Montana Fat-Assed ATV Riders Lose Another Area to Ride

[JoseCuervo]

Looks like "Edjumacation" doesn't work with the Fat-Assed ATV crowd, so the only answer is shutting down areas to motorized vehicles.


It is interesting how after "Sexton said the agency used information it gathered through an extensive public review period in the late 1990s to develop the proposal" the answer comes out to shut the ATVs down. It seems like one could infer the "public" does not really want to see a bunch of ATVs creating their own trails.

Whitetail-Pipestone plans move forward

DILLON – The Forest Service is trying again to come up with a plan to manage travel in one of Butte’s favorite backyard recreation hotspots – the Whitetail-Pipestone area.


The agency manages about 230,000 acres in the area, located between Butte, Whitetail and Boulder. It’s popular with hikers, mountain bikers, motorcyclists, four-wheelers, horsemen, rock climbers and other outdoor recreationalists.


“The area gets a lot of use,” said Terry Sexton, Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest Jefferson District Ranger. “There are a lot of user-created trails proliferating over the area ... we can’t manage them all.”


Last week, the agency sent letters to 450 people who’ve expressed interest in the future management of the Whitetail-Pipestone area.


The letter outlines the changes being considered, including closing 78 miles of roads to motorized travel, rerouting motorized trails for safety reasons, and designating most trails in the inventoried roadless area as non-motorized.


Sexton said the agency used information it gathered through an extensive public review period in the late 1990s to develop the proposal.


Revising travel management for the area started in 1995 as a joint effort by both the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management. At that time, concern was raised about increased user-created trails, which had the potential of causing erosion, spreading noxious weeds and damaging cultural sites. The Forest Service withdrew from the joint travel management project in 2000, citing budgetary reasons.


In 2001, the regional forester made a statewide decision that motorized users had to stay on existing roads and trails. That decision also directed each national forest to prioritize areas most in need of travel management. The Whitetail-Pipestone is one of three areas chosen by Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest officials and is the first to begin developing a site-specific plan.


Meanwhile, the BLM has since implemented its own plan for travel management on the 28,000 acres it manages in the area. The BLM’s plan closed about 30 miles of non-essential roads to motorized travel. The Forest Service plans to match its new proposed trail system with BLM system trails.


As for the proposed road closures, Sexton said most don’t really contribute to what most motorized recreationists are searching out – either loop roads or those that lead to a destination. Many are user-constructed and aren’t used frequently.


“We took a hard look at what we had out there and tried to come up with a balance,” said Sexton. “We don’t think that anyone is going to have to give up having a good experience after we close these roads.”


The new travel management plan will also incorporate an upcoming decision on the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail, a portion of which goes through Whitetail-Pipestone area. The national direction for the trail is non-motorized. A portion of the Continental Divide trail follows the Nez Perce Trail in the Whitetail-Pipestone area. That trail is motorized. The agency proposes to redesignate that portion of the trail as a non-motorized route.