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Bureau of Land Management Releases Draft OHV
Plan
PICKERINGTON, Ohio -- The federal
Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has released a draft strategy
that governs how off-highway vehicles (OHVs) can be used on
BLM-controlled public land, the American Motorcyclist
Association (AMA) reports.
While the strategy contains wording that supports OHV use, the
document also calls for actions that could lead to
far-reaching land closures, the AMA said.
Called the Draft National Off-Highway Vehicle Management
Strategy, the document was released Dec. 4 for public comment.
The public can comment on the plan until Jan. 3. The BLM will
issue its final version in mid-January.
"This draft strategy is aimed at recognizing the
interests of OHV users while protecting environmentally
sensitive areas on the public lands," said Henri Bisson,
the BLM's assistant director for renewable resources and
planning. "It also seeks to focus the agency's scarce
funding and staffing resources on OHV management rather than
on OHV-related litigation."
Royce Wood, AMA legislative affairs specialist, said the draft
strategy recognizes OHV use as a legitimate activity on public
land where it doesn't interfere with the agency's efforts to
protect the environment, which reaffirms the BLM's commitment
to motorized recreation.
The draft plan also seeks more consistency among agencies in
managing OHV activities, improved coordination among agencies
and better communication with the public. As part of that
effort, the plan calls for a full-time OHV coordinator in each
state BLM office, a national inter-agency coordinating group,
and state and local coordinating groups.
The document also encourages the BLM to acquire easements on
private land to provide OHV access to isolated public land.
The document notes that up to 20 percent of the BLM's existing
road system relies on private access that could be closed at
any time by the landowners.
But a major area of concern in the draft strategy, according
to Wood, is the plan's call for the BLM to limit or close
areas to OHV use on BLM-controlled land that has proposed or
listed threatened or endangered species.
"It appears that just proposing a plant to be listed as a
threatened species could be enough to close an area to
OHVs," Wood said. "We need more information on what
would trigger limiting access or a closure, and precisely how
the decisions would be made."
The strategy also calls for the BLM to focus on the use of
roads and trails for OHV use rather than allowing unregulated
open travel through an area, which could be a concern if the
BLM disallows staging areas for competitions or open training
areas for young riders.
The BLM has posted the draft strategy on its internet home
page at www.blm.gov.
Comments on the draft strategy should be submitted in writing
to: BLM OHV Strategy, U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau
of Land Management, 1849 C St., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20240
or by e-mail to ohv_comment_manager@blm.gov.
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