A new policy, while on one hand plans to restrict off-road vehicles, on the other, the same plans may lead to legitimize hundreds of illegal trails carved out by off-road enthusiasts. It should create a balance to prevent its misusing. Environmentalists and recreation groups decried such a Forest Service plan in the US. The Forest Service announced that it intends to halt the roughen roads and trails that proliferate in public forests due to increased traffic by dirt bikes and other off-road vehicles. The new policy would require all 155 national forests and 20 grasslands to designate roads and trails that are open to motor-vehicle use. But for the first time, heavily traveled “renegade routes” created illegally by off-road drivers could be designated for legal use. According to an AP report, Forest Service will take up to four years to designate roads and trails on all 193 million acres of public lands.
Via: Environmental News Network