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For Immediate Release
Four Environmental Organizations Withdraw From Off-Road Vehicle Work Groups in Florida
Ocala, Florida -- Four environmental organizations have notified the U. S. Forest Service that they are withdrawing from the working groups that the Forest Service has established to help develop policy for off-road vehicle use on the Apalachicola, Osceola, and Ocala National Forests.
In a letter to Forest Supervisor Marsha Kearney, the organizations - Defenders of Wildlife, Sierra Club, Marion Audubon, and Putnam County Environmental Council - stated that they are taking the action because the working group process has proven to be "flawed and works against the best interest of the National Forests in Florida."
At issue is the increased use and adverse impacts of off-road vehicles on unauthorized roads and trails within restricted areas of these three national forests. At stake is the future of numerous endangered and threatened species in the forests (including red-cockaded woodpeckers, Florida scrub jays, and Florida black bears), sensitive wetlands, upland habitats and enjoyment of the forests by those who prefer non-motorized forms of recreation. To resolve the issue, the Forest Service established a process whereby off-road vehicle users and others could negotiate where and how off-road vehicle access would be permitted.
In the letter to the Forest Service, the organizations stated they are "frustrated" by the process for a number of reasons, including the lack of science-based landscape level planning methodology, inconsistent information, participation and decision making by Forest Service staff, and the lopsided representation, where recreation demands by user groups are broken out by the various types, eg, motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles, jeep clubs, mountain bikes, without equal representation and consideration for ecologically-minded recreationists.
The letter added that the organizations have "attempted to work in good faith, to express our concerns, submit scientific information and maps, and participate in field trips. However, neither the Forest Service nor the facilitators have been sensitive to our natural resource concerns." In fact, continues the letter, "In the working group process there has been no serious attempt or intent expressed to address broad natural resource issues. Decisions are being made and positions hardened among the many off-road vehicle representatives and Forest Service staff without the best scientific information available. Consequently, the products do not adequately resolve natural resource issues." In the final analysis the four organizations concluded that the process prescribed by the Forest Service would force them to sacrifice the environmental principles to which they are committed and would work against the best interests of the national forests.
For these reasons, the letter continues, "we do not want our names associated with travelway designations and 'proposed actions' which the Forest Service is developing."
Instead, working constructively with the Forest Service, the four organizations intend to review research already completed about the impacts of off-road vehicles on the environment and to gather new site specific data as needed. They will provide this information to the Forest Service during the initial steps of its environment analysis process (beginning early next year) and will help the Forest Service develop an off-road vehicle policy that, first and foremost, protects the natural resources of the national forests."
