Adding trails for ATVs and side by sides will help preserve trails meant for two wheeled riders.
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Farmington Field Office, has proposed creating 38 miles of trail for ATVs in the Glade Run Recreation Area. As proposed, the 38-mile ATV trail would require minimal creation of new trails. Initial estimates map only three new miles of trail needed to connect existing trails, washes and dirt roadways that together would create the new loop. As proposed, the new route would prohibit Jeeps from using the full trail loop.
While the BLM has established numerous multi-use trails in the Glade, intended for hiking, horseback riding and biking, only a small fraction of the Glade paths permit ATV use. As ATVs have become an increasingly popular hobby in the Farmington area, riders have found limited trail-ways and often have turned onto bike paths or begun making new tracks.
The BLM hopes the large new trail will reduce the number of four-wheeled vehicles traveling on trails currently designated only for bicycles and motorbikes. Users of the Glade Run single-track trail have expressed concern that ATV use of the smaller route is widening the narrow pathway and damaging the condition of the trail.
Archeological and environmental surveys must be conducted on the proposed route before the trail can formally be designated for use by traditional ATVs and the wider ATVs known as Side by Sides.
An Environmental Assessment (EA) will be released for comment and available on their website at
http://www.blm.gov/nm/st/en/fo/Farmington_Field_Office.html, later in the year.
