CANCELLED BY FOREST SERVICE
The United States Forest Service made the decision to withdraw the Lemon Gulch Proposal from consideration, effectively blocking the project from proceeding. Additionally, the final Environmental Assessment was released, and can be found here.
COTA is extremely dismayed by the Forest Service's decision, especially considering ~75% of the public comments were in support of the project. Which is an enormous margin by today's standards. A few small interest groups ultimately capitulated the Forest Service and their decision making. Misinformation about the project, and its impacts, influenced opponents of the project in a completely misguided way. We fully support everyone having a voice, and being able to voice their concerns about new projects. What we will not stand for is the spread of misinformation and deception of the public.
There is a huge lack of non-motorized trail access in the Ochoco National Forest. The Forest Service's 1990 forest management plan calls for 468 miles of non-motorized trails on the 850,000-acre forest; there are only 156 miles of trails currently (33% of that goal). Of those 156 miles, mountain bikers can only access 112 miles. The Forest Service initially came to the Ochoco Trails coalition to come up with a plan to achieve this goal, with multiple stakeholders. Had it been completed, the Lemon Gulch trail system would have included trails for bikers, equestrians, and hikers, all in one area. The Forest Service's refusal to honor the recommendations of the Ochoco Trails coalition is a huge blow. The Environmental Assessment did not come back with any threats, and we encourage everyone to read through it themselves to make a proper judgement call.
The Lemon Gulch trail system was one piece of a master plan by the Ochoco Trails coalition to increase non-motorized access and relieve user conflict on existing trails. We hope to continue our partnership with the Forest Service and stakeholders to achieve these goals in the future.
COTA is extremely dismayed by the Forest Service's decision, especially considering ~75% of the public comments were in support of the project. Which is an enormous margin by today's standards. A few small interest groups ultimately capitulated the Forest Service and their decision making. Misinformation about the project, and its impacts, influenced opponents of the project in a completely misguided way. We fully support everyone having a voice, and being able to voice their concerns about new projects. What we will not stand for is the spread of misinformation and deception of the public.
There is a huge lack of non-motorized trail access in the Ochoco National Forest. The Forest Service's 1990 forest management plan calls for 468 miles of non-motorized trails on the 850,000-acre forest; there are only 156 miles of trails currently (33% of that goal). Of those 156 miles, mountain bikers can only access 112 miles. The Forest Service initially came to the Ochoco Trails coalition to come up with a plan to achieve this goal, with multiple stakeholders. Had it been completed, the Lemon Gulch trail system would have included trails for bikers, equestrians, and hikers, all in one area. The Forest Service's refusal to honor the recommendations of the Ochoco Trails coalition is a huge blow. The Environmental Assessment did not come back with any threats, and we encourage everyone to read through it themselves to make a proper judgement call.
The Lemon Gulch trail system was one piece of a master plan by the Ochoco Trails coalition to increase non-motorized access and relieve user conflict on existing trails. We hope to continue our partnership with the Forest Service and stakeholders to achieve these goals in the future.
MORE INFO
MEDIA
|
| ||||||||||
