PHOTO COURTESY OF GREG WALDEN'S OFFICE
U.S. Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.) announced this week that he has introduced the Forest Access in Rural Communities Act (H.R. 4272) to stop the travel management rule on national forests in the West and promote local control over future proposals to restrict forest access.
The congressman said accessing our forests is a way of life in rural Oregon, whether it’s for hunting, camping, berry picking or hiking.
“Far too often, though, management decisions are handed down from Washington, D.C. by agencies who have likely only seen the forests on a map,” he said. This bill will bring management back where it belongs — local communities with firsthand knowledge about the state and uses of these forests.”
Walden made the announcement at AC Power Sports in La Grande with local officials and members of the motorized recreation community, including Union County Commissioner Mark Davidson and motorized recreation leader Allan Chase. This legislation is the result of over a year of work with stakeholders like Davidson and Chase.
Walden said when the USFS released a travel management plan on the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest two years ago, it largely ignored input from local citizens. The agency eventually withdrew the plan.
The Forest Access in Rural Communities Act prohibits the implementation or enforcement of the U.S. Forest Service’s (USFS) Travel Management Rule for national forests derived from public domain lands in the West.
It also places restrictions on the USFS before implementing a proposed road closure, decommissioning or change in road densities in forests. In order to do so, the USFS must consult during the planning process with affected counties (a county within which the road closure occurs or an adjacent county). It must also get concurrence from the affected counties before the proposed plan goes into effect.
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