even more due to budgets, philosophical changes (San Gabriel National Monument/SMMRA), and local folks growing up without ever having seen a National Forest up close.
Haven’t seen much from the OR club crowd on the ANF lately either.