UPDATES

If you’d like to learn how to speak out for your right to quiet recreation and protect habitat for threatened and endangered species, email Cyndi Tuell or call her at (520) 623-5262, x 308.

Please check back frequently to stay up-to-date and find out how you can get involved.

Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest, Arizona

The Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest has been developing a plan to manage off-road vehicles since 2007. Unfortunately, the plan puts seven of Arizona's native fish at risk by leaving thousands of miles of roads on the ground, which will cause erosion, sedimentation and destruction of riparian areas these fish depend upon for survival. Even worse, the Forest Service plans to allow continued motorized uses of the San Francisco River, despite documented negative impacts from vehicles in the river.

In addition to leaving more than 2,300 miles of roads open for public use, the Forest Service will allow people to drive along 600-foot-wide camping corridors (the length of two football fields) to camp with their cars and RVs off of hundreds, possibly thousands, of miles of roads. This failure to protect natural resources includes about 700 miles of roads alongside streams, rivers and wetlands critical to wildlife survival in Arizona’s dry desert forests.

The Center led a broad coalition of organizations in responding to the Forest Service’s plan and we’ll continue our fight to protect rivers, threatened and endangered wildlife and plants, and quiet places in the forest. Groups in the coalition include the Grand Canyon Wildlands Council, the Grand Canyon Chapter of the Sierra Club, the White Mountain Conservation League, Great Old Broads for Wilderness, the Arizona Zoological Society, Defenders of Wildlife, the Grand Canyon Wolf Recovery Project, New Mexico Wilderness Alliance, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, Sky Island Alliance, the Southwest Environmental Center and WildEarth Guardians.

A decision on this forest was expected in July 2011 but has been delayed due to the Wallow Fire; it’s now expected in December 2012. The Center is encouraging the Forest Service to make a decision quickly or ban driving off-road now to protect natural resources that were affected by the fire. It’s especially critical to protect the San Francisco River from motorized mayhem as soon as possible.

You can help by contacting the Forest Service and letting the agency know that the proposed route in the San Francisco River (road 212-1) is unacceptable and should be closed immediately. Let them know you don’t support turning our rivers into motorized playgrounds. Ask the Forest Service to make a decision on the Travel Management Plan as quickly as possible. You can call the Forest Supervisor’s office at (928) 333-4301 or email Tami Conner at tamiconner@fs.fed.us. More information from the Forest Service is available here.

Learn more about the native fish threatened by the plan:
Gila chub
Razorback sucker
Spikedace
Loach minnow
Roundtail chub

And read our Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest factsheet.

Carson National Forest, New Mexico

The Carson National Forest is home to Wheeler Peak, the highest peak in New Mexico, as well as more than 86,000 acres of wilderness and river otters, lynx, elk, antelopes, black bears, mountain lions, bighorn sheep and Rio Grande cutthroat trout. Its 400-plus miles of mountain streams may be at risk unless you get involved in travel-management planning and ask the Forest to protect species habitat and riparian ecosystems.

Our members and activists have been a critical part of protecting the wildlife in the Carson National Forest. More than 3,500 of you contacted the Forest back in July 2009 and demanded it release documents that identified the impacts to wildlife from the Forest’s proposal for all districts. Thanks to your hard work, we were able to use this information in our letters to the Forest Service, forcing the agency to take a hard look at the serious negative impacts of ORV use. The planning process is complete on the Jicarilla, Westside, and Questa ranger districts; you can check out maps of the decisions here. The Questa Ranger District is one of the only districts that analyzed impacts to the watershed using a soil erosion model.Unfortunately, the model showed that their decision will add 53 tons of sediment to streams, including streams in the Red River watershed, which are already impaired. The Center and Amigos Bravos have appealed the decision and we hope the Forest Service will consider permanently closing some routes to offset the amount of sediment impacting our water and native fish.

It’s important to stay involved as the process moves forward in the Camino Real Ranger District. We need you to get out into the forest and take pictures of roads that are eroded and polluting streams. Tell us about experiences you’ve had in the forest that were ruined by off-roaders, and we’ll let you know if there are any new developments.
 
Contact the Forest and ask to be notified of upcoming meetings and the progress of travel planning: Jack Carpenter, Carson National Forest NEPA planning coordinator, (575) 758-6221, carson_trvl_mgt@fs.fed.us.

Read our Carson National Forest factsheet.

Coconino National Forest, Arizona

The Coconino National Forest, near Flagstaff, has released a decision on which roads will be left open after more than five years of looking at the local impacts of ORVs. Based on the recommended “minimum road system” of more than 4,000 miles, it will be difficult for forest visitors to get more than a mile away from any road in this forest. Wildlife will continue to struggle to survive.

We’ve asked the Forest Service to do more to protect wildlife habitat, watershed health and a quiet forest for future generations. We have appealed this decision and  we hope the Forest Service will recognize their obligation to apply the requirements to minimize the serious negative impacts of off-road vehicle uses on natural resources and other forest users. Unfortunately, the motorized vehicle industry is closely watching this forest, too. The Blue Ribbon Coalition, Motorcycle Industry Council and Specialty Vehicle Institute of America. You can read their appeal here.

Read our Coconino National Forest factsheet.

Kaibab National Forest, Arizona

The Kaibab National Forest is conducting travel planning on each ranger district separately. Forest Service documents indicate that, forest-wide, the Kaibab can afford just 20 percent of the roads currently in the forest, yet management is proposing thousands of miles of roads and will reward illegal behavior by designating user-created routes as part of the system.

The more than 3,400-mile road system in this Arizona forest is completely out of control, with more than three miles of road for every square mile of land. The Center and a broad coalition of conservation organizations gave the Forest Service detailed recommendations asking for protection of wildlife habitat and corridors, as well as clean water and air.

Unfortunately, managers of the Kaibab National Forest continue to believe that letting hunters drive for a mile off nearly every open road is a wise management choice, and nearly every other Forest in Arizona plans to follow their lead. The decisions for the Williams and Tusayan ranger districts have already been made, and they are available on the Forest’s website. These decisions allow cross-country driving for up to one mile so that hunters on ATVs can pick up their downed game. The Center believes hunters should pick up their game the old-fashioned way — and the way that protects habitat so future generations can also enjoy the hunt.

After an appeal by the Center and allies, the Tusayan Ranger District was told to take another look at an ill-conceived ORV plan that would allow hunters off-road access to almost the entire forest. The district released its second attempt at justifying its ill-conceived plan with another decision on Jan. 31, 2011. You can read the plan decision for this district here. One good outcome of the decision is that driving the length of a football field to car camp is no longer an option, which protects thousands of acres for quiet camping. However, the plan fell far short of actually protecting the land.

Unfortunately the Williams Ranger District has followed the unwise decisions of the Tusayan. The final decision leaves open nearly the entire forest for motorized game retrieval for elk. We’re excited that the Forest Service wisely decided to eliminate car-camping corridors, including routes close to the Kendrick and Sycamore Wilderness. Thanks to your help, the Forest Service made the right decision on this issue. In August 2010, the Center appealed the decision for this district with the hope that we would convince the Forest Service to make some substantive changes that would actually protect natural resources. We’re happy to report that the Forest Service has agreed that user-created roads can’t be added to the system without the Forest Service taking a hard look at the impacts of those roads, and accurate information must be provided to the public.

The North Kaibab Ranger District, which borders Grand Canyon National Park to the north and covers more than 648,000 acres, released its Proposed Action and Travel Analysis Report in March 2010. The analysis of its ORV plan was released on April 25, 2011. We expect a decision from this district in early 2012 and will post information about it here as soon as it is available.

Coronado National Forest, Arizona

The Coronado National Forest released its off-road management plan for the Santa Catalina Ranger District in March 2009. The plan leaves more than 30 miles of unauthorized routes on the ground, but fortunately only adds a few miles of new routes. The Center repeatedly asked the Forest Service to reduce the number of off-road vehicle routes in the Santa Catalina Mountains to protect habitat for lowland leopard frogs, the Mexican spotted owl, northern goshawk, desert tortoise, Gila chub and lesser long-nosed bat. Some of the routes in this area are more than 75 feet wide — see a photo.

Despite the fact that the Forest can afford to maintain just 9 percent of its current roads, in the Nogales Ranger District it also plans to increase the number of roads, especially in the area near the U.S.-Mexico border. We’ve asked the Forest Service to take another look at how many miles of roads are really necessary in this district, which is also home to the Chiricahua leopard frog, Mexican spotted owl and ocelot, as well as the site of a proposed addition to the Pajarita Wilderness Area and six “inventoried roadless areas.”  The area where the most routes are proposed to be added is near the known home range of Macho B, the last known jaguar to inhabit the United States, and critical wildlife corridors between the United States and Mexico.

You can read the plans for the Santa Catalina Mountains and Nogales Ranger District here. However, this forest has taken the unusual step of publishing its Motor Vehicle Use Maps in the middle of the planning process and is developing a collaborative group to make decisions on additional changes right now. The Center will continue to stay engaged to ensure that the Forest Service prioritizes watershed and wildlife protection over a perceived need for more roads in an area already hard-hit by drought, fire and grazing, but we also need you to get involved. There will be meetings throughout February and March 2012, and we need people who care about wildlife and quiet forests to show up and speak out for the Mexican gray wolf, the jaguar, the Mexican spotted owl and Arizona’s native fish. You can see a complete list of the upcoming meetings here.

The Center continues to work hard to protect the plants, wildlife and people who use the Coronado National Forest. You can read a recent local news story here.

Gila National Forest, New Mexico

The heavily watered Burros area of the Gila National Forest offers a critical link for wildlife passing from one of New Mexico’s Sky Islands to the next. Recently, the Center asked the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to designate the entire Gila National Forest as jaguar critical habitat.

The Center and the Upper Gila Watershed Alliance have joined forces to monitor travel management in the Gila. We’ve repeatedly asked the Gila to protect the San Francisco River from off-road vehicles, and with your help it appears our efforts were successful. The draft environmental impact statement for this forest has six alternatives, and three of them do not include the motorized use of the San Francisco River. This includes the Forest’s “preferred alternative,” which means there’s a good chance the San Francisco River will be protected.

More than 2,000 Center members and activist signed our letter to the Gila National Forest asking it to protect the San Francisco River and implement Alternative E — the only alternative that minimizes the impacts of roads and ORV use in the forest. We expect a decision from this forest in March of 2012. The Forest recently posted information on the comments received here.  

Cibola National Forest, New Mexico

The Cibola is developing its travel-management plans by ranger district. This is one of the few forests in the Southwest making improvements to the road system and improving wildlife habitat.

The Mount Taylor Ranger District appears to be a sacrifice zone, with the Forest Service choosing motorized recreation over resource protection; the agency plans to add 163 new miles of motorized routes to the road system. Our press release outlines the environmental and fiscal irresponsibility of this plan. We need you to contact the Forest Service and let it know that adding more roads to an already oversized route system is irresponsible, especially in these lean financial times. Make sure the Service knows that quiet forest experiences are what most forest visitors, including you, seek out. Don’t let the Forest Service sacrifice the Mount Taylor Ranger District to monied motorized interests.

The Mountainair Ranger District recently released a second analysis of its comprehensive plan to protect species habitat, riparian areas and your right to enjoy a quiet forest. You can read the decision, plan and analysis here. This district can afford to maintain just 9 percent of its current roads, and more than a third of its roads are causing damage. Fortunately, the district now plans to reduce its open motorized-route system from more than 470 miles to fewer than 200. We once again need you to speak up to protect the Mexican spotted owl, Rocky Mountains bighorn sheep, bald eagle and northern goshawk — not to mention quiet hiking trails — in this district. Please take the time to contact this Forest and support the significant reduction in motorized routes found in Alternative 4. The Center and our partners submitted comments in October 2011.

There is still time to get involved in the Magdalena Ranger District planning process even though the district released its proposal to manage ORVs and roads more than a year ago. The Forest Service has removed all the documents related to the Magdalena Ranger District’s plan. As soon as the district releases its analysis of their proposal or reposts any related documents, we’ll post the information here.

Please stay tuned — this Forest has a ranger district at every step in the travel-management process, and it’s never too late to get involved. Rest assured that the Center will take a close look at each and every plan and make sure the public knows whether it goes far enough to protect threatened and endangered species and how you can help.

Santa Fe National Forest, New Mexico

The Santa Fe has taken a good first step toward remedying damage from more than 30 years of overuse by motorized vehicles, but more needs to be done, and ORV advocacy groups have continued to pressure the Forest Service to expand the already-excessive and often unauthorized motorized-vehicle route system. The recent Los Conchas fire has damaged the Jemez Mountains, and we asked the Forest Service to choose Alternative 3 and to make a decision on this forest in 2011. Unfortunately, the agency has chosen to wait until March of 2012 to implement protections this forest desperately needs now.

We applaud the activism in the Santa Fe area that has lead to a potentially good plan for this forest, and we encourage everyone to continue to speak to the Santa Fe National Forest and other public officials about the destructive nature of unmanaged off-road vehicle use in our forests.

Read our Santa Fe National Forest factsheet.

Tonto National Forest, Arizona

At more than 2.8 million acres, the Tonto National Forest is one of the country’s largest national forests, encompassing the Sonoran desert as well as mixed conifer and ponderosa pine ecosystems. There are 4,290 “official” roads on the Tonto and countless more that have been created by people driving off-road vehicles in fragile areas, which will show the scars of this abuse for decades to come.

The long-awaited plan to finally manage ORV use and get a handle on a road system for the Tonto — which is as long as a drive to Florida and back from Phoenix — unfortunately does very little to protect natural resources, including habitat for threatened and endangered species such as the Mexican spotted owl, the southwestern willow flycatcher and the cougar. These species survive in the midst of Arizona’s largest urban area, despite more than 1 million visitors on off-road vehicles each year, and we need the Forest Service to do more to protect this rare gem of the Southwest.

In September and October 2010, the EPA issued notices making it clear that air quality is a grave concern in and around this forest, and we’re hopeful that the Forest Service will heed the EPA’s warnings and do more to reduce the amount of dust and exhaust that result from oversized road systems. We have pointed out the air-quality problems with this Forest’s ORV plan, and the Forest Service is now taking a very hard look at whether all the roads it’s planning to keep are truly necessary.

The draft environmental analysis was released to the public on Jan. 6, 2012, for a very short 30-day comment period. The Forest Service has taken the very unusual step of extending the comment period for an additional 30 days, making comments due March 5, 2012. Please take the time to review the plan, look at the maps and speak out for the Tonto. Let the Forest Service know that protecting species, clean water and clean air is important. We also need people out on the ground, checking the new routes that the Forest Service is planning to add. If you’d like information about which routes are causing the most problems and need your boots on the ground, please contact Cyndi Tuell at ctuell@biologicaldiversity.org. You can also read our press release to find out just how bad this plan is.

NATIONAL FOREST SERVICE INFORMATION

Arizona
Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest
Coconino National Forest
Coronado National Forest
Kaibab National Forest
Tonto National Forest
Prescott National Forest

New Mexico
Gila National Forest
Carson National Forest
Cibola National Forest
Lincoln National Forest
Santa Fe National Forest