Yeah, I haven’t been motivated, but this weeks screed is hysterical in more ways than one:
From the Shawnee National Forest Plan
Revised Plan response to need for change in recreation management:
The Forest will be a place for everyone to enjoy. There will be campgrounds and picnic areas offering camping, swimming and the enjoyment of the company of others. Others will visit to escape the commotion of towns and cities, to enjoy nature and the quietness of a natural environment. During this decade, one of the main emphases for recreation management will be the establishment of an adequate, well-marked, mapped and maintained trail system. A system of roads and trails will allow people to hike and ride horses and bicycles, and to drive through many parts of the Forest. ATV?s and unlicensed OHM?s will not be allowed except for administrative use, access by emergency vehicles, or use authorized by permit or contract.
Trails will be constructed and improved, with special emphasis on the River-to-River Trail and trails within wilderness. Some user-developed trails will be incorporated into the system while others will be obliterated. New recreation sites (e.g., campgrounds, picnic grounds, boat launches) will be considered, while others will be closed.
So the Forest will allow horses, but only on certain trails that can be maintained given the increasing use of horse on the trails. Bikes will be allowed (funny Joyce doesn’t mention mountain bikes) and hikers, but the group Joyce is pushing is actually a group pushing powered vehicle access too.
Here’s a hint for those who don’t understand what’s being balanced here–previously the forest was pretty much unregulated in terms of usages and now, with overuse, activity is being limited to where the Forest Service can maintain a decent level of activity and the infrastructure for that activity. This isn’t some assault on a way of life, it’s ensuring that users of the forest all have reasonable access to it. She tries to play it off as a fight over whether people can make a living versus a pristine environment when the real balancing act for non-nutballs is preserving a reasonable forest that people actually want to pay to visit.
And for those that actually want to comment to the agency, one can do it here