-ccm
Posted on 09/30/2007 8:18:14 AM PDT by george76
The self-described “Land of Many Uses” will likely have several fewer in the coming years as the U.S. Forest Service explores closing 10 amenities in northern Colorado.
The Forest Services employs the “Many Uses” slogan because national forests are home to logging, grazing, mining and recreational pursuits, but the point remains that the agency is the steward of public lands along much of the Front Range.
The list for closure includes five sites in Larimer and Boulder counties, including the Tom Bennett Campground on the north flanks of the Mummy Range, picnic areas along the North Fork of the Big Thompson River near Glen Haven, and two fishing sites ...
The sites themselves are not the showcase recreational opportunities in the region; what they are, however, are places to get away from the hustle and bustle of the Front Range, and at either no or very low cost.
In the case of the North Fork picnic areas, they are places where families with both young children and older adults can access the outdoors. The St. Vrain fishing sites are places where children can learn to enjoy the pursuit in a gentle environment.
As the Forest Service continues to look for ways to get people to use public lands, the solution shouldn’t be to reduce the number of amenities and funnel people to high-fee sites... That only increases crowding at those select sites and discourages future visits.
(Excerpt) Read more at timescall.com ...
Free (plus the price a decent 4x4) buys you access to a reasonably secluded logging road with toilet facilities consisting of an entrenchment tool with a roll of TP on the the handle. (Useful test for girlfriends, High maintenance girls should be left in town.)
The forest service is largely irrelevant to wheelers. We open trails faster than they close them. Once again 'the law is an ass'.
Here is a shocker for you. About a month ago, I was at a meeting with the new Chief of the Forest Service. The question was asked: “Are we no longer in the business of harvesting timber from federal lands?”
Chief Kimbell replied that it was “no longer the focus of management and was just another function.” She explained that the “public” said that it wanted a “bigger picture” for how the National Forest was managed and the end product condition of that process. Removal of logs, biomass and wildfires were now only a part of the “treatment” of the Forests. Timber and wood products were “no longer a primary focus of the Forest.” She said that recent court decisions have reinterpreted various federal laws such as NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) and NFMA (National Forest Management Act) as an expression of “social license.” The Chief stated that we “lack the social license to put a chainsaw into the National Forest.”
Didn’t you know George this property doesn’t belong to you and I as taxpayers, it belongs to Forest Service employees and you better believe since they have the keys, literally, they and their families enjoy these areas once those gates are closed.
This is part of their agenda :
Make rural communities die. The working families can no longer earn a living thru logging, mining, commercial fishing...
Then they close historical roads under the title “ no new roads “...
Close fishing by eco-listing some predator...
Or stop farmers by finding some rat...
Then Ted Turner’s attorney shows up at the foreclosure sale...
mark
BLM too.
A recreation manager with BLM got a bunch of roads closed to the public recently...not even bikes on these historical dirt roads.
When questioned, he allowed that the roads were not going to be blocked with boulders and trees. The roads would be closed ( gated with a lock ) unless you have an government license plate...’
Any excuse to kick us off ‘their’ lands :
” is this some kind of UN, World Heritage Area compliance initiative?”
Unless things are different where you are, a decent 4x4 is a pretty expensive admission price to a private park!
The forest service is largely irrelevant to wheelers. We open trails faster than they close them. Once again 'the law is an ass'.
I probably wouldn't have stated it so colorfully, but the concept is valid.
I can't take credit for the quote. It was old Bill Shakespeare.
-ccm
Before the link quit working, it was a picture of an acetylene cutting torch.
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