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Sept. 9, 1999 By Gail Binkly Off-highway vehicles, snowmobiles and mountain bikes would be allowed to travel only on existing routes and trails under new recreation guidelines proposed for BLM lands within Colorado. The guidelines are only preliminary, and public comment is being accepted on them even now, emphasized Roger Alexander, public-affairs specialist for the BLM in Montrose. The five-page draft document was prepared by the state’s three BLM Resource Advisory Councils, citizens’ groups that advise the BLM on public-lands management. This represents the first time that guidelines have been created specifically for recreation on Colorado’s BLM lands, Alexander said. "The RACs felt, way back in 1995, that it wasn’t fair for the livestock-grazing permittees on the BLM lands to be the only ones to have standards and guidelines applied to their program," Alexander said. "They believed recreation has the second-biggest impact to public lands, and this was a recognition by the RACs that recreation is a major use out there and management should be spread among all the different uses." Much of the document is a fairly basic statement of general principles. The change in the off-road-travel policy is undoubtedly the most significant change proposed, Alexander said. "That will be the most controversial guideline," he said. "Everything else in there is a restatement of existing policies, but it may be the first time it was put on paper and included as part of the BLM’s management policy in Colorado." Until now, the BLM has allowed off-road travel anywhere that it wasn’t specifically prohibited – a situation that sometimes led to large areas of fragile desert land being denuded of vegetation. The draft document, in its guidelines for "Routes and Trails," states, "Allowed (sic) motorized and wheeled recreational travel only on existing travel routes and trails, and where public land health is compromised, limit these types of travel to designated routes and trails, and in designated areas where appropriate, allow open travel." The language was drafted specifically to encompass ATVs and dirt bikes, mountain bikes, and snowmobiles, said Erin Johnson, chairman of the Southwest RAC. Snowmobiles were included because, although they don’t always cause damage to lands, they can do so when the snow depth is minimal, she said. Throughout the state, 57 percent of BLM land is currently open to cross-country public use, according to Alexander. "But the RACs are letting BLM-Colorado know that, in 1999, it is unacceptable for stewards of the public lands to allow people to drive anywhere you want on 57 percent of the public lands in Colorado," he said. However, the guidelines do not propose that any areas or any existing roads be closed to wheeled or motorized use, Alexander said, only that such uses be confined to established roads, travel routes, or trails. "We’re already getting comments like, ‘You’re trying to lock us out of the land.’ This is absolutely not the case." But the change, if adopted, will mean that it is no longer OK for public-lands users to drive off-road – except in specially designated areas, he said. "That’s part of the process," Alexander explained, "for the public to let us know where they would like to see cross-country travel allowed." How existing trails might be defined is, of course, a difficult question, he admitted. "The devil’s always in the details," he said. "If there’s no vegetation growing in the pathway of the tires on a two-track trail, or a single track in the case of motorcycles or bikes, you have an existing trail, I would guess." The BLM will rely on aerial surveys, input from off-highway-vehicle groups, and other sources to decide where existing trails are, he said, "but it would be foolhardy of me to suggest we know where they all are now." "We’re asking for the public’s help in identifying existing roads and trails, and we’ll be getting down to work on local travel-management plans later in the process," he said. The Southwest RAC is hosting seven public meetings throughout the region on the draft guidelines; there will be one in Cortez on Sept. 30 in the Senior Nutrition Center/County Annex, 103 N. Chestnut St., and one in Durango on Sept. 20 in the conference room at the BLM-Forest Service Office, 15 Burnett Court. Both meetings begin at 7 p.m. In addition, written comments on the guidelines are being accepted through Oct. 13. They should be addressed to the Southwest RAC, c/o BLM Southwest Center, 2465 South Townsend, Montrose, Colo. 81401. E-mail comments can be sent to roger_alexander@co.blm.gov. To receive a copy of the guidelines, call Alexander at (970) 240-5335 or Bill Bottomly at (970) 240-5337. After public comments have been assimilated, the RACS will come up with a revised set of guidelines, if necessary, and will submit them to BLM-Colorado. The BLM will decide whether to accept or reject them, Alexander said. |
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