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ATV Source.com
is actively promoting ATVing by stepping forward
to become an active spokesperson for our sport.
Please read the letter below that we sent to
Chief
Dombeck our
President,
and
Vice
President. You can voice your opinion and discuss
this issue with other ATVers in our
Land and Environment Forum. As well, please
take ten minutes of your time and send a letter
stating your position.
ATV Source.com Letter of Intent:
Dear Chief Dombeck:
As an active spokesperson for the ATVing Community,
ATV Source.com would like to comment and make several
suggestions on the Notice of Intent (NOI) published
on October 19, 1999 on pages 56306 and 56307 (FR
Doc. 99-27300). ATV Source.com represents
the All-Terrain Vehicle off-road Internet Community
from across our great nation and from around the
world.
ATV recreation is an important form of recreation.
Our sport allows its participants to enjoy the natural
beauty of America's public lands. This form
of recreation is continuing to grow at a record
pace, is quickly becoming an acceptable form of
recreation, and is a family-oriented recreational
sport. We support, promote, and practice the
"Tread Lightly" policy. We believe in sharing trails
and respect & support the use of our public lands
by other recreationists.
We request a sixty-day extension (for a total of
120 days) on the comment period for this NOI. The
issues before the Forest Service and the general
public are too great and poses inadequate amount
of time to consider the implications of the alternatives
the Forest Service presents. We believe the public
needs to be informed of the importance of the national
forest road system and the access it provides for
activities that benefit ecosystem sustainability.
Such as forest health issues and access for fire-fighting
activities. There may be times when the Forest Service
will need to build a road into a "roadless" area.
In fact, there are many recent examples of the Forest
Service building roads into "roadless" areas for
fire-fighting purposes. This proposal would prevent
that access, and the condition of the forest would
suffer. This is irresponsible stewardship of our
national forests.
We believe all decisions about the status of inventoried
and un-inventoried "roadless" areas should be made
through the forest planning process, at the State
Level. This is the appropriate level for all such
decisions. A rulemaking process that could
affect all "roadless" areas through one national
decision cannot address the unique forest conditions
of each individual "roadless" area. This rulemaking
process is contradictory to the Forest Service’s
emphasis on collaborative decision-making, the Forest
Service planning process, and forest management
in general.
In addition to being inconsistent with the Forest
Service's planning process, this proposal would
overturn existing forest plans, some of which have
been developed quite recently. This is unacceptable.
Citizens from all over the nation have worked and
are currently working to create their local (State)
public forest plans. Our understanding is
that this process costs millions of dollars to develop
and through this "Memorandum On Roadless Areas"
decision these plans could become useless.
Thus, wasting Forest Service and the Public's time
and money.
We ask that the process include a fair evaluation
of the need for motorized recreation and the existing
level of use and that the decision-making be based
on meeting those needs. We are concerned
about the cumulative loss of motorized recreational
opportunities at a time when we need to maintain
a diversity of recreational opportunities. We ask
that the document include a fair evaluation of the
cumulative loss of motorized recreational opportunities
and that the decision-making consider correcting
this overall loss of motorized recreational opportunities.
We request that the process includes an evaluation
of all motorized recreational opportunities including
the need for motorized recreational opportunities
(number of people who benefit and enjoy), social
and economic benefits (importance of a healthy human
environment), environmental justice (equitable balance
of opportunities), and cultural (responsibility
to protect local values and character, motorized
recreationist's values and cultural diversity).
The 1996 Recreation Roundtable Survey found that;
People who recreate on a regular basis, or for whom
outdoor recreation was important while growing up,
are more likely than all others to be completely
satisfied with their lives... Reasons for participating
in outdoor recreation reflect a commitment to family
life and personal fitness. The number one reason
for participating is "to have fun" (76%) and other
key recreational motivators include "relaxation"
(71%), "health and exercise" (70%), "family togetherness"
(68%) and "stress reduction" (66%). Over the last
year, the top recreational activity has been pleasure
driving, done by 40% of the public. As these reasons
indicate, we must provide recreational opportunities
for everyone.
We understand there are conflicts between multiple
user groups and accept that everyone has their own
opinions, but we feel the Forest Service should
address this issue as "diversity conflict" which
exists in every form of multi-use recreation.
To provide non-motorized experiences we have designated
and set-aside wilderness/non-motorized use areas.
Just as motorized recreationists do not expect to
be able to use motorized vehicles in wilderness/non-motorized
use areas, non-motorized enthusiasts should not
expect to go to multiple-use areas and experience
wilderness conditions. It is unrealistic and
unreasonable for any recreationalist to assume all
motorize noise can be eliminated from their outdoor
recreational activities. Therefore, it is
not reasonable to expect absolute quiet in areas
intended for multiple-use by the public. In
order to be equitable, multiple-use areas should
be managed to provide a diversity of use and all
recreationists should be expected to respect and
accept each other.
Opportunities for motorized recreationists are disappearing
while non-motorized users are enjoying a growth
of opportunities. New wilderness/non-motorized opportunities
created through enactment of motorized closures
must include the creation of new motorized recreational
opportunities in order to offset the loss of motorized
recreational opportunities, meet the needs of motorized
recreationists, provide equal opportunities for
motorized recreationists and to avoid imposing significant
impacts on motorized recreationists.
The vast majority of ATV recreationalsts respect
the natural beauty of this country and the Earth.
That is part of the reason why we enjoy and recreate
on off-road trails in the first place.
In closing, we oppose the creation of new "roadless"
areas. We support all existing motorized recreational
opportunities on our public lands and encourage
you to develop additional motorized recreational
opportunities.
Thank you for your time and consideration of this
matter.
Sincerely,
ATV Source.com
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