|   To anyone concerned with trail access in Montana (looong) | Tony Montana
Aug 14, 2003 2:57 PM | | (Anyone wishing to get on my email list to which I occasionally send out this kind of information please drop me a note.)
Hello All,
Here's the plea: Bikers stand to lose a good portion of trails in the Gallatin National Forest (Bozeman area). Your comments will shape the Forest Service's decision. Utilize the ultra-handy email comment form at: http://www.fs.fed.us/r1/gallatin/projects/travel_planning/html/form_comments_gnf_alternatives.html. Please forward this to anyone you know that would be concerned about Montana trails being closed to bikers.
The Gallatin National Forest Draft Alternatives Travel Plan (that's a mouthful) is now online for your perusal. Here's some background for those of you who don't know what I'm talking about. A travel management plan determines what 'mode of travel' restrictions (if any) are placed on each individual road and trail. It lays out on a trail-by-trail basis where and when you are allowed to 4x4, motorcycle, bike, hike, etc. The Gallatin National Forest Service (GNFS) is currently in the process of updating their travel plan. This is important stuff because we will have to live with this plan for many, many years to come. Once trails are closed it is nearly impossible to get them re-opened.
They are currently on their second public draft of the document, which contains six alternatives (alts). At the end of this process, one of these alts will be chosen. Alt 1 is the "no-action plan", everything stays as it is now. The travel restriction severity increases as you go from alt 2 to alt 6. One might be inclined to say that no change is good change (I personally don't have any problems with current restrictions, or lack thereof). However, in alts 3 and 4 the GNFS has sweetened the pot by adding some new trails for mountain bikes.
The GNF encompasses a huge area, so the document is quite long and fairly complicated. I have read the entire document and have tried to distill out the most biker pertinent information. However I do recommend that you at least read about the areas that you recreate in, especially if you want to look at restrictions on other modes of travel or look at less popular biking areas (such as Cherry Creek or the Crazy Mountains).
To acces the travel planning page go to: http://www.fs.fed.us/r1/gallatin/index.php?page=projects.travel_planning. The forest is broken down into over thirty travel management areas. The map of these areas is found at: http://www.fs.fed.us/r1/gallatin/projects/travel_planning/pdf/travel_planning_areas_a.pdf. There's two distinct areas to find information on each management area. The first is Appendix A, which has a matrix of alts and travel restrictions on a trail by trail basis. Click on the area of interest, find the trail in the first column, then study the restriction changes as you go from alt 1 to 6. The cryptic letters in the matrix are defined as follows: A=Allowed, E=Emphasized, and P=Prohibited. Appendix A is found here: http://www.fs.fed.us/r1/gallatin/projects/travel_planning/html/routes.html. The other area of pertinent information is Chapter II. It has the goals, desired future conditions, a table of total trail mileage vs. alt, and a map for each area. Chapter II is here: http://www.fs.fed.us/r1/gallatin/projects/travel_planning/html/travel_areas.html. The maps are quite useful since popular trail names don't always match the GNFS trail name (e.g. "Emerald Lake" is officially called "E. Fork of Hyalite").
The management areas of greatest concern for Bozeman bikers are: Big Sky, Gallatin Crest, Hyalite, Porcupine-Buffalo Horn, West Bridger North, and West Bridger South. Most of the other areas have little or no change in biking restrictions, with the exception of some areas adopting seasonal closure for bikes and other users on some trails. Riding trails when they are wet and muddy is a very bad idea. Seasonal closure protects the trails from those that are unaware of this fact. Closure dates vary in accordance with each area's drainage and snow holding ability. Most of the dates seemed logical to me. Below is my distillation of biking related issues for the aforementioned areas of greatest concern. Remember that only one alt will be adopted, and it will apply to all areas in the GNF. Trail closures apply to subsequent alts, i.e. trails that are closed in alt 3 are also closed in alts 4, 5, and 6. Management areas are in parenthesis.
Alt 1: Everything remains exactly like it is now: no new restrictions and no new trails.
Alt 2: The M trails (West Bridgers South) are closed to bikers. I think this is a very good thing. There's too many idiots and novices biking there, giving the rest of us a bad name. Based on the map, the Foothills trail #534 runs all the way to the M parking lot so Sypes to the M would still be open. No new trails will be added. Emerald Lake and Hyalite Lake trails (Gallatin Crest) would be closed to bikers on weekends until Labor day, which seems like a good solution for a over crowded area.
Alt 3: Beehive and Bear Basin trails (Big Sky) are closed to bikers above trails 402 and 403. For those that remember the pain, the infamous Charlie Stocker 'uphill loop' ride would remain open. Trail 171 would be closed to bikers. Also, Emerald Lake and Hyalite Lake would be closed Fridays as well as weekends until Labor Day. The Bridger Ridge trail from Sacagawea Peak to the M (West Bridgers North and South) would become official and would be closed to bikes. New trails would be created in Big Sky (only available in alt 3-5), West Bridger North (joining North Cottonwood to Johnson Canyon) and Hyalite (a paved biking alternative to the Hyalite canyon road, only available in alt 3 and 4).
Alt 4: Emerald and Hyalite Lake trails are totally closed to bikers. No additional new trails will be created (other than those mentioned in previous alts).
Alt 5/6: From a biker's perspective these alts are the same except for new trails, which alt 6 completly eliminates. This is where we really start losing some trails. Among these are: Porcupine Creek (Porcupine/Buffalo Horn) and South Cottonwood (Gallatin Crest) which could no longer be accesed from the top of History Rock. Below is a list of trail closures if either alt 5 or 6 are adopted (these are in addition to closures listed in previous alts).
Gallatin Crest: #241, 146, 190, 177, 166, 167, 180, 183, 417, 20, 225, 132, 135, 155, 443, 82, 185, 186, 187, 96, 158, 181, 434, 427, 171.
Porcupine/Buffalo Horn: #1, 199, 466, 34, 165, 46, 296, 39, 161, 560, 95, 100, 120, 291, 178, 167, 160, 179, 66, 194, 83, 96.
Scary isn't it? Now's the time to act by letting the forest service know which alt you support and why. To make the most of your comments the GNFS asks that you follow the guidelines at the bottom of the email comment form found here: http://www.fs.fed.us/r1/gallatin/projects/travel_planning/html/form_comments_gnf_alternatives.html.
There will also be an open house for viewing the travel plan September 3rd from 4-7PM at the Holiday Inn in Bozeman. They will be taking public comment at this event. Please try to attend even if you sent your comments in via the online form.
Thanks! |
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