Forest’s OHV decision soon; meetings set

A long-awaited decision on the Stanislaus National Forest’s controversial motorized travel management plan is expected the week after Thanksgiving.

Forest staff have spent months sorting and analyzing about 4,500 comments on the plan’s draft environmental impact statement in order to develop a final 700-page EIS.
 

Forest Supervisor Susan Skalski is expected to release her decision prior to a series of public meetings to be held in early December and early January in East Sonora, Modesto, Groveland and Arnold.

“We’ve been meeting with people for years and years so we thought it would be important to meet again in person to convey the decision,” said Sue Warren, project leader for the travel management plan.

In 2005, the Forest Service ruled that all national forests must develop vehicle plans, including where off-highway vehicles are and are not allowed. The Stanislaus’ 500-page draft EIS, released earlier this year, outlines a proposed action and four alternatives.

The preferred plan would prohibit motorized cross-country travel on the forest. It would close 157 miles of unauthorized routes etched into the forest by cross-country travel over the years.

The forest has 2,620 miles of authorized forest roads and trails open to motorized vehicles. Under the proposed action, these roads would remain open but would be subject to seasonal closures and some roads would close to certain types of vehicles.

The four alternatives offer a combination of more or less motorized-vehicle access than the proposed action.

Warren said the plan is much broader than just OHV use.

“It’s really talking about how the public accesses its national forest,” she said.