For these reasons, the federal government established the Travel Management Plan rule over 20 years ago, creating a framework for the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management to make recreation (aka travel) management decisions that balance different needs, reduce conflicts between groups, and protect watersheds and wildlife habitat. The rule also directs the agencies to specify how the management will be implemented so the public is informed and has the tools to comply with the plan.
Locally, we see Travel Management Plans in the form of Motor Vehicle Use Maps, defining what areas are open to motorized vehicles across the San Juan National Forest, from Dolores to Pagosa. There are also region-specific plans taking into account unique habitat and conditions in the Rico-West Dolores and Mancos-Cortez regions. As with many best-laid plans, the management plan is an imperfect system, but it remains the single best tool for land managers to holistically evaluate landscape health in conjunction with a range of recreational uses.
Unfortunately, a few well-funded, single-minded organizations have gained political influence and are taking strategic steps to end the Travel Management rule as we know it. Their aim is to open up nearly all public lands to motorized access, majorly reducing protections for wildlife and ecosystems as well as increasing the likelihood of conflict with other public land users. This rollback has been moving forward at alarming pace, not through public process but through backdoor legislative maneuvers, internal directives and burying updates in arcane regulatory publications.
For those that know where to look, there is still an opportunity to weigh in on these plan recissions through the end of July. If you feel strongly that public land management should be based on public input, you can submit comments to the federal government.
Closer to home, there is a great opportunity to weigh in on winter recreation on the 1.8 million acres of the Rio Grande National Forest, which includes Wolf Creek Pass (a recreation hotspot as well as lynx habitat). In contrast to national moves to rescind planning, the local Forest Service is fulfilling its obligation to finalize a plan to define winter recreation across this region.
They’ve proposed several alternatives, including Alternative 4, which was specifically developed in response to community input and balances recreation interests, wildlife habitat protections and defines minimum snow depths in order to protect the watershed from damage. The Forest Service is taking comment on this plan through July 29. The best public comments are ones that speak to real personal experiences, are backed up with data and address the specific measure being proposed. Commenting is a chance to show of support for management practices that respect all public land users and the land itself.
In his last Thinking Green column, Mark Pearson pointed to the “existential” need to raise voices and demonstrate a robust response to safeguard our public lands. As the new Executive Director for the San Juan Citizens Alliance, I’m honored to be continuing this work and spark conversations about what our public land means to all of us.
Ryan Huggins is the new executive director for the San Juan Citizens Alliance. Reach her at [email protected]