With the growing popularity and capabilities of OHVs (Off-Highway Vehicles) through the 1990s and into 2000, the Forest Service found that motor vehicle use, particularly cross-country travel, challenged management. The Forest Service identified unmanaged recreation — especially the impacts of increased motor vehicle use — as a major threat to the nation’s forests and grasslands, such as erosion, watershed and habitat degradation, impacts to wildlife and cultural resources and conflicts with other types of recreation.
In 2005 the Forest Service issued the Travel Management Rule. The new regulation required all national forests across the country to have a system of designated roads, trails, and areas open to motor vehicle use by vehicle type and by season of use.
The rule requires:
•Publication of a Motor Vehicle Use Map (MVUM) that identifies the roads, trails, and areas open to public motor vehicle use
•NEPA review (National Environmental Policy Act)
a decision-making process that includes significant public involvement, with a system of opportunities for public input and comment.
*Information courtesy of Jefferson County Parks, Trails and Recreation Commission member Vaia Errett.
