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by
sweeney
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Posted to
Fishing Buddy
on 03/09/2009 10:57 AM
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Mar 07, 2009 - 04:05:51 CST
Folks driving around the Little Missouri National Grasslands will have fewer miles of road to drive on and a better grip on whether they're where they should be when the U.S. Forest Service completes a travel management plan.The agency will publish a free map to go with the plan once it's approved this fall, and ramp up signing out on the grasslands to go with it.
The public is invited to comment on the travel proposal during one of three meetings that will be held starting March 16.
The Forest Service has identified about 1,440 miles of roads and trails that will remain open to everything on wheels, including all-terrain vehicles.
It's also identified about 800 miles that will be closed under the new travel management plan, either because they don't have much value, or there's some risk associated with traveling there.
One issue is whether the road has questionable public access when it enters onto privately owned land, meaning neither the county nor the Forest Service has an easement, said district supervisor Ron Jablonski.
Some roads will be closed because they lead only to oil wells, or have steep slopes, stream crossings or are near cultural sites.
Others are being closed for wildlife and environmental concerns. Those closings are due to known golden eagle nests, grouse leks, and black-footed ferret reintroduction and bighorn sheep lambing areas.
Jablonski said roads now in the grasslands range from high standard gravel roads, down to trails made by someone during the hunting season.
He said most road conflicts occur during hunting season. "That's when the vast majority of the public is out there," he said.
Some areas of the grasslands have been closed to wheeled use since 2002, including areas that are designated as suitable for wilderness, or already in non-motorized and research areas.
The roads in the former Eberts Ranch are not included in this plan, because they're part of a separate environmental process. The Forest Service purchased the Eberts Ranch, now called the Elkhorn Ranchlands, two years ago, and is still studying how to manage the property.
The meetings on the travel management plan will be held from 3 to 7 p.m. on the following dates: March 16 at Watford City Civic Center; March 17 at the Dickinson Research Extension Center; and March 18 at the Bismarck Public Library.
Maps of the proposed road plan are at www.fs.fed.us/r1/dakotaprairie or by calling the Forest Service at 250-4443.
If you follow the to the grasslands site then scroll down and check the maps and compare them to your maps or your memory, this is gonna definately make the packs and boots get a workout. I guess i really don't mind it but i hate walking 7 miles then walk back to the truck in the dark when before you could get picked up on the end of your walk. There is a lot of trails proposed to be shut down that are prime access, to backcountry, it has it's good and bad i guess.
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