The public has until mid-August to comment on plans that would ban off-road motor vehicle use on much of the Carson National Forest starting in October.
Plans call for the Forest Service to close 289 miles of forest roads by October, under proposed transportation management plans for the Jicarilla, Canjilon, El Rito and Tres Piedras ranger districts.
“The proliferation of all-terrain vehicles has had a real impact on the forest,” Forest Service spokeswoman Kathy DeLucas said. “People have been going off road across meadows, anywhere they want to go. When they do that they impact the soils, plant life and water. So we’re developing rules and guidelines for people to follow.”
The three ranger districts besides the Jicarilla district encompass the southern San Juan Mountains. The Jicarilla Ranger District is in the San Juan Basin, 50 miles east of Farmington.
The changes will help protect wildlife habitat and reduce the risk of wildfire, the spread of noxious, non-native plant species, damage to soil and the loss of native vegetation, according to the Forest Service. Proposed closures of some roads in the Jicarilla Ranger District are being implemented to protect indicator species like goshawks and spotted owls, for example, DeLucas said.
In the Canjilon and El Rito districts, seasonal road closures were proposed to protect elk calving areas during late spring, DeLucas said.
“Some of the roads should have been closed years ago,” El Rito District Ranger Diana Trujillo said. “Many are access roads to old timber sales.”
Some closed roads will be re-vegetated while firefighting access roads will be gated, Trujillo said.
Many of the “closed” roads won’t be physically blocked at all, Trujillo said.
“Closed roads will be noted on maps,” she said. “Visitors will want to obtain copies of the map. We’ll be emphasizing public education more than enforcement.”
Livestock grazers will be eligible for exemptions to the off road driving ban, Trujillo said.
Rio Arriba County Commissioner Felipe Martinez, whose district covers the ranger districts affected by the changes, supports the travel proposals.
“There are way too many forest roads.” Martinez said. “It’s a maze. Most are used for poaching, and (poachers) cut fences. All the repairs fall to the stockmen.”
El Rito resident Favian Maestas uses his ATV to access hunting areas on the Carson forest, but nevertheless supports the proposed off-road driving ban.
“I see a lot of damage,” Maestas said. “Where there was green grass there was motor oil from ATVs, and there’s garbage, a lot of litter everywhere.”