A federal court has rejected the U.S. Forest Service’s plan to increase off-road vehicle use in the Eldorado National Forest. The court decision, released Thursday, found the Forest Service’s “travel-management plan” violated legal protections for fragile Sierra Nevada meadow habitat and the threatened California red-legged frog.
The Forest Service’s 2008 travel-management plan authorized 1,212 miles of motorized vehicle routes across the Eldorado National Forest, including designation of 23 miles of routes created by off-road vehicle users in sensitive areas. The plan included nearly 40 miles of routes on soils susceptible to erosion, 10 miles of routes within meadows, 290 miles of routes near streamsides with 485 stream crossings, and routes in red-legged frog habitat.
“Off-road vehicle use can cause substantial damage to water, wildlife and soil resources and disturb quiet recreation,” said Karen Schambach, president of Center for Sierra Nevada Conservation. “The court recognized that the Forest Service needs to fully weigh those serious impacts before expanding off-road vehicle use on the forest.”
