Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Howling at the Moon in OR to Stop OHV Use


As many of my readers know, TMR is a national blessing or curse depending on what your own local Forest is proposing to close or keep open for OHV use.
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*Photo at right taken by The General while on a 2004 dual sport ride on the Mt. Hood NF
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Just last week, The General received in his mail a copy of the CD version of the Mount Hood National Forest Travel DEIS. Several years ago on behalf of BRC, I submitted public comments on the Hood’s TMR NOI. My initial review of the DEIS shows the Forest actually incorporated a number of our suggestions by converting some roads to trails, designating some areas, and proposing some new trails.

However, the scale of those good ideas is so small as to be almost irrelevant when compared with the fact that over 90 percent of the logging roads (over 2100 miles) will be closed to non-street legal OHVs (ATVs, dirt-bikes, and side-by-sides)

See Sandy Post Article (with quotes from BRC and BARK)
http://www.sandypost.com/news/story.php?story_id=125245623636788600


It looks like the local anti-OHV group in the area (BARK) has been very effective by going to public meetings and howling or barking at public officials in order to get the Forest Service to adopt much if not most of their anti-OHV proposals.

BARK
http://bark-out.org/topic.php?id=mthoodohv


I have already been in touch with representatives from the
OR Motorcycle Riders Assn (see this thread for meeting times)
http://www.omraoffroad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7003


and Columbia Gorge Off Road Assn
http://cgora.com/


BRC will be working with these and other groups during the DEIS public comment period.

Being a native of Humboldt County in Northern California (don’t hold that against me!) I am used to seeing bizarre eco-groups. However, BARK appears to have developed an effective strategy in the Mount Hood Area by howling at the moon (and at public officials) to get their way.

I wonder how that technique would work for off-roaders if they tried it at the next OHV meeting or included photo shopped pictures of wolves riding ATVs in their comment letters?

TMR is not just a CA thing.

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