They apparently succeeded.
Dan Ritter's telephone hasn't stopped ringing since a flyer claiming the agency planned to shut down numerous trails was distributed in a local newspaper earlier this week.
Travel planning has become one of the most contentious issues facing managers of public lands.
Ritter knows this process isn't going to be easy.
“There's a lot of misinformation out there already,” Ritter said.
Ritter's hoping some of that will get cleared up next week during a series of informational meetings in Darby, Hamilton and Stevensville.
Last September, the Bitterroot National Forest released a document called a “proposed action” that explained the agency's initial ideas to balance motorized and non-motorized recreational opportunities while protecting the forest's natural resources.
Ritter said it was meant simply as a “starting point” for what promises to be a long process.
“The final decision isn't due until 2009,” he said. “We've got a long ways to go. This was a place to start. It's obvious that a lot of people don't agree with it.”
This first set of public meetings offer people a chance to hear about the process firsthand from the Forest Service and then give some specific input on what they'd like to see happen on the ground.
The meetings will begin with an overview and then people will be split up into smaller groups to review a series of maps from different districts.
“We're hoping to hear specific comments from people on what they like and what they don't like and why,” Ritter said. “We'll analyze those comments in helping us to determine different alternatives for the EIS.”
The deadline for the first round of public comment is Jan. 31, 2008. Plans call for completing a draft environmental impact statement by August.
Both sides of the issue are already drawing their lines in the sand.
Dan Thompson of the Ravalli County Off-Road Users Association said that organization was disappointed with the agency's starting point that proposes closing off trails that have traditionally been used by motorized recreationists.
There are only two trails officially designated for ATV use on the Bitterroot National Forest for a total of 30 miles, Thompson said.
The initial proposal calls for closures to motorized travel on hundreds of miles of other trails, including some that people have been using for decades, he said.
At the same time, the number of ATVs and motorcycles registered in Ravalli County continues to grow. There are currently 3,000 licensed off-highway vehicles in the county and the numbers have been growing at about 20 percent annually, Thompson said.
“That means in four years there will be double that number of ATVs in the county,” he said. “How do you deal with that kind of growth when the Forest Service is considering closing 45 percent of the total number of trails open to ATVs?”
Members of a newly formed Bitterroot Quiet Use Coalition aren't ready to accept the Forest Service's starting point either.
“It's by no means something that we would want to accept,” said Kathy Hundley, president of the Selway-Pintler Wilderness Backcountry Horsemen and a member of the Quiet Use Coalition.
Safety is a big issue with horse riders enjoying the backcountry, Hundley said.
“Horses and machines don't mix on trails,” she said. “There needs to be trails set aside for quiet use only.”
And the Forest Service needs to do a better job of enforcing non-motorized trail restrictions, Hundley said.
“They didn't write one ticket in the last two years,” she said. “There were a few warning tickets written, but that's all. If you don't have a good enforcement plan in place, no matter what you do, it's not going to work.”
The trail system on the west side of the Bitterroot Valley should be off limits to motorized travel because so many end up in the wilderness, she said. It doesn't make any sense to have the trails open for a couple of miles to motorized travel, she said.
It's not going to be an easy task to sift through all the different issues that surround the travel management issue.
“It's a juggling act of trying to find the right mix between motorized and non-motorized travel,” Ritter said. “Everyone disagrees with how much is enough.”
One thing is for sure - the numbers of people enjoying the Bitterroot National Forest continues to grow.
Larry Creek on the Stevensville District is a perfect example, Ritter said.
Last summer, about 50,000 visitors used the popular trailhead. Just eight or nine years ago, those were the kind of numbers the agency expected to see at its more developed Lake Como recreation site, Ritter said.
“It's just an indication of the kind of use we're getting,” he said. “There's no reason to think that's going to change.”
Reporter Perry Backus can be reached at 1-800-366-7186 or at pbackus@missoulian.com
Voice your opinion
Want to get your two cents in? The Bitterroot National Forest is hosting three public meetings next week. They all begin at 6 p.m. and end at 8:30. The meetings will be held in Darby on Wednesday, Jan. 9, at the Darby Clubhouse; Stevensville on Thursday, Jan. 10, at the Stevensville United Methodist Church; and Hamilton on Tuesday, Jan. 15, at the Bitterroot River Inn.
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