USFS Land now a Mtn. Bike Park? WT?

[FLATHEAD]

Short version. Grew up near a NF that I learned to love after many years.
Life happened, moved away but still would hunt it on return trips back home.
Then more life happened, my Mom Divorced and has recently had serious health
issues. Past 3/4 years I have been her primary caregiver, she lives with us and
I havent been able to get up to do any hunting in the NF.
Saw a chance to go up after Christmas and did some google map scouting only
to find that my camping spot has been turned in to a 100+ acre Mtn. Biking and
Hiking Park. And apparently, one of my favorite hunting spots is now an "Off Grid
Retreat" with those raised platforms and Yurts scattered throughout the area.
Rumor is that the Yurt thing was a land swap with the FS
and an adjacent landowner. But the Mtn. Bike Park must be all FS as some
of the comments on the website say "Thank you FS". Mind you, this used to be such
a pristine area, the campground was just a couple acres of flat ground at the
base of a Mtn. with no facilities, just a place you could camp. But you could walk
from camp and be in excellent deer and turkey hunting.
Pardon my Rant but this area was my sanctuary away from civilization, my old
stomping grounds, this was a special place to me.
Does the FS normally do stuff like this? I thought the FS was in the Forestry business.

 

[BwanaKubwa]

Most of the people that work for the FS are the Patagonia wearing, single track riding type. At least in the West. It wouldn't surprise me if traditional uses were pushed to the side for the new types of recreation.

 

[North Idaho Stickbow]

I don’t think this is a common occurrence at all on federal public lands. The red tape to do something like this would be astronomical. Sounds like you got a rare thing that happened to you.

Sadly, I’ve seen this happen often with state-controlled land. They’re quick to make it for a specific purpose, or sell it off for development.

 

[mmac]

The FS manages for many uses, Ski resorts lease land in almost all cases and I would suspect this is a similar situation.

 

[North Idaho Stickbow]

The FS manages for many uses, Ski resorts lease land in almost all cases and I would suspect this is a similar situation.

That’s a good point! It’s still very hard to do, but it’s certainly possible as evidenced like you said.

 

[FLATHEAD]

There was a tract of private land adjoining the original campground that was up for sale
for a few years. I figure it was included somehow,,,possibly leased to a private operator?

 

[mtnbiker208]

where at? I might have to go check it out!

 

[Anschutz]

Growing up, my parents 5 acres butted up to a hunting lease. I did a lot of trespassing on that land as a kid. Whoever owned the property sold to a few developers and now there are neighborhoods on that land. Still great bowhunting on my mom's and her neighbors properties but both of my stands were stolen. At least in your case, I'm more likely to go ride some singletrack than I am sitting in a stranger's house.

 

[SkiParkGuy]

Does the FS normally do stuff like this? I thought the FS was in the Forestry business.

The FS manages the land for “many uses”. Be thankful they didn’t log the land, which is historically their main purpose. Now they’re getting more into the recreation side. Where I’m at the FS is using local trail builders to construct new trails for MTB and hiking use. They’ve built several trail networks that are free for the public to use rather than something like a ski resort that charges for the use of the land/facilities. Where I’m at, at least so far, they’ve been building these trails in areas close to town and it’s actually pretty cool. They unfortunately have plans to develop an area that currently has no trail access, which keeps out all but a few people. It’s prime hunting grounds and I’ll be going to every meeting to oppose expansion even though I volunteer my time to help build the other trails.

 

[timekiller13]

Mountain biking and “glamping” are all the rage right now.

USFS just cleared out a several acres on FS land not far from me. Making a larger parking area, widening the trails and adding some trails, putting restrooms and such up. This is all a big push by the mountain bikers. Nothing against bikers, I do ride occasionally myself. But, in my area, everything that is being done is specifically geared towards Mtn bikers. My county just recently opened a new 600 acre park that is marketed as a mountain bikers park.

 

[ODB]

Very interesting. I am actually exploring building a small lodge in the west, but worry not!, I won’t do it on FS land. ;-)

 

[EastHumboldt]

Some have called it “The National Deforestation Service”. Depends on your point of view. All the signs do indeed say “land of many uses”. Some of those uses are going to be disliked by somebody I guarantee it. If they preserve it for wilderness, somebody won’t like that. If they log it somebody won’t like that. If they lease it out for a resort, somebody won’t like that. And so on.…. At 64 years of age, I have seen many of my beloved places altered in ways that I do not love. I try to be philosophical about it, but it’s really effing hard sometimes.

 

[displacedtexan]

Your sentimental attachment to it is putting blinders on you...

How many acres are still NF that you can hunt in that forest? Or the general area? Or state? Or west as a whole?

100 acres for others to use fits into the objective of the Forest Service.

It does suck when a place you love is changed, but it's part of life. Especially with FS lands, they are used for hunting, but they are certainly not FOR hunting.

 

[WCB]

The FS manages the land for “many uses”. Be thankful they didn’t log the land, which is historically their main purpose. Now they’re getting more into the recreation side. Where I’m at the FS is using local trail builders to construct new trails for MTB and hiking use. They’ve built several trail networks that are free for the public to use rather than something like a ski resort that charges for the use of the land/facilities. Where I’m at, at least so far, they’ve been building these trails in areas close to town and it’s actually pretty cool. They unfortunately have plans to develop an area that currently has no trail access, which keeps out all but a few people. It’s prime hunting grounds and I’ll be going to every meeting to oppose expansion even though I volunteer my time to help build the other trails.

Think I'd rather have them log it than rip the Sh!t out of it building trails and jumps. Since when has responsible logging been bad? It grows back and provides quality habitat. Not sure a MT bike playground does the same.

 

[Nickofthewoods]

A few years after I moved from my house on the Front Range of CO, a large mountain bike trail network/open space park with about 20 miles of trails was built literally right behind my house at the top of my old backyard. It was mostly city property with blm and forest service land intermixed as well. I used to walk my dog back there all the time and would see moose, elk, deer regularly and rarely a human, once in a while I would bump into a neighbor and I honestly think we were the only two people that walked back there. It was also winter range used by the Elk and I would try not to take the dog back there in the winter months that the Elk were there. Now there is a paved parking lot that can fit 100 cars with nice new vault toilets and it is packed nearly year round. While I would have been a hypocrite and biked those trails a lot if I still lived there, it pretty much ruined the peaceful character of the valley all in the name of bicycle recreation, of which there was already plenty of nearby. Tough to swallow that stuff sometimes when it's in your backyard.

 

[mtnbiker208]

you got to love or hate, the attitude of: If i don't do it, it is bad.

 

[Nickofthewoods]

you got to love or hate, the attitude of: If i don't do it, it is bad.

As both a mountain biker and Hunter I've really never had issues with either user group while doing one or the other. By doing both, I can also perceive what would be annoying to hunters as a mtn biker and vice versa, and avoid certain places at certain times to be courteous and avoid conflict.

To the topic of this thread I think it's just tough to see any new development or major changes occur in wild places you grew up around, whether it's bike trails or new roads and well pads.

 

[Macintosh]

Topic I hate, but I see becoming a much larger issue in the near future--it's already at critical mass in a number of areas in the Rockies and it's happening here in VT and elsewhere in the East right now as well. I would not have any issue with these new trail developments at all if they were done in a way that made the impact of the trail network transparent on both the habitat and wildlife as well as on the existing users, but from what I have seen that is not the case at all. Now the new "industry" is the outdoors, with mtn biking being one of the big drivers, but also in the east where I am it's cutting glades for backcountry downhill skiing. The issue isn't that one activity (logging versus biking versus hunting, etc) is higher or lower impact than another, the issue is that most of the trail users, the trail advocacy organizations, and the people vying for the development and tourism $$$ from the new influx of users are portraying these trail uses as completely benign "non-consumptive" use, which couldn't be farther from the truth on the scale these developments are being done. There is considerable science behind recreational trail use being a negative for wildlife, both in the west and in the east. In many areas around me the trail developments take up nearly 100% of the acreage of a parcel of public land as well, so it displaces existing users, which also has the effect of at least partially offsetting the economic gain the project was supposed to provide as well. I live adjacent to a 250-ish acre piece of town land that is open for hunting, but which also has almost 11 miles of mtb trails on it. That's right, 10+ miles of trails on a sub-250 acre parcel. If you give each trail even a minimal "zone of impact" within which a hiker or biker on that trail will cause any animal to flee , the trail network literally affects wildlife on every single square inch of the property. If you use the zone recommended by the science, the trail network here covers almost 200% of the acreage of the parcel including many acres of adjacent landowners land. That may be an extreme example, but the undeniable fact is that heavy use of an area is harmful to the wildlife there because it more or less cuts them off from utilizing or even traveling through that area during daylight for the entire period of the year they are open, displace other users, and these trail networks become destinations that significantly grow and concentrate usage, and because of that they almost always continue to incrementally grow over time, and due to the particular use being viewed as harmless by so many people there is rarely much oversight or scrutiny. Add in rampant illegal trail building as well.

So yeah, I'd say an area getting logged is WAAAAAAAAY better for the wildlife than getting a mtb bike area plunked down on it. You be the judge of whether there is enough land around it for the loss of that habitat and the value it represents to be worthwhile or considered "multi use", just know that this issue is only going to get worse over the next couple years and if it hasnt landed on your doorstep yet, consider yourself warned if it does.

BTW, I make my living in the recreational outdoor industry, and I love trails and using them. But I think way, way, way too many bikers and skiers and other trail users are blind to the impact they have, and that's a problem. Honestly, I think if we can approach this issue well from a place of good faith in the other people involved it's a great opportunity to not only prevent some places from getting irresponsibly developed, and also probably building some good faith with some people who might otherwise have been against hunters or hunting. In dealing with this issue locally hunters have suddenly become the darling of the local Audubon ladies, which I think is awesome.

 

[Bubblehide]

Decades ago I lost a great quail and dove spot due to it being turned into an off road park. Just adapt and overcome.

 

[FLATHEAD]

I agree with Mcintosh about the logging, MUCH better option!!
Be like a deer magnet in a year or two.

My mom passed away on May 28th. Dang that was rough.
I miss her.

Going to try and go back home to visit some family this weekend.
And of course, check out the NF. If things work out, hope to be
hunting there this fall. It's been a while.

Wish me luck.