Dear Fellow OHV Friends:
The Tahoe National Forest is currently proposing the closure of over 2400 miles of existing forest roads & trails, which are vital for recreation as well as access for management to promote forest health.
These trails lead to vistas, scenic byways, secluded lakes, creeks and primitive camping. None of these trails have been proven to affect water quality, habitats, or plants. However unless more people speak up in favor of preserving these great trails it is likely they will be lost forever.
In just TWO MINUTES you can help by submitting a letter using pre-drafted comments or your own comments to the Tahoe National Forest.

Please ACT NOW comments are due before 11/26/2008. Click below & create your letter.
http://www.savethetr...x?PetitionID=22 <http://www.savethetrails.us/Default.aspx?PetitionID=22>
Please share this email with your lists and post it on blogs

~Thanks your friends at www.SaveTheTrails.us

This campaign is supported by Save The Trails, Friends of Forest Hills OHV Trails, Friends of Tahoe Forest Access, Nevada County Woods Riders, Friends of the High Lakes, Rubicon Trail Foundation, CORVA, California Four Wheel Drive and others



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> Wally Herger, Representative
>
> 410 Hemsted Drive, Suite 115
>
> Att: Dave Meurer
>
> (530) 223-5898
>
> Redding, CA 96002
>
> dave.meurer@nail.house.gov
>
>
>
> George Radanovich, Representative
>
> 3509 Coffee Road, Suite D3
>
> PO Box 579729
>
> Modesto, CA 95357-9729
>
> (209) 238-9200 Fax (209) 238-9500 ..
>
> Modesto, CA
>
> Att: Kurt Vande Weide
>
> Kurt
.VanderWeide@mail.house.gov
>
>
>
> Congressman Dan Lungren
>
> 2339
>
> Gold Meadow Way, Suite 220
>
>
> Gold River, CA 95670
>
> Office: (916) 859-9906
> Fax: (916) 859-9976
>
> Att: Alexandra Snyder
> alexandra.snyder@mail.house.gov
>
> Att: Josiah M. Prendergast - District Representative
>
>
> josiah.prendergast@mail.house.gov
>
>
>
> Doug LaMalfa, State Assembly
>
> 2865 Churn Creek Rd.
>
> Redding, CA 96002
>
> Att: Brenda Haynes
>
> (530) 223-6300
>
> brenda.haynes@asm.ca.gov
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Michael Villines, State Assembly
>
> State Capitol Room 3104
> Sacramento, CA. 94249
>
> Att: Connie Bosserman
> Connie.bosserman@asm.ca.gov
erman@asm.ca.gov
> Ph# 916 319-2029
>
> Fax 916 319-2129
>
>
>
> Senator Sam Aanestad
>
> 2400 Washington Ave. Suite 300B
>
> Redding Calif. 96001
>
> Phone 530-225-3142
>
>
>
> Fax 530-225-3143
>
>

Did it!

Thanks for contributing - Also discussed here:
http://www.thumperta...ad.php?t=712371

Link to Tahoe Forest Plan:

http://www.fs.fed.us...inv/index.shtml

Letter sent.

Tahoe National Forest
Travel Management Draft Environmental Impact Statement
November, 2008

Public Comment Period Extended One Month

The comment period for Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Tahoe National Forest Travel Management process will be extended for one month until December 26, 2008 announced Forest Supervisor Tom Quinn. “Because we had so many individuals, interest groups, and elected officials ask to have the comment period extended, we decided to provide an additional month. We appreciate the depth and complexity of the document and recognize that reviewing it is a formidable job. This extension will, in total, provide 90 days for comment. Thanks to everyone who has sent in their comments already and to those that are currently in the midst of reviewing the DEIS,” stated Quinn. This may also extend the time frame for the release of the Final EIS until later in the spring.

Public comments need to be postmarked by December 26, 2008. Comments can be sent to the: Tahoe National Forest, Travel Management Team, 631 Coyote St, Nevada City, CA 95959 or via email to: tnf_rte_desig@fs.fed.us .

Please note - Many of you who attended the recent public meetings signed in with new email addresses. Some of these addresses were very hard to decipher. If you know of someone that signed in but did not receive this update, please forward to them as their email address may reject. Thanks!

Ann Westling
Tahoe National Forest
Public Affairs Officer
(530) 478-6205
...........................................

Ride on
Brewster

It is great that people are commenting.

I just want to point out that these click and shoot email generators don't do a lot of good. Don't get me wrong, using this type of form to comment is better than nothing. However, if you really want to make a difference, the TNF needs to receive unique specific substantive comments drafted individually.

The TNF has stated that they count these form letter comments as ONE regardless of how many they receive.

Kevin L said:

This is a fact. I distinctly remember the FS saying this very thing at the Squaw Valley meeting. They also made it clear that a response needs to be very specific and not general, like " I think seasonal closures are bad and not fair"

I would also add that you can't take everything that the FS says at these meetings as gospel. At S.V. meeting they seem to be adamant that the response deadline would be 11/26/08. Now it is 12/26/08. So things do change, so maybe there is hope for the seasonal closures.

mfletch said:

Use the generator to get some of the important topics to copy and paste them at the end of your specific comments in your personal letter.

Yep. That's pretty much what I did. Wrote out my own points and used a smattering of the stuff from the pre-written text as well.

OrangeTJ said:

PERFECT! This is exactly what people should do.

Thank you for taking the time to do this.

Keep it up guys, we only have a week left.

The comment deadline was extended this week. The new deadline is 12/26/08.


"The comment period for Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Tahoe National Forest Travel Management process will be extended for one month until December 26, 2008 announced Forest Supervisor Tom Quinn. “Because we had so many individuals, interest groups, and elected officials ask to have the comment period extended, we decided to provide an additional month. We appreciate the depth and complexity of the document and recognize that reviewing it is a formidable job. This extension will, in total, provide 90 days for comment. Thanks to everyone who has sent in their comments already and to those that are currently in the midst of reviewing the DEIS,” stated Quinn. This may also extend the time frame for the release of the Final EIS until later in the spring.

Public comments need to be postmarked by December 26, 2008. Comments can be sent to the: Tahoe National Forest, Travel Management Team, 631 Coyote St, Nevada City, CA 95959 or via email to: tnf_rte_desig@fs.fed.us .

Please note - Many of you who attended the recent public meetings signed in with new email addresses. Some of these addresses were very hard to decipher. If you know of someone that signed in but did not receive this update, please forward to them as their email address may reject. Thanks!"

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Nice letter for example from www.pirate4x4.com - I especially like the first two paragraphs:


Tahoe National Forest is closing nearly ALL “user created routes”, giving us back only 30-70 miles out of 2500. Many of these routes were built by the Forest Service, and have been being used by OHV's for as as many as 30 years. Some of these routes are old mining roads that OHV'ers have adopted and prescriptively used as destination trails. These mining routes, in many cases, predate the existence of the Forest Service, and we contend that the Forest Service has no right to close the original mining trails that have been used by the public, uninterrupted for 130 years (in some cases).

They lead to vistas, scenic byways, secluded lakes, creeks and primitive camping. We contend that all of these routes are valuable, as they are being used to access some type of needed or wanted resource. These trails have not been proven to affect water quality, habitats, or plants. What they are is a road that the forest service cannot afford to manage. Management is not closure. These roads all need to be analyzed individually for their value, and included into the Forest System until this has been accomplished.

The Tahoe National Forest has decided not to designate routes leading to private property, traversing private property, or exiting private property. Tahoe National Forest has also stated that the burden of permitted access to these types of trails will be on the user. We as users will not have the ability to gain permission to cross private property if there are no trails designated to private property. These trails need to be designated until access or easement has been denied by private property owners.

Thank you for your time.

CFC Motosports said:

The point about the closing trails that lead to private property is a good one. It was brought up at the Squaw Valley meeting. The right to cross private property can be challenged in court. I don't know what the legal definition is, but it basically says that if the public has been using a route across private property for a certain time than in fact it is a public right of way. If the FS closes a route going up to this possible right of way than they have killed any chance of contesting a potential challenge to right of way across private property. This is another one of those issues that the FS did not have any response when ask about this. Another one of those "you have a point there" type responses. These are the ones that really need to be challenged with the written responses.

Much of the private property in the Tahoe NF is owned by a lumber company (maybe SPI). A map of the forest and private property looks like a checker board. The only comment I could find in the DEIS concerning those properties is that "someone" from the company "indicated that they didn't want trails going through their property". No name, nothing in writing!.

Ride on
Brewster

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