Changes At Uwharrie?

J.C.

J.C.

Volunteer
Moderator
Joined
Apr 18, 2005
Location
Greensboro, NC
The Forest Service will be holding a meeting at the N.C. Zoo Tuesday evening, August 3rd, from 6 to 8 p.m. to discuss the revised Land Management Plan the Service is making for Uwharrie National Forest, and you can make a difference in the future of the OHV trails at Uwharrie!

http://www.cs.unca.edu/nfsnc/uwharrie_plan/august_invitation.pdf

A strong showing from the OHV community would go a long way toward insuring that the OHV trails receive the consideration, support and funding that we offroaders would like to see!

I hope to see you there! BTW, I'm leaving Greensboro at 5 p.m. Tuesday night and have a seat if anyone would like to ride down with me :)
 
I will be there.
 
I might just try to catch a ride w/ ya JC. I have work in Rural Hall on tues. so I might can do that. I'll call ya if so.
 
jc call me tues. 336-669-6956 mike. if no one rides with you, i might get you to pick me up since its on your way or follow you up there.
 
Already PMed JC about riding tuesday. Probably gonna ride with him.
 
I am planning to ride up from Sanford, so if anybody in this area, or passing thru, wants to ride, I got some room.
 
gimme a call Dylan....maybe we can work something out. i'll be leaving WS at 5pm.
 
I wanted to attend this, but just got back home and have way too many things to catch up on before Friday. I would definitely like to hear all about it. JC, I will probably be looking for you. :)
 
bump . i'd like to follow someone or drive and them ride with me. just want to make a showing to support the trails at ure. my cell #> 336-669-6956 mike.
 
I am out, but really hopes that someone will mention the 4x4 near the trails campground adn rock garden play area that is smuch needed.
 
since the zoo is through my back yard I should be there but the military has me 2 1/2 hours down the road and I have to work......I hope several show up to show support and give ideas!!
 
well, a few of us made it. JC was there making some good points. I think the major concerns for the Forestry service are regulating the equestians and solving the shooting range issues.

OHV is pretty much flying under the radar. it seemed like they didnt really realize we had so many concerns. Alot of good comments and suggestions were made, and none that i think werent within reason and doable by the forestry service.

JC took better notes than i did im sure but heres off the top of my head:

Better access for fullsize OHV (not just ATVs)
Connecting Daniel and making a loop out of a dead end trail.
Increasing fees to help Support OHV
Better display of rules and trail requirements
more miles available to OHV
Rock garden or technical sections being added
ice cream stand on dutch john
 
they are also going to be plant more species of plants and trees that are suppose to be growing there. the forest service has planted non-indigenous pines(or at least i think that's what they called them). there were some negative comments made about the difficultly of daniel for atvs... yea mostly horse stuff & ice cream. there was oppertunities for us the public to post comments directly to the FS. I thanked them for the trails that we have and asked for more, I also promoted the planting of natural vegitation back to the forest.
 
yeah...most of the changes are occuring outside of the OHV area of concern. Like i said, seems we are flying under the radar =)

I spoke with the fish and stream lady and she said there were no concerns of runoff or sediment erosion. That the OHV was planned well ahead and had already taken this into consideration, unlike tellico.

A section of Sawmill is being looked at for closure. Its the loop nearest the gun range. they just wanna take the big ear out and shorten that trail, but in order to compensate for that they are considering opening up the old trail that run to the south west towards deep water horse camp. it will be a stray leg, no loop but we'll take the added mileage! then again...these are just ideas they are throwing out there. no promises being made.

BobbyD is right, it seems some ATV folks are upset with what daniel is turning into, but i think that can be worked out to secure the obsticle for the full size OHV crowd and still make the ATVs happy. Mosty by connecting Daniel to another trail and making a bypass for ATVs.

The horse folks are the ones angry today.

It seems in the past, even though there are designated horse trails, they have either been given, or taken free reign of the forests. it seems they prefer it that way and the Forestry Service wants to get them....back on track so to say.

I forgot to mention....A couple guys came up from SC to be here tonite. Thanks to those guys for making the trip!


Interested in JC's take of the night.
 
Thanks for the good and timely update, Reid!

Thanks also to those who made an effort to show up to support the cause. Not to leave anyone out but those that I know were in attendance: BigRedB2, drainman, hscrugby, up-n-over, yellowjeepcj, broncomania, Bobby D.,Eldorado Outpost & JC.

Like Reid said, for now we are not one of the new plans major concerns. There are several OHV projects in progress, in the near future and long term but we don't have any of that in writing.

I feel like the OHV community was well represented, that we were informed and professional in our approach and that we made good points with the Forest Service which were duly noted.

I was actually surprised at the positive response I received from many of the FS personnel that I had not met before. They seem to understand the need for the OHV area and are not looking to shut us out of the forest.

The only major area of concern with the new plan is, as Reid stated, the fact that the equestrian community wants language included in the new plan that will not restrict them to designated trails. I find it incongruous that a user group with the nicest campground, more trail mileage and no user fee system would feel that they should have access to ride where ever they want to in the forest with no restriction to a designated trail system.

The "shooting" community was also well represented and organized in their effort to re-open the range. Unfortunately, there is an element of that group that believes the FS should close OHV trails in order to facilitate re-opening the range. As most of the OHV enthusiasts in attendance are also "shooters", we made the point with both the range advocates and the FS that the FS has a mandate to manage the forest for multiple use, emphasis on manage and multiple! We presented proposals that would allow both user groups to continue to enjoy our national forest, including moving the range to a different location or re-routing Sawmill trail away from the range.

Thanks again for those that made the effort to come out and to all those who continue to make comments to the FS online!

Comments should be directed to: comments-southern-north-carolina@fs.fed.us.
Include "Uwharrie Plan" in the subject line.

Here is a link to the comments that have already been made: http://www.cs.unca.edu/nfsnc/uwharrie_plan/comments_on_noi.pdf

Here is a link to the new Plan: http://www.cs.unca.edu/nfsnc/uwharrie_plan/plan.htm
 
JC said:
Unfortunately, there is an element of that group that believes the FS should close OHV trails in order to facilitate re-opening the range. As most of the OHV enthusiasts in attendance are also "shooters", we made the point with both the range advocates and the FS that the FS has a mandate to manage the forest for multiple use, emphasis on manage and multiple! We presented proposals that would allow both user groups to continue to enjoy our national forest, including moving the range to a different location or re-routing Sawmill trail away from the range.
Click to expand...

I couldn't believe some of the comments from the gun "nuts" over in the corner. Most of the folks seemed reasonable, but certain gun guys as well as the horse guys were just so over the top with their comments about how it should be all about them it amazed me.
 
JC said:
The only major area of concern with the new plan is, as Reid stated, the fact that the equestrian community wants language included in the new plan that will not restrict them to designated trails. I find it incongruous that a user group with the nicest campground, more trail mileage and no user fee system would feel that they should have access to ride where ever they want to in the forest with no restriction to a designated trail system.
Click to expand...

I guess they think 'Tread Lightly' by staying on the trail doesn't apply to them?

I wish I could have made it. Thanks to everyone who went and supported the 4x4 community.
 
thanks for picking me up on the way jc. good to see you again the other members there. thanks for the support. all of the forest service personnel that i spoke with were very open and interested in my ideas and comments for our future in ohv access. i think it was a good open meeting.
 
Back
Top