BY PATRICK LAIR
ALBANY DEMOCRAT-HERALD | Posted: Tuesday, August 19, 2008 12:00 am
Appeals of the plan will be accepted through Friday
Anyone wishing to appeal a set of new off-highway vehicle rules at Santiam Pass has until midnight Friday to contact the McKenzie River Ranger District or the Willamette National Forest.
The Santiam Pass Summer Motorized Recreation Project is a new plan to regulate motor vehicle use in more than 13,000 acres of national forest. The project area includes popular attractions like Big Lake, Sand Mountain Lookout, Hoodoo Butte and sections of the Santiam Wagon Road and Pacific Crest Trail.
The project developed out of a desire to protect vegetation and cultural resources and reduce friction between multiple users in an area that has seen growing pressure from OHV riders in recent years, said Steve Otoupalik, district wilderness and trails manager for the McKenzie River Ranger District.
Under the new plan, forest service officials would restrict motorized recreation to designated roads and trails, enforce a noise limitation (99 decibels) and impose a speed limit on the Santiam Wagon Road.
Officials would also create a regulated camping zone around the Ray Benson Sno Park to restrict dispersed camping to 20 designated sites.
Camping would still be allowed outside the regulated zone but all motor vehicles must stay within 100 feet of an open road.
To learn more about the project, visit www.fs.fed.us/r6/willamette or contact the McKenzie River Ranger District at (541) 822-3381.
Input sought
The Willamette National Forest invites the public to review a new plan to manage motorized recreation across the 1.675-million-acre forest.
The new travel management strategy calls for a designated system of roads and trails for motorized use to protect "natural, social and cultural resources."
The plan would prohibit cross-country motorized travel, which is currently allowed, and mark which roads OHVs are allowed to access.
Under the plan, most current roads would remain open and most dispersed camp sites currently available to vehicles would remain accessible, according to the Willamette National Forest website.
Currently, 4,428 miles of roads are open to OHV use. The U.S. Forest Service estimates that between 3,836 and 4,011 miles of that would remain open after a safety analysis.
Officials expect to have a signed decision sometime in 2009 with the goal of publishing a Motor Vehicle Use Map by November of next year.
To find out more, visit the Willamette National Forest website, www.fs.fed.us/r6/willamette, or contact Ryan Brown, the interdisciplinary team leader, at rnbrown@fs.fed.us.