Posted by David Sherman on Tuesday, May 22, 2007 at 02:40:36 :
In Reply to: Land of the Free posted by Rex on Saturday, May 19, 2007 at 00:32:02 :
I just heard about an area of roads not far from here that the FS was going to shut down (turn into ATV trails, but no full-size rigs allowed) but they backtracked on it after they got lots of comments from "the jeep guys". They usually have some sorts of public meetings or dog-and-pony shows about these things. They don't publicize them much, and it's obvious from the get-go what they've decided to do already, but if enough people show up, write letters, etc, it IS possible to change their mind.
Another angle, if you have some good county commissioners, is to get them to invoke RS 2477 status. The FS thinks that all roads through USFS land were built by and are owned by the FS, but many of them are not. Many were originally built by the counties and then taken over by the FS when the counties didn't want to maintain them any more. RS 2477 is a law that says that the feds automatically grant a right of way to the local government for any road or trail built across public land. It doesn't even have to be formally constructed or maintained. Old wagon roads, pack trails, etc qualify. The law was repealed back around 1970 or so, but rights of way existing before that time were grandfathered in. If the county wants to force the issue, which they usually don't, they can use this angle to keep the FS or BLM from closing a popular road.