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Court Rules Against Unrestricted Motorized Travel in Santa Fe National Forest
Court Rules Against Unrestricted Motorized Travel in Santa Fe National Forest
Ruling Upholds Forest Service Plan to Protect Irreplaceable Wildlife Habitat and Minimize User Conflicts
Contact: Greg Dyson (503) 730-9242 gdyson@wildearthguardians.org
Additional Contacts:
John Mellgren, WesternEnvironmental Law Center, 541-359-0990, mellgren@westernlaw.org
Katie Davis, Center for BiologicalDiversity, 801-560-2414, kdavis@biologicaldiversity.org
SANTA FE, N.M. — The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals onWednesday dismissed an appeal of the U.S. Forest Service’s 2012 Santa FeNational Forest travelmanagement plan that protected key wetland, forest and wildlife habitatfrom damaging, unmanaged motor vehicle use in the forest. A coalition ofenvironmental groups represented by the Western Environmental Law Centerintervened in the case to defend the Forest Service’s decision to protect wildlifeand irreplaceable ecological, scenic and aesthetic values.
The 2012 travel management plan protected more than 440,000acres of the Santa Fe National Forest from “cross-country” motorizedvehicle use, and removed motor vehicles and the damage they can incur from morethan 5,000 miles of routes, paths and trails. The plan allows motorized vehicleuse to continue on more than 2,400 miles of routes in the forest.
“Allowing motorized travel throughout the forest meant off-highwayvehicle operators could gain access to and destroy some of the most remote andsensitive habitat in the Santa Fe National Forest,” said John Mellgren ofthe Western Environmental Law Center. “Containing the damage done by OHVsto designated areas is the right decision, and we were happy to successfullydefend the Forest Service for making the right call.”
The decision protects habitat for threatened Jemez Mountainsalamanders, Mexican spotted owls, goshawks, Rio Grande cutthroat trout,southwestern willow flycatchers and New Mexico meadow jumping mice.
“We’re happy to see the court acknowledge that generalcomplaints by some motorized recreationists are not sufficient to put a stop tocommon-sense plans to protect species like the threatened Jemez Mountainsalamander,” said Katie Davis, public lands campaigner for the Center forBiological Diversity. “Protecting our wildlife, rivers and natural areasbenefits everyone.”
“This ruling affirms that motorized recreation does notbelong in many places on our national forests,” said Greg Dyson ofWildEarth Guardians. “Off road vehicles are fragmenting wild forests,ripping up fragile streams and wildlife habitat and depriving us of the abilityto enjoy the quiet that is one of the great values of the national forests thatare our common heritage,” he added.
The Santa Fe National Forest comprises about 1.6 millionacres in northern New Mexico, including four wilderness areas and two wild andscenic rivers – the Pecos and the Jemez – prized for their hunting and fishing.
A copy of the decision is available here.