Record of decision dictates forest travel

45 days to file an appeal

The U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management are another step closer to completing a three-year process and plan for managing travel on federal lands within the Gunnison Basin and North Fork Valley of Colorado. The Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forests and the Gunnison Field Office for the Bureau of Land Management released the Records of Decision (RODs) for the Gunnison Travel Management planning effort on July 1.

Forest Service Travel management project planner Gary Shellhorn said, “The Record of Decision in the NEPA process is the place where the Forest Service gives the rationale and the explanations for the decisions being made. I feel like we had a very comprehensive planning process the last three years. The number of people that worked on this… It’s an interdisciplinary team of 40 staff specialists that worked on travel analysis to figure out the alternatives and options. There were 15 authors of the final Environmental Impact Statement.”
The public has 45 days to file a written appeal once the plan is released. If an appeal is not filed, or is not accepted, Shellhorn said, the next step is to publish the Motor Vehicle Use Map (MVUM). “We hope to have a map out there that has travel management information by hunting season,” he said. After that, it will be up to the public to educate themselves about what modes of travel they can use where on Forest Service and BLM lands.
According to forest supervisor Charlie Richmond of the Forest Service and BLM field office manager Brian St. George, “These RODs are the result of more than three years of planning with significant public involvement. We worked in collaboration with many groups and individuals in this effort and received over 3,000 comments that were used to create the Final Environmental Impact Statement and RODs.”
They continued, “We realize that travel management planning and implementation are a continuing effort and not everyone will agree on the outcome.
“However, these decisions best provide a varied and comprehensive travel network on federal lands, while establishing the ground work for a safe, sustainable and ecologically sound travel system.”
Some key elements of the RODs include:
—2,334 miles of road designated open to public use.
—559 miles of trail designated for motorized use.
—409 miles of trail identified (outside of Wilderness) for non-motorized use; 300 miles of these are open to mountain bike use.
—Potential to develop 40 miles of new trail.
—No designated motorized routes identified within inventoried roadless (2008 inventory).
—Seasonal restrictions used to mitigate potential adverse impacts to natural and cultural resources.
—A full range of recreation travel experiences
—The foundation for the Motor Vehicle Use Map for the Gunnison National Forest in compliance with Forest Service regulations.
—Access to private land in-holdings maintained in accordance with law and regulation.
The RODs will be available Thursday, July 1 online at www.fs.fed.us/r2/gmug/policy/travel_mgmt/ and www.blm.gov/co/st/en/fo/gfo.html.