Welcome To Off Road Park Info.
Off Road Information all of the time!
The Place To Learn and Talk About Off Road Parks, 4x4, and OHV Issues

• 4X4 Parks
• ATV Parks
 • ORV Riding Areas
• Home
• About US
• FAQS
• Gallery
• Events
• Offroad Info
• New 4X4 Items
• Off Road Blog
 • Neat Off-Road Videos

Archived OHV Topics

Site Map

 

 

 

Important Info.
We feel that some articles and information are so important that they should always be accessible. We've listed them below and hope that everyone will read them.

Tellico ORV Area Under Attack

MOAB Under Attack!

US Forest Service Abusing programs and we're losing land use!

Editorial Article about the misuse of Recreation Site Facility Master Planning (RSFMP) program

National Forests Could See Large Closures - enough said!

California OHV Funding At Risk!

Informative Article About The US Government and the Recreation Site Facility Master Plan (RSFMP) program. - a must read!

May 6, 2008
Getting a real demanding job just blows!

Sorry I've been away this long. I've got a very demanding job at the end of a long commute and it is killing me! I'm going to make an effort to get back with my posts to help in the off-road battles with the greenies. I see that the press and the lobbyists have turned up the heat on ATVs while I'm gone. Onto some posts!

ORV Abuse Article Out of New Jersey

Another One About ATV Misuse in Ohio

Another ATV Misuse Article- This Onefor Hawaii

Yet Another ATV Abuse/Misuse Article - Virginai This Time
Are you noticing a pattern? This seems orchestrated to me. The heat is being turned up and we as a group had better react to it. People I'm telling you, we're either going to police our group's lawbreakers ourselves, or the politicians are going to outlaw ATVs. Its our choice! The antis are not going to stop and they have the press on their side.

Cape Hatteras Battle Nears End, Or Does It?
On April 30th U.S. District Court Judge Terrence Boyle ruled to accept a proposed consent decree that sets restrictions on access and beach driving on the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. The consent decree had been proposed to Judge Boyle by attorneys on both sides of the issue as a compromise solution between those who wanted beach access preserved for recreational use and those who wanted all access banned.

Warren Judge, Chairman of the Dare County Board of Commissioners was quoted as saying, "The long standing position of our Board is to support free and open access to all users of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. The efforts of Defenders of Wildlife and National Audubon to restrict or deny access to America's beaches by the public are shameful. The Dare County Board of Commissioners agreed to accept the consent decree, and we will participate fully in the Negotiated Rule Making process to develop a management plan for ORV use and access for all to the Cape Hatteras National Seashore."

In accepting the consent decree, Judge Boyle endes a lawsuit brought by two environmental groups against the National Park Service (NPS) in October, 2007. The decree becomes legally binding and enforceable against the parties and specifies that a final ORV management plan must be implemented no later than April 1, 2011.

I have other posts and will get to them as soon as I can. It is sad to see that our situation has not improved during my absence. Looks like it will be a summer of battles.

January 30, 2008
HillzNHollarz Off Road Park Forced To Close!
We have watched this Kentucky off-road park's struggles with the local population and politicians with interest and worry. We were always concerned that they would ultimately be railroaded and forced to close. It appears that they have been hit with some local shenanigans, which have forced them to close for 60 days! As stated on the HillzNHollarz website "The board without proof other than signed affidavits from Mr. Mike Marshall and Mr. William “Bill” Heady came to the conclusion they had enough “proof” to close HNH for 60 days to “give us time” to correct the alleged violations and complaints, but they didn’t provide us with a solution on how to fix it." Go to their site to read the rest of the notice about the County Board's dastardly actions!

More postings coming soon! We have a lot to talk about. We're under attack in many areas.

Ouachita National Forest Next Up for Travel Management Plan
The Ouachita National Forest proposes to designate a system of roads and trails for public use of motorized vehicles, including Off-Highway Vehicles (OHVs) and, at the same time, limit motorized vehicles for the most part to those designated roads and trails (cross-country travel would be highly restricted).  This proposal, known as the Travel Management Project, would be implemented throughout the Ouachita National

Forest, located in western Arkansas and LeFlore and McCurtain counties in southeastern Oklahoma.  They are proposing the following:

  • Highway and OHV (Year Round) - 2,070 miles
  • Highway Only (Year Round) - 1,110 miles
  • Highway (Year Round) OHV (Seasonal) - 130 miles
  • OHV (Year Round) Highway (Seasonal) - 15 miles
  • Highway Only (Seasonal) - 90 miles
  • OHV and Highway (Seasonal) - 340 miles
  • Designated Motorized Trail - 150 miles

OHV's are defines as 3-wheelers, 4-wheelers, and UTVs (Gators, Mules, Rangers, etc.)

What bothers us is that this Forest management team, like so many others in the recent past, is not listing the inventory information of trails and roads they took prior to making these eecommendations! We know they have the information because the trail inventory is required by law to be conducted in order to assess the situation. Why aren't they freely releasing it? We can only theorize it is because they are trying to hide exactly how many miles of trails they are taking from us. The off-road organizations need to file a freedom of information request on all of these Travel Managment Plans where the agency is noit freely providing it.

They also indicate that the Travel Management Plan Maps will be available on-line at their website, but we cannot find them anywhere as of Jan 11, 2008..

You can contact them to request a Travel Plan Map, or submit a comment at:
travel-ohv-ouachita@fs.fed.us

Bitteroot National Forest Travel Management Meeting Gets Hostile
A public meeting held on 1-9-08 about the Bitterroot National Forest’s travel management plan seems to have gotten a little heated. Reportedly a threat was overheard to a conservationist and now local law enforcement is now investigating the threat. According to a local deputy, Shawn Woods it was a fairly contentious crowd with lots of tension between the people of the Bitterroot Valley and the Forest Service. Woods was quoted as saying that “there were some boos and things like that” made when a woman spoke in favor of conservation, but that he did not hear the alleged threat himself. He went on to say that they will be conducting an investigation into the matter.

After the meeting ended, talk was consumed of the alleged threat, which several people at the meeting said they overheard and that it was something to the effect of “put a bullet in her head.”

Dan Thompson, a member of the Ravali County Off-Road Users Association went on record as saying that there was inappropriate behavior at the meeting. He was quoted as saying, “Unfortunately, there were a few people there (none of them associated with Thompson or his group) that didn’t behave themselves.” As for the alleged threat, Thompson reported that he did not hear it.

We do not need this type of activity or conduct folks! If you're at a meeting of thsi type and you see or hear anyone supposedly on our side acting this way, tell them to stop or get out. Stand up against them in numbers as a group and tell them this if you have to. The last thing we need is for a few numbskulls to get us portrayed as a bunch of ignorant bullies.

Another meeting on the travel plan was scheduled for Thursday night in Stevensville but Forest officials cancelled it Thursday afternoon citing space problems. The next meeting for travel management plans for the Bitterroot is scheduled for January 15th, at the Bitterroot River Inn in Hamilton. The Forest plans to announce the time of the meeting early next week. After this meeting, the Forest Service will consider the need for a third public meeting.

A Rare Lizard in the Mojave is Threatend By OHVs According to Biologist
What next? A silver tongued bat is endangered by OHVs? This lizard may or may not be uniqe, but that hasn't stopped the Center for Biological Diversity (another ultra-conservation organization) for filing a petittion to add it to the endangered species list. One wonders if this isn't a loop hole that the conservationsits are attempting to use to shut down thousands and thousands of acres of land to OHVs. The whole peition seems suspect to us. Just read their comments regarding this lizard and the threat from OHVs.

Chis Kazaar, the biologist for the Center for Biological Diversity, was quoted as saying, “Off-road vehicles come at this highly adapted and unique lizard from all sides — they degrade its habitat, destroy its food source, and trample lizards directly.....This is a rare and vulnerable creature that simply cannot co-exist with such off-road vehicle excess. The lizard desperately needs the protection of the Endangered Species Act to avoid extinction.” He goes on, “The Bureau of Land Management is largely responsible for the decline in the species because it’s authorized and accommodated increasing, intensive off-road vehicle use over so much of the species’ range...There’s a very real possibility that continued ORV use in Mojave fringe-toed lizard habitat will lead to the extinction of this small and fragile population. Endangered Species Act listing is the best chance this lizard has of survival.”

I'm telling you folks, this sounds like an elaborate scam doctored up to help force the closure of the Mojave to OHV use! Pay attention to how directed this creature's entire problems are due to OHV use. I find that very troubling. I wouldn't be a bit surprised to find the entire species made up!

The New York Times Wades In On the Off Road/Public Land Debate!
The article actually gives it a fair and balanced look; we were surprised! We're now waiting for the lib editors to wade in and push their extremely biased point of view. A few quotes in the article that stuck out to us are:

"In the San Juan National Forest here, an iron rod gate is the last barrier to the Weminuche Wilderness, a mountain redoubt above 10,000 feet where wheels are not allowed. But the gate has been knocked down repeatedly, shot at and generally disregarded. Miles beyond it, a two-track trail has been punched into the wilderness by errant all-terrain-vehicle riders who have insisted on going their own way, on-trail or off."

"Any user can contribute to the traffic jam, but the off-highway vehicles do damage disproportionate to their numbers. In addition to loud engines, they have soft tires and deep treads that bite more deeply than a foot or a hoof. When they go off-trail, consequences often follow: erosion, destruction of fragile desert soils or historical artifacts, and disturbance of wildlife habitats."

"But federal managers say the outlaw fringe of motor-vehicle users is driving the need for more regulation. While sales of all-terrain vehicles have dipped slightly since 2004, the slippage comes after astronomical growth."

"Perhaps the biggest damage to the sport’s reputation has come from mass holiday gatherings that have turned ugly or dangerous on public lands like Algodones Dunes in California, a favorite spot at New Year’s. Last Easter weekend at the Little Sahara sand dunes in Utah — a popular spring-break getaway like Florida’s beaches — there was a near-riot, with, among other things, drunken riders forcing women to expose their breasts. A.T.V. fans argue that drunken rowdies are not unique to any particular group."

“We have two groups, one that wants to be quiet and then one that wants to have motorized use,” said Mary Laws, the recreation program manager for Bitterroot National Forest. “They both want to be in the forest, so we get the great task of coming up somewhere in the middle.”

Another ATV Park Under Attack!
This is a proposed new ATV park in Shreveport, LA that is under attack before it has even been opened. The neighbors are already up in arms. They are already saying that the noise from the park is going to ruin their peaceful way of life, and that their animals have been going crazy over the noise the bikes are making. They go on to say they can't even imagine what its going to be like when the people start coming when the park opens. Another neighbor also said he's against the drinking that may be going on and feels like the road isn't adequate enough to handle the high traffic the park will bring. Another neighbor who lives near the park says, he is afraid of the possibility of a fire the ATVs could start with a small spark that may burn down his home. The park's owner, Scott Smith, is staying cool under pressure and has said that he would like to talk to these neighbors and see if they can come to some type of resolution. The neighbors, however, have said that a resolution will have to come from lawmakers.

What a bunch of hooey! There are millions of fires started every year by ATVs right? What is this fire guy talking about? The other neighbor mentions the drinking. In the vast majority of all off road parks there is no drinking allowed! Their animals are going crazy from the noise? Give me a break. Animals are conditioned to ignore motorized vehicles! Unless the ATVs are right on top of them, the animals wouldn't have any reaction based on our experience. We've ridden right up to wild deer on our ATVs without them batting an eye. Its hard to believe that a domestic animal would go crazy from one. The theorized noise levels could possibly be an issue, but you won't know until the park is operating. I know that people were concerned about the noise of our off road park (when we had it), and you couldn't hear anything when you got a few hundred yars out of the park. I hope this park owner is able to wade through all of this B.S. and have a successful busienss.

The park is projected to open in 3 months. It will consist of 574 acres.  The park will be have race track, a mud area, plenty of trails and camping.  It will be located off of Colquitt Road in Caddo Parish just outside of the Shreveport city limits.  Scott Smith is the owner.

It has also been reported that the neighbors are wondering why the park was approved in the first place. Well, I'll tell you why! In most instances all of these unfounded and ridiculous worries never coem to fruition. As long as the park owner wants to eb a good neighbor, he'll police any problems and take care of them. The odds are, since the owner is investing a lot of money in the park, he'll want to be able to keep it operating and in order to do that he'll need to be a good neighbor. Further, off road parks are an economic engine for the entire community. They bring in a lot of tourists that spend money on food, drinks, gas, lodging, ATV parts, truck parts, etc. In other words the off road park was approved because it will be good for the entire community! Isn't that worth letting a few neighbors have some doubts at the moment?

More To Come Tomorrow

December 20, 2008
US Forestry's Plan for OHV Travel in Mendocino National Forest Due To Be Released This Month
According to the Forest Service they have completed the first 3 steps in the Travle Managment Plan Process, with the final one being to release the environmental documents for public review and a 30 day comment period.

The Final Environmental Documents have been posted and can be viewed on their web site at http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/mendocino/projects/ohv/#implementation

Read over the proposed implementations (hint: we're losing trails and lots of them) and send your comments by :

Snailmail to: Mendocino National Forest
ATTN: OHV Designation - Mike Van Dame
825 North Humboldt Avenue
Willows, CA 95988 or

Email them to Mike Van Dame

Enviro-Wackos Will Attempt To Shut Down Proposed ATV Park Before It Opens
We wrote about it a couple of week s ago. The state is finally moving along to fulfill its promise of an ATV park by buying a 224-acre former sand and gravel strip mine in South Jersey. Already, the wacked-out nut-case environmentalists are promising to fight the proposed site becuase, get this, they say there are threatened species there. Hello, Idiots! What lives in a sand and gravel pit that gets dug on constantly that cannot stand up to a little ATV activity? This just goes to show you that you cannot deal with these people at all! We need to develop a full out war against them and demand the ability to ride our vehicles everywhere on public land under the handicap accessible laws. Then when we win that, we can set the terms of set asides, and land protection.

Nevada Considering Implementation of OHV Registration System
Nevada will more than likely end its status as the only Western state without a registration program for OHVs. State Senator Dean Rhoads, who heads up a public lands study panel was quoted as saying, "Folks, we've got to get it right this time." The state legislature will be reviewing proposals to be considered by 2009. Despite general support from OHV enthusiasts and conservationists, they have failed to agree on the specifics of a law during this year's legislative session. It is our prediction that legislation will be passed some time in 2008.

The Vermin at PEER Strike Again!
Over this year's Easter break, according to a supposed survey released last week (in December 2007), partiers at the off-road vehicle haven, Little Sahara Recreation Area in Juab County, blocked a section and forced women to bare their breasts before they were allowed to leave. There were "numerous incidents of unwanted fondling of women," adds the survey, released by the group Rangers for Responsible Recreation, based in Washington, D.C. This group is nothing more than a front for the Environmentalists formed to attack us at a very low and base level. The fact that it is compromised of retired Forest employees and Rangers supposedly gives it credibility, but we question their ethics and tactics. It is nothing more than a dressed form of the enviro-wackos formed to attact us in a callous and inhumane manner and get away with it. And, it is working! The press gives these jerks a free pass on everything they say, never questioning any of the supposed facts or evidence. They print everythign these clowns say as if it is verified fact, which it most certainly is not!

The narrative supposedly supports the survey, which has been reported (we question everything doen by this group!) to have been carried out among U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management rangers in a five-state area that included Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada and the southern desert portion of California. The political hack group uses their brand of propaganda to hopefully coerce politicians and the general public to install and enforce extremely limited and strict ORV use policies. Supposedly almost 300 BLM and Forest Service rangers and supervisors in the five states were contacted. We won't post the rest of their propagan. We just want to t see the statistically valid results of a study implemented by an independant and unbiased group and not these hacks!

People Speak Up About Sierra National Forest OHV Plan
Hopefully, you and your OHV friends were some of those who poured in their comments. We had posted links to the plan and where to send comments in the hopes that many viewers of this site would send in their OHV supporting comments. We'll just have to see.

Sierra National Forest officials opened thier proposal up to public commentary and they were fairly bombarded with nearly 10,000 public comments via e-mail, mail, maps and phone calls. A Forest Service spokesperson stated that the Clovis headquarters was flooded with comments prior to the December 3rd comment deadline. Now forest officials will categorize each comment to determine those that require further study. Since many of these roads and trails are inaccessible during the winter, the analysis could stretch for months. According to a Forest Service representative, each comment that they receive is assigned a tracking number so people can see what happens to their specific comment.

The Sierra National Forest proposal was to decrease available OHV trails from 590 miles down to 124 miles of open OHV routes; a reduction of 79%. The cowards once again attempted to hide behind the use of calling user created trails "unauthorized trails". Once again, when the travel management plan was open travel and you could go anywhere, it meant that you could make trails! They were and are authorized traisl you political hacks! Stop using this half-cent propaganda on us. We're not buying it!

Now the Forest Service will take all o f the comments, categorize them, consider some, study some, and then post their final decision. We feel strongly that the final result will closely resemble their proposal and that this whole event was noithing more than a masquerade at considering what people really want. We hope we are proven to be wrong.

Chippewa National Forest Releases OHV Plan
The proposed plan for OHV vehicle use on the Chippewa National Forest allows 1,486 miles of existing U.S. Forest Service system roads for OHV use. The decision, announced last week by Chippewa National Forest Supervisor Robert Harper, adds 272 miles of new opportunities on higher standard roads and reduces the amount of "low standard" roads previously open to ORVs vehicles by 316 miles. Robert Harper selected Alternative 2 out of the 4 options and made some modifications to it .

This appears to be one instance where we weren't short changed. You can read all of the information on th eChippewa National Forest website at http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/forests/chippewa/projects/index.php

Casper, WY BLM Issues Travel Plan
It was more than two decades since the Bureau of Land Managment (BLM) last updated its master plan to address how to work with approximately 1.4-million acres of BLM-administered public land and 4.7-million acres of federal mineral estate overseen by the Casper BLM office. The office now has a new plan to guide it through the next several years. The plan designates approximately 2,224 acres completely closed to OHV use, 1,162,244 acres limited to existing roads and trails for OHV use, and 196,824 acres limited to designated roads and trails for OHV use. Once again, this appears to be a reasonable plan and one that we can live with. Hope it stays that way.

New OHV Park in Alabama
Minooka Park is under way. Check them out at http://www.minookapark.org

Another OHV Park To Open In Alabama in 2008
Thank heavens some states and areas get it. OHVs are good for business, the local economy and the community. Cullman County officxials certainly get it. They are in the process of opening up a 1,400 acre off road park. The name of the park has gone through successive names. Originally it was called the All-Terrain Vehicle Park for four-wheelers, but seemingly from now on it will be known as the OHV Park, according to a county spokesman. The park is located on 1,464 acres past Bremen on Ala. Highway 69 South towards Jasper.

The park will contain pavilions, picnic tables and a storm shelter. The main road in the park is a gravel road which already exists at the site and will hold two-way traffic. Looped trails will be developed off of the main road which carry only one-way traffic for safety reasons. The trails will be for motor bikes, dirt bikes and possibly an equestrian trail. Another area will be developed into a rock crawling site located on a steep, rocky terrain. According to officials, the plan depends a lot on the funding schedule, but the park should be open next fall. The first part of the park that will open are trails that already exist. The schedule to complete the park is aprroximately 5 years. The site will also have two campgrounds with hookups for about 40 campers at each site.

December 12, 2007
Stanislaus National Forest Sees Trail Closures Looming!
Stanislaus National Forest has released its proposal of which forest roads and trails motorized vehicles should be allowed to travel on and where they should be off-limits. A major part of the plan involves designating an official OHV trail system - this is where we always get it handed to us!

You can see the propsed plans at http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/stanislaus/projects/ohv/ . The current proposal is to reportedly increase its current 60 miles of approved OHV trails to just more than 200 miles of authorized trails. The proposal will keep 102 miles of user-made trails. There are 33 trails totaling 19 miles proposed to be added on the Calaveras Ranger District, 18 trails totaling 10 miles on the Groveland Ranger District and 164 trails totaling 97 miles on the Mi-Wok Ranger District. Additionally, the forest is planning to convert 16 miles of existing roads to OHV trails.

The final route designation plan is due by the end of 2008. Once a trail and road system is complete, people will be allowed to drive up to 100 feet off of them for things like parking, camping and collecting firewood. The forest is accepting public comments until Jan. 18 regarding the proposal and its upcoming environmental analysis. Open houses on the topic will also be held Dec. 18th and 19eh at the Forest Supervisor's Office on Greenley Road in Sonora. Other meetings are :

January 10, 2007
Calaveras Ranger District Proposed Actions
West Point Community Hall
West Point, CA

Agenda:

  • 5:00 – 6:00 pm Browse maps and ask questions
  • 6:00 – 8:30 pm Overview of NEPA process and ways to get involved

January 12, 2007
Forestwide Proposed Actions
Stanislaus County Harvest Hall
3800 Cornucopia Way
Modesto, CA 95358

Agenda:

  • 1:00 - 2:00 pm Browse maps and ask questions
  • 2:00 - 3:00 pm Forest Presentations of the Proposed Action
  • 3:00 - 4:00 pm Browse maps and ask questions

Project Contact:
Sue Warren, Project Coordinator
19777 Greenley Road
Sonora, CA 95370
(209) 532-3671 ext. 321
e-mail: swarren@fs.fed.us

Travel Plans Come To Spring Mountains National Recreation Area (NV)
Here we go again! Look for our trails to be cut and cut hard in yet another public land riding area! We like how they have not posted any information at all about this endeavor on their web page for the public at large to view (note sarcasm). The meeting and map of trails were over a week ago and nothing published. We wonder if they will.

Hot ATV News Items On Our New ATV Page
Read about the following ATV news -

  • Honda Introduces Their 2008 ATV Line
  • Researchers Telling Parents ATVs Are A Bad Idea for Kids
  • Artic Cat Has Been Struggling
  • Baja ATV Troubles

Southern Four Wheel Drive Association's Rescue Tellico Fund!
Please support the fight to keep Tellico open by donating whatever you can to the Southern Four Wheel Drive Association's "Rescue Tellico Fund". Every little bit helps.

Organizations Representing The OHV Community

  • Western Slope No-Fee Coalition Group: Group support our rights as citizens for the free use and access to our public lands
  • BlueRibbon Coalition: "We are recreationists of all types, working together to preserve our precious natural heritage."
  • TreadLightly: Tread Lightly! is a nonprofit organization offering educational materials, training courses, restoration opportunities, communication pieces and a variety of tools to help arm recreationists with a set of outdoor ethics.
  • National Off-Highway Vehicle Conservation Council: The NOHVCC provides information, training and materials for OHV individuals, clubs, associations and agencies in order to further a positive future for responsible OHV recreation.

Join the group of your choice, get active and involved so that our kids will have a place to wheel. Now onto the discussion topics.

Read about other Off-Road / OHV Land Issues

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Offroad Park Info | About Off Road Park Info | Performance Jeep Shop | Operating Hours | Rates | Camping | Directions | Rules | Waiver | Local Info. | Weather | Links | E-mail

This entire site with its content is copyright protected. This is an information site and is not connected with any of the off road riding areas or offroad parks mentioned or discussed.