Official Ocala Nat'l. Forest Decision Announced

[GSPKurt]

The Record Of Decision for the Ocala National Forest has been released. Read it here-


http://www.fs.fed.us/r8/florida/projects/documents/nepa/oca%20access/Final%20Ocala%20Access%20ROD%2012-15-05.pdf

[Bigscrb15]

Well, we are down to 42 miles of ATV trails. Rodman Pit will remain open as a day use area while they dump lake sediment there while they remove the Ocklawaha Dam.

I think our best bet is to NOT complain. We should be happy they decided on Alternative D. They could have chosen an Alternative that allows NO riding at all. We need to be respectful of the new rules and trails so they don't take them away!!! 42 miles is not alot, but alot better than taking the whole forest away.

[GSPKurt]

Starting tomorrow, there is a 105 day period when the decision can be appealed.

[AintSkeered]

It allocates 86 miles of mixed-use trails for licensed and unlicensed vehicles, 42 miles of ATV/motorcycle trails and 13 miles of motorcycle-only trails. But, will ATVs be prohibited on those 86 miles of mixed-use trails? And, it does not provide an implementation date. It states that implementation will begin after the appeal period ends. And, an appeal must be postmarked or received within 45 days after the Notice of Decision is published in the Ocala Star Banner. So, has this decision, made 12/27/05, been published in the Ocala Banner, yet?

[eric]

It does away with 1558 miles of existing access "smaller roads"

http://www.fs.fed.us/r8/florida/projects/documents/nepa/oca%20access/FEISSummary.pdf

[Redinjun]

kinda glad I'm moving out next year, too many tree hugging hippies moving in from up north.

[Chillinthemost]

I dont like it .

[Quad32x]

Lived  here  and  been  riding  the  forest  all  my  life.  Always  take  out  what  I  brought  in.  Always  lived  by  there  rules.  Now  they  want  to  take  it  away  from  us ?  Catch  me  if  you  can.

[dreth]

i still say that 42 miles of no whoops is better than 1558 miles of those stupid things. i have already said that i am over riding those stinking whoops anyway so if they will maintain the 42 miles i will be happy. if not, i will stick to the tracks and out of state riding durhamtown here i come

[LT-R450ApK]

I sure hope you guys Like Racing,Before long thats all we are goin to have!!!

[SkyHighT100]

I'm not even going to say what my feelings are about all this, mainly because the mods will delete half of what I say because it definately wont be appropriate for a G site, lol... but I will say this:

By allowing them to keep closing off riding areas and just sitting back and taking it... we might as well just say goodbye to all riding besides on a track because that is definately what it's coming down to. Oh well, the ATV community is obviously getting pretty good at just laying back and taking it in the azz. Sorry for the expression, but I'm pissed off.

First they ban night riding - we let that happen
Now they minimize the riding area to truely next to nothing when you consider how many people ride... and of course we're letting that happen to... Nice, real nice.   

[Chillinthemost]

Look at an the forest on google earth. You dont see any atv trails but you can sure see where "they" let them cut down all the trees. They also admit that the "damage" is caused because of the lack of riding areas. No chit, so open up some more areas and take off some of the pressure.

[SkyHighT100]

Well, they do say that there is time to appeal.... but I dont see the ATV community growing big enough balls to do something like that

[Unknownracer]

When they say 42 miles of AT use, Is that 42 square miles??

[Bigscrb15]

well, heres the map of the proposed trails.  most of them are in the far north of the forest which sucks for me, and there is a couples miles in the southeast.

http://www.fs.fed.us/r8/florida/projects/documents/nepa/oca%20access/EIS_altd_map.pdf


By the way, Good Luck trying to appeal.

"Only individuals or organizations who submitted substantive comments during the comment period may appeal."

[Bigscrb15]

I got to thinking, I have not read anything that mentions One-Way trails. If these trails are not 1way, I will not be riding. Restricting that many quads to that few 2way trails can only lead to disaster. SCREW what I said about not complaining and just be happy with what he have, the more I read, the more it makes me mad. And I guess Big Scrub is gone. I don't see any campgrounds for riding now

[AlterEgo]

Is there no "formal" organization dedicated to protecting the rights of ATVers such as keeping riding land open as well as opening up new areas?

[MAV400]

I guess Big Scrub is out of the picture. Not even marked as a trailhead or any thing at all. The entire area is West of 19 around Delancey area. Is a nice area to ride, but not enough trails marked. Also ATV/MC trails are red and green and they interconnected with black dotted trail. According to the map these are unsurfaced roads for mixed use. Are with allowed to ride on those roads? Anybody knows. Because if not it s***s.

[GrizzlyBear]

Currently the only ares affected by this decision is the area in WHITE on the map.  The other areas are still unrestriicted and as such, no changes have been made to those areas.  That means that at the present time no changes have been made to the Big Scrub area.  The new trail system is only in the area north of Hwy 316, East  and South of the Ocklawaha River and west of Hwy 19.  These trails (pending no appeals will be started in May 2006.  This will include Trailheads for parking, bathrooms at the trailheads, marked and maintained trails. They should be done by August.

Saying that, you can expect that once this system is in effect, the Forestry Service will be looking at the areas in yellow on the map and deciding what to do in these areas.  This may mean temporay closings of areas and temporary trails in certain areas.  Their is not contemplation of closing Big Scrub.  However,  there has been damage to the environment in this area, and when they come up with a trail system for that area, this willbe taken into consideration.

What I am telling you is as a result of a 4 hour meeting I attended today with Bret Bush, the head of this project.

[MAV400]

Thanks for the information G. B.

[jjamesbar]

i say we have a large group ride to check out the new trail system, that is if the trails have been dewhooped. lets flood the trail with riders.

jeff

[americanhighlander]

I guess they  need create more atv private owner parks like what they do
up north.I guess alot people are doing that.

[AintSkeered]

I'm with Dreth on this one, the whoops suck and they destroy our machines. Please note the numerous references in the Plan to periodically re-evaluate the trails. They're suggesting that if environmental damage continues and unauthorized areas/trail use violations continue, they'll close more areas/trails. So, I say let's prove them wrong by obeying the rules while constantly asking for more trails. It's a hobby for 99.9% of us, not a source of income. So, don't ruin it for us all.

[Bigscrb15]

Grizzly, from what I see on the map, the WHITE area is unrestricted, it says nothing of the yellow area.

[GrizzlyBear]

It says nothing of the white area.  If you check the legend on the right, the colored(close to yellow) is unrestricted.