Guest Editorial OHV Righ

Environmentalist Impact on OHV Rights
This Guest Editorial is provided in the public interest and does not necessarily represent the views of the Propsect, it's staff or advertisers, though it may.

I just read today's article about the Forest Service travel
management plan. Sierra County let the plan go into effect
this February, unopposed with no appeal. Most counties appealed the
TMP but all appeals were denied by a Forest
Service Appeals Committee, which is made up of only Forest Service personnel.

I agree with the content of this article but it is not the few that
go off trail and litter that caused the TMP. The Forest
Service is made up of mostly environmentalists who believe that
public lands must be restricted for our own good.

There is an initiative being discussed by the Feds to establish a
"wildlife corridor" spanning from Oregon to Mexico.
This corridor will be restricted from any motorized travel and the
plan is to re-introduce previously extinct animals
such as wolves, wolverines and other animals. Closing vast amounts
of land are described in this proposal.

The greenies have infiltrated the entire fabric of government and
many well funded organizations that are buying up
land and closing it to all public use.

Environmentalists have run planning and transportation of Sierra
County for years. A few years ago, several of these
people left the employment of the planning department to start High
Sierra Rural Alliance.

The greenies are well funded and organized and the receive preferred
treatment by the Federal agencies to push their
agendas forward.

Those of us that favor OHV and OSV are now prepared to fight this
battle and although we late in joining the game, we
will win. The environmentalists will not have the stomach to fend
off the sustained legal and political assault that
we are staging.

OHV, OSV enthusiasts and those who favor open public land use far
outnumber the environmentalists by at at least 100 to 1.

The issue with the TMP is that it was quietly and deceptively
introduced by the Forest Service accompanied with
at least 1,200 of documentation about the yellow legged frog and
other threatened species. As a result, it went
without much notice. Also, the Forest Service refused to answer
direct questions about specific trail closures

When people find out that 80% of the Forest Service trails in Sierra
and Plumas counties are now closed to
HOV use, you can expect public outrage coupled with legal proceeds
which will make this initiative go away.

We will not give up on this. It is our land too.





Byron Baker
Sierra City