Ocala National Forest closings...I warned you!

[lisa]

 http://www.fs.fed.us/r8/florida/news/indexLinadale.shtml

  Somone mentioned having a puddle "swallow their bike". This is the kind of stuff that gets our forests closed right now. We need to follow the rules, then ask for State and National forests to put up decent areas for us to play in.

  I have been past that lake, several times, that is pictured in the photos section. I know the trails where they are talking about. When I become a Volunteer Ranger, I will enforce the rules guys. I won't have our trails closed because some folks think it is their "right" to play where they want, regardless of the rules.

 Times are changing here in Florida. I am not bring the changes, I am fighting them, but I can't fight them alone. We all need to work together to keep our lands ours. That means follow the rules till you get them changed.

  Let's work on keeping our trails open!

[cain73]

It sucks to see more closures. They limit the land in which we can ride, then complain because we ride it too much. What's next the limiting of how many quads can be sold in the state? They take more money in the guise of more and better riding spots and instead close what was already there. It's another sad day for riders in Florida.

[Njoutlaw88]

Yea I can't wait until I move to a more atv friendly place like pa

[J.D.]

I went t to Ocala this weekend and met up with my uncle from Tennessee . I was askin what the trails were like there compared to Tenn , he said there was no comparrison . Whilr the trails in ocala are fast there is little to challenge you , and you can tell they are not maintained to any degree . Tenn . has ATV friendly towns , mining companies cooperate to provide riding areas , and alot of maintainance goes into the trail systems. I'm tired of hearin "We're going to close this trail or that trail if you dont stay out of that little mud hole people have been playing in for 20 years , it makes me sick. The STATE of Florida is doing as little as possible to help families enjoy OHV's but as long as it is said "We are working on the problem"  we are supposed to be content.

[Chuck_Norris]

I went t to Ocala this weekend and met up with my uncle from Tennessee . I was askin what the trails were like there compared to Tenn , he said there was no comparrison . Whilr the trails in ocala are fast there is little to challenge you , and you can tell they are not maintained to any degree . Tenn . has ATV friendly towns , mining companies cooperate to provide riding areas , and alot of maintainance goes into the trail systems. I'm tired of hearin "We're going to close this trail or that trail if you dont stay out of that little mud hole people have been playing in for 20 years , it makes me sick. The STATE of Florida is doing as little as possible to help families enjoy OHV's but as long as it is said "We are working on the problem"  we are supposed to be content.

That is the truth, When I go up North to Northern Ga and Kentucky They have and awesome ATV friendly trail system Great trail riding.

[J.D.]

He was telling me that Kentucky is going to create a large system to hook up to the Hat Mccoy trail system. Florida is either in the Stone Age or Too far ahead of their time with their "Trail System " My tourism $ 's are headed north . I have yet to see a SYSTEM in Florida . Just a bunch of old sand trails and mud , and closed up pits.

[TRX350_On_The_Rack]

With the super fast population growth in Florida and Environmentalists trying to balance the Marsh Land in our state, riding, except for closed track, will become a thing of the past. 

[apkkfx400]

He was telling me that Kentucky is going to create a large system to hook up to the Hat Mccoy trail system. Florida is either in the Stone Age or Too far ahead of their time with their "Trail System " My tourism $ 's are headed north . I have yet to see a SYSTEM in Florida . Just a bunch of old sand trails and mud , and closed up pits.

Very true, we (Florida) is very far behind in just about everything except growth.  I would like to know what the funding goes to that is spent on the permits to Croom or the charges that are applied when we purchase new ATV's-it's definitely not going towards new or improved riding trails.  I'm just very thankful for places such as Hard Rock-thank you Mr. and Mrs. Knox!!  

We need more privately owned facilities rather than leaving it up to the state to decide where we ride.  As the familiar saying goes, if I had the money to buy a big enough piece of land and build a few mx tracks and some well maintained one way trail systems-I would do it.  We see what the state gives us to ride on, it's not that safe, poorly maintained and pretty much sucks!! To clarify not being safe, I'm speaking of the confusion that occurs with any state park we have to ride usually have any way trails, rather than one way trail systems!  Not everyone rides the same, but when I ride, I like it fast and not worrying about a head-on collision with another OHV rider.  Hopefully those lotto numbers I pick will hit soon!!

[Redinjun]

They wouldn't sat anything about it if we drove bulldozers and promised Walmarts.

[TRX350_On_The_Rack]

They wouldn't sat anything about it if we drove bulldozers and promised Walmarts.

Money makes the world go round

[jjamesbar]

let the population shift to tenn, north ga, ky and wva and see how fast those areas become anti atv's. the fact is those people do not have much economy up there so right now they need the revenue generated from atvs to scrape out a living. its kind of a double edged sword. live down here and have a better standard of living or move up there and lower it. hey, the coal mines cant hire everybody. while i would love for florida's population to be about half of what it is today the fact is most of us depend on growth to support our families. i'm staying put here  and i guess i'll just keep complaining about the riding area's. maybe one day the state will open its eyes and do something.

jeff

[jjamesbar]

http://www.fs.fed.us/r8/florida/news/indexLinadale.shtml

  When I become a Volunteer Ranger, I will enforce the rules guys.

please let us know what days,the area's and how many rangers are working. 

jeff

[Eruption]

What it all boils down to is Florida is not for young or active people anymore.  Florida caters to retired people and tourist.  If you are not one of the two you are pretty much ignored.  It is very sad that our riding areas(the riding areas that we have been riding on way before the population from the north migrated down here) are being systematically closed.  One thing is for sure...in five year I will not be in this state. 

[TRX350_On_The_Rack]

This state caters to the developers. More income, more taxes and they can do it so much easier thanks to our Supreme Court.

[singleshot]

What we need to do is to start taking the forestry people to court over our rights to ride.  This is the same tactics the environmentalists practice.  Every time the forestry service plans to cuts some trees or build a road they are sued.  We should start doing the same when they restrict access to our forest.  Are there any lawyers out there to help with the paperwork?  If we use up the foest service budget defending themselves against lawsuits then they will not have the manpower to restrict our rights to ride in our forest.

[lisa]

 Glad to finally see some chatter on this subject. Yes there are problems with the environmentalists, and yes they close things down making more people ride on already taxed trails ruining some of those trails, leading to the closings of those trails, it is a Catch-22....

  I also agree that some mud holes should stay, I play in some of the older holes along the powerlines myself.  I have asked, and it seems that the power line holes are not neccessarily out of bounds. That is why I am working on becoming a Volunteer Ranger. By patroling, talking with other volunteers, and discussing issues with the regular rangers and the administration, we might be able to open more trails and trail systems to folks.

  For those doing most of the complaining here, I have a question for you.  Are you willing to put your time, your effort and your complaints into energy spent on re-opening or keeping some trails open? There are several groups working on keeping public access open.

 In fact, the Florida 4 Wheel Drive Association came to the ATV crowd a couple of years ago hoping to work with them and keep trails open. They were told, rather rudely, to go fly a kite. Now those trails are closing, and there are complaints.

 SO, again, I ask, are you now willing to work within the rules and help re-open or keep trails open? I have seen some of the damage done the past several months in Ocala. Not just by ATVs either! I personaly know some of the guys doing some of the damage, and they know if it comes between our friendship, and my work as a volunteer ranger, well lets just say my friends won't put me in that situation.

 For some links to some groups working on keeping trails and public access open, visit the board listed in my signature. I won't post the URL until I have time to ask the board owner here if he/she would mind if I did so.

 There is another site, listed in the "where to ride" section that is dedicated to ATV and trail issues in our state. People are working on trying to keep trails open. Even though I see a lot of the damage being done by ATV riders who aren't aware of the damage they are doing, I know there are a lot of you out there who do care, and are aware of the rules.

 I am blunt. I am sorry. This may seem a little "angry"; but this issue is a passion of mine. I tend to climb on my soap box. I know how many rights we have lost over the decades in this country. I know how far we can fall in this fight if we don't stand together. We must stand together or we will all fall!