Legislation for ALL Oregon Dunes

[Senator]

A refresher for folks about how this began


Reedsport, OR –People interested in helping recommend designated off-highway vehicle routes in the upland portions of the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area (NRA) of the Siuslaw National Forest are encouraged to be a part of a public working group.

“We are taking this opportunity to ask those people closely involved with the Dunes area to help us identify riding routes”, said Pam Gardner, Central Coast District Ranger in charge of overseeing the Oregon Dunes NRA.

The working group is being structured to represent a diverse set of interests at the Dunes NRA, to serve as a forum to discuss issues and opportunities, and to help develop specific recommendations for riding routes on the Oregon Dunes NRA.

The Forest is looking for people who represent the following interests: organized and unaffiliated off-highway vehicle users, outfitter/guides, mushroom pickers, fish and wildlife advocates, conservation groups, tribal representatives, local community leaders, State ATV fund representatives, and the general public. Members will be expected to commit to a year-long effort, consisting of six day-long meetings and four field visits to the Dunes NRA.

Meeting locations may include Corvallis, Waldport, Reedsport and Coos Bay and will be hosted by a private facilitator.

As stated in the Oregon Dunes NRA Plan, upland portions of the Dunes are required to have designated riding routes, according to Gardner. This effort is the first step towards implementing that direction.

If you are interested in participating, please contact Ross Holloway at 503-812-4056 or visit the Siuslaw National Forest at Siuslaw National Forest - Welcome! for an application and more information.

Application deadline is September 1. (...this was back in 2009)


And a link to the recruitment letter and application that was sent out http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/siuslaw/proj...ent-letter.pdf

[Senator]

Other commitments kept Mrs. Senator and I from attending the meeting in North Bend yesterday but the updates I got from those who did attend were generally positive. Please do not mistake what I just said for good news. The good news is that it's just not as bad as it could be.

It sounds like Winchester Bay and Coos Bay continue to be straight forward, bringing relative consensus among the working group. Winchester will probably be least effected (no surprise) then Coos Bay.

Florence, on the other hand, continues to be the hot topic upon which little is certain other than a lot of it will be shut down to OHVs. Because the local residents who do not support OHV use in the dunes stood up and outnumbered EVERYONE IN THE GOD DAMN COUNTRY WHO DO USE THEM, it doesn't look good for Florence. And yes, that is distain you sense in my tone.

The silver lining around this cloud, should you choose to see it, is that some of the folks on the committee who previously didn't understand just how many people recreate on OHVs have begun to maybe, kind of, a little bit try to empathize. Their past voting record on internal committee votes reflected an unsympathetic view to this crowd of dune-carving-money-spenders but may just change when they re-vote between now and the next meeting.

Speaking of which, the next meeting will be Saturday, October 16. Working Group meeting from 8:30 A.M. to 3:30 P.M. at the Siuslaw Valley Fire and Rescue Station #1, 2625 Hwy 101, Florence. A public comment period will be provided at 2:00 P.M. It will be at this meeting that we find out once and for all what the working group will recommend to the forest service. Then we play for keeps...

[QuickSand]

Sad to hear about little participation from the sand goers. I'm wondering about shop/business owners who will be affected by closures, are they getting involved?

[Senator]

The owners of Honeyman Nursery in Florence have been instrumental and the owners of Florence Yamaha and Bay Area Yamaha (in Coos Bay) have been outstanding as well.

[07banshee]

So if we want to voice a opinion we need to be there at 2pm or in the morning portion. I am going to do my best to attend since if they close more of florence down it will send that extra traffic to winchester bay and coos bay. On busy weekends it is already crowded enough and more congestion will lead to more accidents in my opinion.

[Senator]

Originally Posted by 07banshee

So if we want to voice a opinion we need to be there at 2pm or in the morning portion. I am going to do my best to attend since if they close more of florence down it will send that extra traffic to winchester bay and coos bay. On busy weekends it is already crowded enough and more congestion will lead to more accidents in my opinion.

07banshee,

If you are unable to attend the meeting, feel free to compose your thoughts in an email to me and I'll be sure it gets read at the meeting.

SandDuneSenator@gmail.com

[Senator]

Working group gets closer to identifying possible ATV trails

A working group will have recommendations by Oct. 30 on where ATVs should be allowed in vegetated areas of the Oregon Dunes.

The 15-member group has met since last November to identify possible trails in parts of the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area.

Ross Holloway, a contractor hired by the U.S. Forest Service to lead discussions, said at a Sept. 11 meeting in North Bend that beach grass and ATV noise continue to be sticking points in the group’s conversations.

At the middle riding area of the Dunes NRA, near Winchester Bay, discussion had centered around tree-covered dunes called the forested fingers and a grassy foredune in the area’s southwest corner.

ATV enthusiasts fear trails designated by the Siuslaw National Forest, which manages the dunes, will take away riding area.

Rod Roberts, a Coos County Sheriff’s Office deputy who represents law enforcement on the state ATV Account Allocation Committee, cautioned the working group to consider the economic impact from ATV riders.

The allocation committee pays grants from ATV permits to law enforcement and other dunes stakeholders.

“The other groups don’t have that kind of money,” Roberts said.

The forest assigned Holloway to create a discussion group after federal land managers in 2008 were required to create travel management plans. Those plans outline how vehicles may be used off designated roadways on federally owned land.

The Siuslaw National Forest put off assigning routes in the Oregon Dunes because of the large number of existing trails created by ATVs in vegetated areas.

In the forest’s dunes management plan, vegetated areas — often called 10(C) lands — are supposed to be off-limits to vehicles unless otherwise posted.

When the forest’s travel management plan went into effect this year, 10(C) lands were closed. The Forest Service is not enforcing the closures. It’s waiting instead until it finishes an environmental impact study and designates routes in these vegetated areas.

Frank Davis, the forest’s natural resource planner, said forest managers will begin the impact study sometime after Oct. 1. The study could consider anything from wildlife and fisheries to public capacity in riding areas.

“They’ve got to consider all the aspects of managing an ecosystem out there,” Davis said.

He said input from the working group probably will be considered by forest managers as they evaluate possible 10(C) ATV trails.

“If they come up with some designated routes and they make it through the appeals process, it withstands public scrutiny, it will be added to the off-highway management plan,” Davis said.

In an online survey of the group, most stakeholders supported the use of an existing trail on the forested fingers in the middle riding area as an official designated route.

On the southwest corner, the group largely supported establishing a buffer strip of 10(C) land between the foredune and a nearby beach, which is closed to vehicles. Grass east of that strip would open for ATVs to drive in.

Working group members will approve trail options by Oct. 16. Holloway said he will submit a report on group discussions to the Siuslaw National Forest by Nov. 1.


Source: The Umpqua Post :: Designating dunes routes

[QuickSand]

Originally Posted by Senator

Rod Roberts, a Coos County Sheriff’s Office deputy who represents law enforcement on the state ATV Account Allocation Committee, cautioned the working group to consider the economic impact from ATV riders.

The allocation committee pays grants from ATV permits to law enforcement and other dunes stakeholders.

Many will loose their jobs if recreational riding is taken away.
Everyone in the community will be impacted.

[Mrs. Senator]

Originally Posted by QuickSand

Everyone in the community will be impacted.

This is what the haters don't understand. When they have to drive 40 miles to find a loaf of bread they'll figure it out.

[Senator]

...for anyone in the area

The Siuslaw National Forest, located in western Oregon, has announced that a meeting for the Off Highway Vehicle (OHV) Designated Routes Working Group for the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area (Oregon Dunes) will be held on Saturday, October 16, 2010, at the Siuslaw Fire and Rescue Station #1, located at 2625 Highway 101 in Florence.

Working Group members represent a broad range of interests and organizations, including: Organized OHV groups, unaffiliated OHV users, outfitters and/or guide businesses, mushroom pickers, fish and wildlife advocates, conservation groups, local Tribes, local community leaders, State ATV Program, local emergency response agencies, local Parks Departments, local landowners, and the general public.

This will be the eighth and final meeting of the Working Group. During previous meetings, the group reviewed and discussed background information about the Oregon Dunes and the designation of routes in Management Area 10(C), discussed criteria for evaluating alternative OHV routes that could be considered for designation, and developed concepts for alternative routes in three riding areas (north, middle and south) of the Oregon Dunes.

The Working Group will meet from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 pm, and the public is invited to attend. The meeting agenda will be focused on a review of the survey results completed by Working Group members on the proposals developed to date, a review of the draft final report on the Group's work and receiving information on the next steps in the process for a Forest Service decision on designated routes. A public comment period will be provided at 11:00 am.