Coconino Forest to close half its roads
Restrictions placed on camping and game retrieval

FLAGSTAFF - A decision issued by the Coconino National Forest on Thursday will close off nearly 3,000 miles of forest roads. It will also reduce motorized camping from nearly 1.5 million acres to just 43,000 acres spread out along 581 miles of roads.

In addition, although nearly half the forest will remain open to motorized big game retrieval for elk only, some of the more popular units have been closed.

The decision comes after a five-year process in which the Forest Service was mandated to reduce the inventory of roadways under its authority to a manageable system. President Richard Nixon originally issued the mandate, known as the Travel Management Rule, in 1970.

Thursday's announcement starts the clock on a 45-day appeal period. If no modifications are made as a result of appeals, the decision will go into effect next March, according to Coconino National Forest spokesman Mike Dechter.

The final decision reflects a compromise between two alternatives presented for public comment in March 2010, when the forest service released a draft Environmental Impact Statement.

The alternative ultimately chosen was modified from the original in several ways. Initially it called for allowing dispersed camping within 100 feet of any open road but was changed to limit camping to within 300 feet of both sides of 581 miles of designated road and one side only of 32 miles of road.

However, under the new rule, campers will be allowed to camp along any open road, so long as they are parked within 30 feet of the roadway.

"We changed what we were going to do after going out and collecting data on over 4,000 dispersed campsites and then tried targeting our dispersed camping corridors to where they were at and where they would cause the least impact to sensitive resources," Dechter said.

The original proposal also called for no motorized big game retrieval anywhere in the forest. The new rule will allow retrieval of elk only in units 6A, 6B North and South and 7 East, 7 West and 8. No motorized game retrieval will be permitted in units 5A, 5B North, 5B South and 11M.

According to Dechter, the fact that any of the units is open to motorized game retrieval is the result of intense lobbying by the public and by Arizona Game & Fish Department.

"I must admit it was the most controversial aspect of this decision. We reconsidered our decision after the enormous amount of public comments and consulting with Game & Fish. They were a very strong advocate of allowing game retrieval," Dechter said.

The Travel Management Rule decision will also affect off-road vehicle use. Under the new rules many of the main roads in the forest, about 407 miles of improved gravel roads such as the 300 Road along the Mogollon Rim, will be open only to OHVs that are licensed for on-highway use.

One of those who has followed the planning process for the last five years, Camp Verde resident Ron Hollamon, predicts the decision is not going to be popular with most residents of the Verde Valley and will be difficult to adjust to.

"It's better than the first proposal in that there will be some elk retrieval. But I don't think the camping space is adequate. You'll go up there to get away from it all and be right back in it," he says.

"My philosophy has always been that if they enforced the rules they already had we wouldn't need to be doing this. But instead their philosophy is to shut stuff down so they don't have to worry about it."

Dechter, though, defends the decision saying it represents a compromise among several competing interests.

"This decision is a balance between facilitating a wonderful recreation experience and protecting important forest resources, everything from water to soil to wildlife, which is what people come to the forest for," Dechter said.

Maps and a complete copy of the decision are posted on the Coconino National Forest Website, www.fs.fed.us/r3/oconino/tmr.shtml

"We will also be publishing an app for use by people with smart phones, where they can see where they are at on the map. We will be the first forest nationwide to do that," Dechter said.

In order to appeal the decision, you must have commented during the release of the Environmental Impact Statement in March 2010.