coueskiller
New Member
- Messages
- 0
Arizona sporstmen,
You're about to lose many of your roads plus several other privileges you've come to think of as rights.
Preservationists whose natural habitat is the public meeting room are about to take away 75% of the roads you've been using to hunt on. And they're getting considerable help from inside the forest service.
The story below from the Flagstaff paper pertains to the Kaibab forest. But right now there are forest planning meetings going on all over the state, and resulting increased restrictions will soon be coming to a forest near you.
Want to do something about it? Find out where your forest's planning meetings are being held, especially the travel management meetings. (My nearest forest, Coronado, has not yet announced the first travel meetings, but they're coming up soon.)
Don't expect your game and fish department to win this fight for you. Forest Service listens to them, but they listen better to your Congressman and to members of the public who speak up.
The preservationists are coordinating their efforts all over the state. Unless you're ready to experience the outdoors on their terms, you'd better get off your backsides and get involved.
I'll post more in the future as I get specifics on travel meetings. Don't let me and a few Game & Fish folks be the only ones attending and fighting for your interests. Now read the story below to get a feel for what's coming.
Forest road closures spark clash
By CYNDY COLE
Sun Staff Reporter
Wednesday, October 11, 2006 11:05 AM CDT
Game and Fish says a proposal to close hundreds of miles of forest roads southeast of Flagstaff is overblown
The Coconino National Forest should propose 100,000 acres of new wilderness along Clear and Chevelon creeks and close hundreds of miles of dirt roads southeast of Flagstaff in a crucial bid to protect wildlife, one conservation group has said.
Game and Fish officials say the concern for nonendangered wildlife is overblown.
As forest planners weigh road closures amid a national directive and a $40.2 million road maintenance backlog, the Grand Canyon Wildlands Council has proposed setting aside 30 special reserves for mule deer, pronghorn antelope, black bears, mountain lions and prairie dogs.
The group would like to see up to 75 percent of the dirt roads closed along some parts of the Mogollon Rim, including multiple routes that end at the same destination.
They blame to roads for fragmenting the landscape, spreading invasive weeds and wildlife disturbance.
"We're going to have to make some changes in how we manage public land if we want to continue to have pronghorn, mountain lion, antelope and bear," said Kim Crumbo, of the Wildlands Council.
Local Game and Fish officials disagree with his dire assessment.
Closing the smaller dirt roads won't likely do a lot to eliminate the road kill more common to larger highways and freeways, said Game and Fish Regional Supervisor Ron Sieg.
"I really just don't see those little two-track roads being much of an impact," he said.
And there are already driving and other restrictions in place for the few animals that have been deemed threatened or struggling -- northern goshawks, Mexican spotted owls and pronghorn antelope.
The proposed wildlife reserves would dot Anderson Mesa and run southeast to the Tonto and Sitgreaves national forests, helping to establish statewide wildlife corridors from eastern Arizona to the Grand Canyon.
"There's still a lot of roads for people to drive around on, but we say this is one of the most biologically diverse areas in the state," Crumbo said.
Global tracking has shown the pronghorn to be more adversely impacted by roads than any other animal, local Game and Fish biologist Rick Miller has found.
When a new fence goes up next to a highway, the pronghorn won't jump over, Miller said.
Their migration patterns are believed to have changed as a result.
The Kaibab and Coconino forests are both planning road restrictions for upcoming years.
The Tusayan District of the Kaibab has gone first, but nothing's changed yet.
Whatever is decided there could mean major changes for hunters, Sieg said.
If hunters are limited to a few main roads and not allowed to allowed to drive cross-country, camping sites in popular areas could be packed.
Cyndy Cole can be reached at 913-8607 or at [email protected].
If you go...
Travel Management Planning Meeting
Date: Saturday, Oct. 14
Where: Main Lobby of Coconino High School, Flagstaff
Time: 1-4 p.m.
What to expect: The October meetings will focus on informing the public
about the Travel Management Rule and on how to effectively take part in the
Travel Management process.
On display: Maps of existing motorized trail system and initial suggestions for changes to that system; the major natural resource concerns related to motorized travel; and the fiscal and
management constraints the Forest Service faces in maintaining the motorized routes.
You're about to lose many of your roads plus several other privileges you've come to think of as rights.
Preservationists whose natural habitat is the public meeting room are about to take away 75% of the roads you've been using to hunt on. And they're getting considerable help from inside the forest service.
The story below from the Flagstaff paper pertains to the Kaibab forest. But right now there are forest planning meetings going on all over the state, and resulting increased restrictions will soon be coming to a forest near you.
Want to do something about it? Find out where your forest's planning meetings are being held, especially the travel management meetings. (My nearest forest, Coronado, has not yet announced the first travel meetings, but they're coming up soon.)
Don't expect your game and fish department to win this fight for you. Forest Service listens to them, but they listen better to your Congressman and to members of the public who speak up.
The preservationists are coordinating their efforts all over the state. Unless you're ready to experience the outdoors on their terms, you'd better get off your backsides and get involved.
I'll post more in the future as I get specifics on travel meetings. Don't let me and a few Game & Fish folks be the only ones attending and fighting for your interests. Now read the story below to get a feel for what's coming.
Forest road closures spark clash
By CYNDY COLE
Sun Staff Reporter
Wednesday, October 11, 2006 11:05 AM CDT
Game and Fish says a proposal to close hundreds of miles of forest roads southeast of Flagstaff is overblown
The Coconino National Forest should propose 100,000 acres of new wilderness along Clear and Chevelon creeks and close hundreds of miles of dirt roads southeast of Flagstaff in a crucial bid to protect wildlife, one conservation group has said.
Game and Fish officials say the concern for nonendangered wildlife is overblown.
As forest planners weigh road closures amid a national directive and a $40.2 million road maintenance backlog, the Grand Canyon Wildlands Council has proposed setting aside 30 special reserves for mule deer, pronghorn antelope, black bears, mountain lions and prairie dogs.
The group would like to see up to 75 percent of the dirt roads closed along some parts of the Mogollon Rim, including multiple routes that end at the same destination.
They blame to roads for fragmenting the landscape, spreading invasive weeds and wildlife disturbance.
"We're going to have to make some changes in how we manage public land if we want to continue to have pronghorn, mountain lion, antelope and bear," said Kim Crumbo, of the Wildlands Council.
Local Game and Fish officials disagree with his dire assessment.
Closing the smaller dirt roads won't likely do a lot to eliminate the road kill more common to larger highways and freeways, said Game and Fish Regional Supervisor Ron Sieg.
"I really just don't see those little two-track roads being much of an impact," he said.
And there are already driving and other restrictions in place for the few animals that have been deemed threatened or struggling -- northern goshawks, Mexican spotted owls and pronghorn antelope.
The proposed wildlife reserves would dot Anderson Mesa and run southeast to the Tonto and Sitgreaves national forests, helping to establish statewide wildlife corridors from eastern Arizona to the Grand Canyon.
"There's still a lot of roads for people to drive around on, but we say this is one of the most biologically diverse areas in the state," Crumbo said.
Global tracking has shown the pronghorn to be more adversely impacted by roads than any other animal, local Game and Fish biologist Rick Miller has found.
When a new fence goes up next to a highway, the pronghorn won't jump over, Miller said.
Their migration patterns are believed to have changed as a result.
The Kaibab and Coconino forests are both planning road restrictions for upcoming years.
The Tusayan District of the Kaibab has gone first, but nothing's changed yet.
Whatever is decided there could mean major changes for hunters, Sieg said.
If hunters are limited to a few main roads and not allowed to allowed to drive cross-country, camping sites in popular areas could be packed.
Cyndy Cole can be reached at 913-8607 or at [email protected].
If you go...
Travel Management Planning Meeting
Date: Saturday, Oct. 14
Where: Main Lobby of Coconino High School, Flagstaff
Time: 1-4 p.m.
What to expect: The October meetings will focus on informing the public
about the Travel Management Rule and on how to effectively take part in the
Travel Management process.
On display: Maps of existing motorized trail system and initial suggestions for changes to that system; the major natural resource concerns related to motorized travel; and the fiscal and
management constraints the Forest Service faces in maintaining the motorized routes.
