Backcountry ATV riders run into more restrictions on trails

PORTLAND – The U.S. Forest Service is cutting down on the number of trails that motorcyclists, snowmobilers and others who ride backcountry trails can use, and that has trail-users upset.

Of the estimated 4 million visitors to the Mount Hood National Forest each year, about 1 percent engage in backcountry motorized sports. But state records indicate the number of dirt bikes, four-wheelers, dune buggies, snowmobiles and other machines commonly referred to as all-terrain vehicles – or ATVs – has grown by nearly 87 percent in Oregon in the past decade. The number of snowmobiles registered in Oregon is up 56 percent since 1993.

Yet, as the number of ATVs and drivers has grown, so have restrictions put on them.

“Some private forest lands have closed, driving more people to public areas and generating more use issues on public lands,” Rocky Houston, ATV program coordinator for the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department, told the Oregonian.

The Forest Service is required to solicit public input before closing an established trail. Forest managers have emergency powers to close a trail when they fear environmental harm.

Motorcycle and snowmobile clubs routinely contact forest managers when planning a group event or a trail grooming.

“There are some forest managers that are easier to work with than others,” said Joni Mogstad of the Oregon State Snowmobile Association.

The breaking point for Tom Niemela came this summer when he organized an annual motorcycle tour through the Mount Hood National Forest during the second weekend in July. Niemela, who is a leader with the Oregon Motorcycle Riders Association, said he has organized Mount Hood tours for a decade.

This year, he said, “There were considerably more trails closed to us.”