Learn what the US Forest Service has planned for off-highway trails for public lands and how it may affect where you ride.
The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) is holding informational sessions around the country to discuss their proposed Forest Planning Rule. Anyone interested in learning more about what is contained in the proposed rule and how it could affect recreational access to Forest Service land is encouraged to attend. The Forest Planning Rule is a critical step in managing our public lands and will provide direction for individual forests and grasslands in the development of their multi-year plans for future actions and projects.
While there may be a limited opportunity to ask questions of USFS officials, it is important to note that nothing will be officially submitted for the record at these meetings.
Each meeting will be a few hours in length and offers the chance for responsible motorized recreationists to assert their presence in the Planning Rule process. Anyone that is interested in learning about the Planning Rule can
click here to visit the USFS dedicated website to the issue. There you can read the rule, the draft environmental impact statement (DEIS), as well as review the blog discussions and get detailed background on the process thus far.
If you are interested in attending one of the informational sessions, a draft schedule is available by
clicking here. We encourage you to contact the person listed for more information for each meeting in order to confirm this schedule has not changed.
The American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) participated in the national forum, held in Washington, D.C., and hopes the motorized recreation community continues this involvement by attending these regional meetings. If you wish to submit official comments into the record on the draft planning rule, these meetings are a good place to start in order to hear the USFS perspective on the current language.
Additionally, while time for questions will be limited, the USFS has developed a public system for exchanging questions and responses ahead of the deadline for official comments. You can send any questions you do not get the opportunity to ask to at the meetings to:
questions@merid.org. The due date for official comments is May 16, 2011. Instructions on how to submit those can be found on the USFS Planning Rule website linked above.
For more information on how the AMA works to maintain motorized recreation on public lands, please visit our website at
AmericanMotorcyclist.com.
