Posted by MoparNorm on Friday, September 19, 2003 at 9:23AM :
In Reply to: Re: Hey John Eickhof , Look at ........... posted by Paul(in NY) on Friday, September 19, 2003 at 7:53AM :
Hi Paul,
I can't answer for John, but in CA the Forest Service has a diminished budget for grading the roads (too busy collecting Adventure Pass fees for visitors using "public" lands??). Once the two wheel drive service trucks can no longer reach the outhouses at the camps and day use areas, the Forest Service considers the area inacessable and closes the area to use. Sort of a defacto sierra club closure?
Because of this alarming tread, off-road groups, clubs and concerned conservationist (notice I did not say environmentalists) have banded together to form the "Adopt-a-trail" program, cleaning up and servicing areas where the Forest Service no longer has a will or the means to maintain them. The upside to this is that most roads have been adopted by Off-Road and Jeep clubs, maintaining the roads and trails as 'black diamond' trails for off-road use only, this prevents the Forest Service from closing un-maintained roads and allows us to play with our vehicles in areas that were originally intended to be mixed use areas, not closed only for the use of backpackers. We have teamed up with advocates from handicaped orginizations and are also attempting to use the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) to keep areas open for exploration by vehicle, so that these hiking only areas can be opened up to use by all Americans to see and experience Americas outdoor beauty.
MN