Rescue Tellico! Another attack on out rights to wheel! PLEASE RESPOND!

[Blue Ridge Runner]

Here is the latest:

From www.SFWDA.org

November 19, 2007

We attended a meeting in Asheville, North Carolina with the Forest Service. Originally, this meeting was billed as the meeting they would tell us what their upcoming decisions would be regarding the Forest Supervisor orders that were published on September 17. In summary, these proposed orders are:

Prohibiting motorized vehicles on Lower Trail # 2, Trail # 7, and Trail # 9
Prohibiting winter-time motorized vehicle use on the Upper Tellico OHV Trail System from January 1 to March 31 each year
In short, according to the Forest Service, no decision has been made. They may announce a decision by December 1, but they may be delayed beyond that.

These actions would be in the form of a Forest Supervisor order that is "temporarily" in effect for one year. None of this is acceptable to us - hard experience with the Forest Service in other southern forests has shown us that most (if not all) "temporary" closures are forever. Whatever repairs or maintenance that they intend to do during the closure period will usually not get done due to one reason or another. We remain in close consultation with our lawyer on these issues.

For SFWDA, the attendees were Jay Bird (President), Gunnar Byrd, Rob Theurer, and Roger Theurer. For Blue Ribbon Coalition, the attendee was Greg Mumm. There were several Trout Unlimited (TU) attendees including Michael "Squeak" Smith and George Lane and DJ Gerkin for Southern Environmental Law Center. Deborah Walker was the facilitator for the Forest Service. Marisue Hilliard is the Forest Supervisor in North Carolina and she will be making the final decisions.

The Forest Service did not announce any decisions regarding trails lower 2, 7, and 9 or the winter closure. Furthermore, the participants did not agree on a statement of principles that the Forest Service had developed. We felt that the pre-written "statement" assumed problems exist that have never been proven (or even satisfactorily shown) to exist. TU would also not agree to any statement.

Note on Trail 8: Three bridges on trail 8 are closed due to sagging. Two bridges can be replaced with culverts and one bridge needs to be rebuilt. A section of trail 8 is closed from the bottom of the intersection with trail 9 to approximate where the old skidder (near turn to #10) is resting next to the trail. This means you cannot complete the loop on trail 8. We volunteered to do the work, but the Forest Service engineer seemed in no hurry to get the work done - maybe by next summer. Argh.

The rest of the meeting was similar to the previous Stakeholder meetings we have attended, where the Forest Service updated us on actions taken on their list of Tellico options:



Summary of status as of
November 19, 2007 
Short Term:

completed
not yet initiated
18 miles have been looked at
design is 80% completed
pending
not initiated - perhaps one year
 
Longer Term:

completed
no status
not started yet
no status
under way
no status
on-going
no new actions


This is not good news!

[sammy77]

i've sent my letter in. it would be very disappointing to see this area closed off to us. i am hoping to make a trip there this spring

[FugginZukin]

Friggin B.S.

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=640323

[sammy77]

does anyone know if this is legit?   Friends Of Eldarado on myspace sent it out as a bullentin      

Today the USFS came out with their Closure Orders.

The Summary is:

1. A one-year closure of Lower Trail 2 (from the intersection with Road 420 west to Road 402), Trail 7, a portion of Trail 8 (from the intersection with Trail 9 to the intersection with Trail 10A), and Trail 9 in the Upper Tellico OHV area which prohibits operating motor vehicles on these trails during the closure period and sets penalties for violating the provisions of this Order.

2. A seasonal closure of the Upper Tellico OHV Area which prohibits operating motor vehicles on trails within the Area during the period between January 1 and March 31 each year and sets penalties for violating the provisions of this Order.

SFWDA in cooperation with UFWDA and BlueRibbon is evaluating these orders and will be responding accordingly.


http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=640323

Jan 1-Mar 31 TELLICO IS SCHEDULED TO BE CLOSED!!!!! If you have a trip planned during that time, pay attention!

[Blue Ridge Runner]

As bad as I hate to say it I saw this coming. Rarely does a Forest District reopen trails that have been closed for a limited period so don't expect those trails that are closed to ever reopen. I sold my rig last week so I guess I got out at the right time. What happens in the future will decide on weather I build another rig. Its a sad day in the offroad community. Tellico will never be the same. Thanks go out to those that supported the OHV community in the fight.

The FS has a history of caving in to the lawyers and tree hugging fanatics. Its truly a shame. Kep your eyes on the other FS parks. They could be next.

The economy of Murphy will feel the impact too. That also a shame.

[R/T]

The worst part? Look at this:
...Public involvement began on September 17, 2007 when a letter was mailed and emailed to groups and individuals known to be interested in management of the Upper Tellico OHV Area. The “scoping letter” requested comments on the proposed Forest Supervisor’s Orders. As a result, approximately 200 responses from individuals, groups, organizations and other government agencies were delivered to us by mail, emailed, phoned in or by personal visit to the District office. These responses conveyed numerous issues, and are summarized in the Response to Public Comments, in the project file.
Additionally, approximately 700 form letters were received by email from those people who supported any and all closures of the trail system. And approximately 400 form letters were received from people who favored trail repairs and reroutes, but not trail closures.
In the 30 day scoping period that began on September 17 newspaper articles were published in the Asheville Citizen-Times, The Cherokee Scout, and the Clay County Progress...

We should all be ashamed. Our playgrounds are being closed and it's our own fault. We'll never outnumber them but we can show more support than 400 letters. Write your letters people, send email and get involved before we lose all our places!

[sammy77]

400? is that it? i was really hoping to go to tellico (hadn't been yet) since everyone talks about it so highly. looks like i won't get to enjoy what othersw have in the past.   

[FugginZukin]

Comments and responses from the order.

http://www.cs.unca.edu/nfsnc/nepa/tusquitee/tellico_response_to_comments.pdf

[sammy77]

seems like the same answer over and over again. looks as if there isnt more public response we will end up losing our riding areas. if everyone that acted concerned on this matter would act on it, it wouldnt be a problem. but we all know how that goes   

[samurota]

  This may have been mentioned as I haven't read this whole thread but I got to to tellico a couple of weeks ago and I saw a couple of the trails.
 I also saw what I am seeing a lot of places such as the lake I live near. Real estate signs. Why do I see a national forest sign and then a real estate sign?
   This is all about money and the people that have the most of it are gonna win. Thats just my opinion but how many protesters do you see when they cut and pave roads thru the mountains and around the lakes and Build houses upon houses. How is this less destructive than a few 4wds riding thru the woods on old logging roads.
  Have you ever seen the forest after a logging operation ? the damage is 10 times worse than anything that has happened in Tellico in 30 years. Housing developments are 20 times worse damage because they don't go away with time the damage is permanent. I think the driving forces here are developers looking to make a buck. They may even start to sell off the national forests for development if we the people don't fight.
  My Rant Off

[cjackg]

  This may have been mentioned as I haven't read this whole thread but I got to to tellico a couple of weeks ago and I saw a couple of the trails.
 I also saw what I am seeing a lot of places such as the lake I live near. Real estate signs. Why do I see a national forest sign and then a real estate sign?
   This is all about money and the people that have the most of it are gonna win. Thats just my opinion but how many protesters do you see when they cut and pave roads thru the mountains and around the lakes and Build houses upon houses. How is this less destructive than a few 4wds riding thru the woods on old logging roads.
  Have you ever seen the forest after a logging operation ? the damage is 10 times worse than anything that has happened in Tellico in 30 years. Housing developments are 20 times worse damage because they don't go away with time the damage is permanent. I think the driving forces here are developers looking to make a buck. They may even start to sell off the national forests for development if we the people don't fight.
  My Rant Off

The Tellico OHV area is located entirely in the Nantahala National Forest and the only real estate signs you will see near there are at the yellow gates into the Tipton Creek Valley.  This valley was homesteaded in the '60s long before the Nantahala was established and there are a number of private cabins there.  Several of them are owned by offroaders you will meet on the trails...