Halsey Update

Halsey Update

by Dan Nitzel

Published November 2003 in the Nebraska OHV Advisor, a quarterly newspaper for NOHVA members..

From my viewpoint and considering the big picture, the situation for ATV and dirtbike riders has improved this year. However, a small number of renegade riders are causing a considerable amount of concern by local law enforcement, forest service managers and NOHVA.

The main reason for the improved situation at the Nebraska National Forest is the greatly improved management of ATV and dirtbike riders by the Forest Service that began in 2002. Forest Service employees have made an outstanding effort to contact riders and talk to them about responsible trail use in a one-on-one basis. This is the best possible solution to control problems and educate riders. Hat’s off to the Bessey staff for making this happen!

NOHVA’s efforts to block un-authorized trails, restore damage made by ATV and dirtbike riders, and provide signing for trails has helped convince riders to stay on trails.

However, there are several problems that continue to exist and impending travel plan decisions are bound to effect future ATV and dirtbike recreation.

Current Problems -

The main complaint by most trail users, allotment holders (ranchers) and by managers involve renegade dirtbike riders at the Forest. While there are complaints about both ATV and dirtbike use at the Forest, people generally think dirtbike riders pose a much bigger problem. Even though dirtbike riders are greatly out numbered by ATV riders, they are observed leaving established trails much more often.

Allotment holders and managers report that dirtbike riders are causing more damage to areas because they seem to travel off of the trails more frequently than ATVs. When they travel off of the trails they seem to do more damage than ATVs because dirtbikes have only one narrow traction tire and dig into the soil much more, causing a higher level of resource damage. Many people complain about the noise dirtbike riders make as they often have loud pipes, especially two stroke dirtbikes. Some ATV riders share this problem as well.

Trail users report that dirtbikes often startle horse back riders more than ATV riders as they seem to be more likely to be traveling at a high rate of speed on the trails. Horses deal better with slower moving and larger motor vehicles on trails.

It has been observed that most of the problem dirtbike riders are from Lincoln County (North Platte area). I’ve heard a few complaints about riders from Buffalo (Kearney area) and Custer (Broken Bow area) as well.

There are still some complaints about people who continue to ride ATVs and dirtbikes in the camp grounds excessively, and a few continue to violate the camp grounds “quite time” policy. But there are fewer than last year.

On our side of the problems, interest in signing up for the Halsey Trails Committee “free mailing list” among local riders has been pretty much non-existent. Local riders are defined as riders from North Platte, Broken Bow, Kearney, Lexington, Gothenburg, or who live within 100 miles away. This lack of support from the local riders seems to indicate that is little interest among them in helping with preserve trails at Halsey. We need local trail users to become involved. So far, most of the interest in the committee is from people who live out of state.

I would like to see more interest from other trail users (horse, hiking, jeep) with the committee. It was my hope to bring together various trail users at the area and try to solve problems, issues and conflicts together and try to make it easier for the Forest Service to deal with.

Positive News! -

Noise in the camp grounds from ATVs and dirtbikes have gone down CONSIDERABLY! There were fewer reports of problems this year than previous years, yet traffic has increased.

New fences and signs are keeping more riders on the trails.

Thanks to Gene Freeze at Kearney Yamaha, we have helped provide local law enforcement and rescue people with equipment to help on trails. NOHVA purchased a used conex shipping container to store the rescue trailer in. The Thedford Rescue Squad voluntarily delivered the container to Thedford from Omaha and have volunteered to sand blast and paint it. So far this year, NOHVA has spent over $4,000 of NOHVA membership fee’s to help pay for improvements to trails.

So What’s Next? -

A new travel plan will be in effect sometime in 2004. How recreational ATV and dirtbike use will be effected by this new plan is not clear, but there will be some changes. My guess is that there will be some closures of land to ATVs and dirtbikes. However, there may be some new trails that will come out of the plan.

A new 96 dB noise limit may be imposed. There is a trend to make the new 96 dB limit a national noise standard.

A trail use fee may be implemented as well that would allow for an annual and/or daily trail use fee to cover trail maintenance, staffing and facilities expenses.

According to U.S. Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth, un-controlled ATV use is one of the four biggest problems facing our public lands. Congress is proposing new and tougher penalties for people who damage sensitive lands, have loud exhausts, and use excessive speed.

I have to agree that there is a problem un-controlled ATV/dirtbike use on public lands. However, I think that this is a problem that can be dealt with through education, enforcement and ATV/dirtbike rider involvement. A fine example of this is the outstanding job that the Forest Service is currently doing at the Nebraska National Forest.

One thing you can count on is that NOHVA will be involved in any new trail plan. With the new travel plan, we would like to see the trails now open to continue to stay open and we would like to see a tract or some tracts of open land to be designated for ATV and dirtbike riding. We would also like to see a couple of new loops added in the Grouse and Coyote allotments. Some one-way loops to complement the Dismal River trail are needed in the Porcupine and Camp 4 allotments. A connecting trail from the 4-H camp to the existing trail system would be great.

Some National Forests in the western states have added a moto-cross style track to a multi-use area. I think a good location for this would be the hill climb area. I like to think that there is room for everyone at the Bessey Ranger District, considering that there are 92,000 acres.

While we will be representing recreational ATV and dirtbike rider interests at the Nebraska National Forest, it may be a difficult job as we are receiving little support from ATV and dirtbike riders who currently use the trails there!

Let’s not forget that there is a wide range of other forest users who would like to see recreational ATV and dirtbike use greatly curtailed or eliminated at Halsey. With this in mind, the lack of support from ATV and dirtbike riders is making our position very difficult at best, and could result in us losing trails and access.

Unfortunately, history tells us that ATV and dirtbike riders don’t squawk much until a decision has been made to close their favorite trail. There are thousands of trails that have been closed over the years because riders have not accepted the importance of becoming involved in the process of trail use and management, or have failed to support an organized group that tried to become involved in the process. Once the area or trails is closed, it’s too late!

The fact of the matter is that we have the PRIVILEGE to ride at the Nebraska National Forest, NOT the RIGHT to ride there. Our privilege to ride there exists ONLY IF we play by the rules.

If you want to preserve your privilege to ride at the Nebraska National Forest, I encourage you to become involved in the up coming travel plan.

If you are not currently a member of NOHVA, please consider joining us and either directly becoming involved with us in trying to preserve our privilege at Halsey or joining us to simply support our efforts in privilege to ride at Halsey. Our organization will keep riders well informed if they keep their memberships active.