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Placerville, CA (May 24, 2007)
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Visitors to the Eldorado National Forest need to keep in mind that the
national forest remains under a 2005 court order that restricts wheeled
motor vehicle travel to routes identified on the Motor Vehicle
Restrictions map. Travel off of routes identified on the map is
prohibited. The restriction map is available free-of-charge at all
Eldorado National Forest offices.
Forest Supervisor Ramiro
Villalvazo says that visitors who plan to camp
outside of developed campgrounds must park their wheeled motor vehicles
on a route identified on the map, or within a reasonable distance of
the route so as not to block the travel way, create a safety hazard, or
damage vegetation and other forest resources.
"People have done a great job
adjusting to the new restrictions over
the past two years," said Villalvazo. "Visitors have generally
responded well to the restrictions as we continue to help them
understand how to comply. However, when violations of the restrictions
occur we will issue citations."
The Eldorado National Forest
continues to move forward toward
completing a new wheeled vehicle management plan that will designate a
system of routes throughout the national forest as ordered by the court
in 2005. For the past two years, the Forest Service has been developing
and evaluating a preliminary range of alternative options to manage
wheeled motorized vehicles on existing routes throughout the national
forest.
Eldorado National Forest Route
Designation Team Leader Anthony
Scardina, says that a preliminary range of alternatives was discussed
at public meetings last summer and that changes were made to these
preliminary alternatives before moving forward with the environmental
analysis.
A Draft Environmental Impact
Statement is expected to be ready for
review in early July. The Forest Service's preferred alternative will
be identified in the DEIS. The Forest Service says all of the
alternatives were developed to be consistent with current federal laws,
regulations, and policies; to create a system of routes that can be
better maintained and enforced, while providing high quality and
diverse motorized recreation opportunities; and to minimize impacts to
forest resources.
"The route designation process
has placed an emphasis on developing a
system of routes that create quality recreation experiences," said
Scardina.
A 45 day public review and
comment period will follow the official
release of the DEIS. The information learned from the public will be
evaluated by Ramiro Villalvazo who will issue his final decision before
December 31, 2007, the deadline set by the court in 2005.
Information about the route
designation process is found of the
Eldorado National Forest website at: www.fs.fed.us/eldorado.
Comments and questions can be e-mailed to eldoradoroutes@fs.fed.us.
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