Motorized roads and trails are closing due to a process called travel and transportation management planning. It is a process used by federal agencies to designate a system of roads and trails on public lands. Due to the National Environmental Policy Act, federal agencies are required to scrutinize the environmental impact of their decision.
This process is required by Executive Order 11644 put in place in 1972 to control cross-country travel off of existing roads. Since it was signed by President Richard Nixon, agency interpretations of the executive order have repeatedly changed. Each Federal Land Management agency has its regulations describing the agency's travel management process. For the most part, these processes have not changed since 2003.
During this process, Land Management agencies employ third-party private environmental consulting firms to collaborate with stakeholders and conduct an environmental assessment of the proposed trail system. Local 4x4 clubs and organizations work with Federal Land managers to map out trails and add them to the trail system. Sometimes, federal agencies also employ private facilitators to assist during the process, collaborate with government decision-makers, launch from groups, and run propaganda campaigns.
Every motorized and nonmotorized road and Trail is then scrutinized over its impact on suitable endangered species habitat, erosion, grade and slope, drainage, cultural sites, wilderness areas, fragmentation of wildlife, and a host of other pressure points.
The Federal Land Management agency with the environmental consulting firm provides three alternative Trail systems. Alternative A is used to describe the current trail system as a whole. Alternative B is used to describe a less restrictive transportation system that usually contains the least closures. Alternative C is usually the preferred alternative which is modified in response to public comments and provides a balance. And Alternative D which is the most restrictive and contains the most closures.
Travel and transportation management planning typically target legally established camping areas, roads that lead to historical sites, roads that have no destination value, river access areas, mountain tops, Vista points, roads that travel along ridgelines, and roads that access real property. These roads could range from extreme 4X4 trails to maintained roads that are accessible by large RVs or passenger cars.
The BLM splits the state into 98 different areas called Travel Management Areas. Each area has a travel management plan that lays out the agency's goals, objectives and desired outcomes for the motorized trail system. The travel management plan consists of multiple draft and final documents, records of decisions, maps, public comments, and a host of other data related to the planning process. On National Forest land, travel management planning is conducted throughout the entire National Forest. On average, 60% of roads in each travel management area end up closed.
During the planning process, the proposed transportation system is opened for public comment. The public comment process is not meant to protest road closures. It is meant to scrutinize the environmental impact of government decisions. It is therefore a process that caters to opposing interests.
The travel management process creates the Motor Vehicle Use Map on National Forest land, determines dispersed camping rules, establishes designated camping areas, establishes OHV areas, establishes permit zones, and other administrative designations. Travel and transportation management is also linked with the State Transportation Improvement Program under MAP 21. A local 4x4 club and the Arizona State Historic Preservation Office also maintain an agreement with federal agencies regarding their responsibilities to protect historical sites during travel management planning.
Contrary to what most people believe, road closures on public land are not due to poor etiquette or bad stewardship. This process will take place regardless and the very existence of a road, according to federal land managers, is enough to fragment wildlife, disturb sensitive soils, cause erosion, introduce invasive species, and facilitate extractive and exploitative land use rights.
No amount of Trail maintenance, restoration projects, kiosk installs, trash clean-ups, or education is going to solve this issue. To solve this issue we need a monumental shift in policy, and our clubs and organizations must ditch the old obsolete tactics.
