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> **Testimony of Bradley Powell**

**Western Energy and ORV coordinator**

**Trout Unlimited**

**before the**

## Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee

**Washington, D.C.**

**June 5, 2008**

Mr. Chairman, members of the Committee, I appreciate the opportunity to
appear before you today and provide the views of Trout Unlimited and
many other sportsmen/women concerned about the appropriate uses of
public lands.

My name is Brad Powell. I live in Payson, Arizona, which is located in
the north-central portion of the state, within the Tonto National
Forest. I work for Trout Unlimited, a national organization with nearly
150,000 members dedicated to the conservation, protection and
restoration of North America\'s coldwater fisheries and their
watersheds. I also am a retired manager with the U.S. Forest Service,
serving as a Regional Forester in two Regions, a Forest Supervisor, a
National Monument Manager and a District Ranger. In addition, I serve on
the Board of Directors for the Arizona Wildlife Federation. I am an avid
sportsman enjoying the rivers, trails and public lands of the West. I am
intimately familiar with the use of Off Highway Vehicles (OHV\'s) on
public lands both as a recreational user and as an agency administrator
for many years.

I appreciate the privilege to speak to you. My purpose today is to
convey to you the critical need to develop and implement travel
management plans on our federal public lands. I am not here to speak in
opposition to the use of OHV's on public lands, but to ensure that their
use is compatible with the land's capability (particularly fish and
wildlife habitats) and the needs of sportsmen/women, recreational users
and others who rely on America's public lands for their enjoyment.

I began my work on public lands 40 years ago, on the Tonto National
Forest in Arizona.

Since that time there have been numerous issues (including timber sales,
grazing and endangered species) concerning the appropriate uses of our
public lands. In my estimation none of those issues has had the
potential to cause the level and scale of long term damage that
unregulated OHV use has. Agency employees at the time I started my work
with the U.S. Forest Service, and for many years thereafter, were proud
that our lands were open for recreational use. Hunters, fishermen,
campers, firewood cutters and other users could drive where they wanted,
mainly with 4-wheel- drive trucks. The use of OHV's was minimal, mainly
for administrative use. We sincerely believed that the relatively low
amounts of use would cause little damage and were compatible with the
natural resources we were charged with managing. To the contrary,
beginning in the 1980s and continuing until today, OHV use levels on
National Forests have exploded and with it the damage.

The number of off-highway vehicle (OHV) users in the U.S. has climbed
tenfold in the past 32 years, from approximately 5 million in 1972 to
over 51 million in 2004. The Forest Service manages more than 300,000
miles of roads and 35,000 miles of trails for motor vehicle use. More
than 11 million people using OHV\'s visited National Forests and
Grasslands in 2004. In Arizona, the number of registered OHV\'s has
grown from approximately 51,000 in 1998, to 230,000 in 2006. It is
estimated there are now more than 350,000 OHV's in the state, and that
number continues to grow at a tremendous rate. There are similar growth
rates occurring across much of the country.

While many ride responsibly, a growing number of irresponsible users are
causing severe impacts by traveling off roads and trails, creating
unauthorized routes. Unmanaged OHV use is destroying wetlands, severely
impacting wildlife habitats, causing soil erosion, damaging important
cultural resources and spreading noxious weeds. Former Chief of the U.S.
Forest Service Dale Bosworth speaking at the All Terrain Vehicle (ATV)
industry expo in Louisville Kentucky on October 14, 2004 had this to say
concerning OHV damage:

*"You don't have to go far to see it. I could show you slide after
slide---tire tracks running*

*through wetlands; riparian areas churned into mud; banks collapsed and
bleeding into*

*streams; ruts in trails so deep you can literally fall in; and
sensitive meadows turned into*

*dustbowls. Water quality deteriorates, soil erodes, and native plant
communities decline,*

*partly because invasive weeds are spread by tires going where they
shouldn't be going."*

I have observed numerous examples of damaging uses by OHV's. In New
Mexico, on the Santa Fe National Forest, I vividly remember the deep
ruts and bog holes created in prime elk habitat. On the Tonto National
Forest in Arizona there are areas that look like heavy equipment has cut
deep incisions into the land. On a typical weekend day in the spring
there is a dust cloud over the area that can be seen for miles. When you
enter the site there is an amazing array of OHV's tearing up the hills
and denuding the landscape of its desert vegetation. There are hills
with cuts in them up to 10 feet deep that have been caused by the
destructive riding. I have witnessed OHV's chasing elk and deer in
Montana. I have encountered OHV's in closed sensitive areas, including
federally designated Wilderness areas. While working in Kentucky,
Arizona and New Mexico, I saw significant damage to some of the National
Forests' most sensitive riparian areas, damaging valuable watersheds and
important fisheries. These are some of my first-hand examples, as I talk
to sportsmen/women and other recreational users of Federal public lands,
almost everyone have similar "OHV horror stories" of their own.

Another major concern is that the budgets of the agencies responsible
for the management of our public lands continue to tighten. More and
more of the budget are being allocated to suppress wildfires or manage
oil and gas development at the expense of fish and wildlife habitats and
hunting and angling opportunities.

These concerns and others from across the country led to the development
of a Travel Management Planning Rule for the Forest Service, finalized
in November of 2005. The rule requires each National Forest to designate
roads, trails and areas that are open for motorized use including
decisions on where OHV use may occur. Each National Forest is required
to publish a Motor Vehicle Use Map (MVUM) indicating those decisions.
After the MVUM is published, any use of OHV's on routes or areas not
identified on the map will be illegal. While there was no deadline for
Forests to publish an MVUM in the rule, the Forest Service Chief
directed each National Forest to complete their work on travel
management by September, 2009. Virtually all of the National Forests are
currently engaged in the development of these Travel Management Plans.

I firmly believe that our public land natural resources (soils,
vegetation, watersheds, and fish/wildlife habitats) cannot sustain the
damage of unmanaged OHV use that is occurring today. It is my hope that
the results of this process will be a well thought out, sustainable,
managed system of roads, trails and areas that are approved for
motorized and non-motorized uses including OHV's. This system should be
balanced with the needs of other recreation users and within the
capacity of the ecosystem. The identification and designation of the
open roads, trails and areas is only the first step in developing a
sustainable system. In the long-term, a significant increase in
education, enforcement and rehabilitation of damaged areas is essential
for the success of the Travel Management plans.

In summary, I have great hope that the new Travel Management plans on
U.S. Forest Service lands will lay the foundation for greatly reduced
natural resource damage from unregulated OHV uses. My primary concerns
are based on the diminished agencies' budgets, lack of personnel and
commitment of the agencies to adequately implement these plans. The
increased levels of enforcement, education and rehabilitation that will
be needed are significant. I don't believe that the agencies are
prepared for this implementation workload.

Looking ahead, TU offers the following recommendations for your
consideration:

1.  Public cross-country OHV travel should be prohibited on all National
    Forests and other federal public lands except for special OHV
    management areas and for special needs. In the future, all illegally
    created user trails should be closed to any public use.

2.  A visible license plate that can be used to identify the rider needs
    to be mandatory for all OHV's used on public lands. These visible
    license plates would greatly help in reporting and deterring illegal
    activities, as illegal riders are now essentially invisible. This
    may prove to be the single most effective deterrent to illegal
    activities.

3.  The US Forest Service should develop an estimate of total the costs
    to implement their Travel Management plans, including necessary
    monitoring. The agencies need to develop a funding strategy
    (including the use of partners) to implement these plans.

4.  A federal funding mechanism should be implemented to fund increased
    law enforcement, user education, signage and rehabilitation of
    damaged areas.

5.  A standardized motor vehicle use map should be developed by each
    National Forest in a consistent manner that provides adequate detail
    to inform the user of the National Forest as to what areas, roads
    and trails are open and closed. This map should be developed in a
    way that insures that it is the legal notification of open and
    closed routes.

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6.  Finally, the Bureau of Land Management has no consistent national
    approach to travel management planning. They should adopt a similar
    process as the U.S. Forest Service to ensure that these public lands
    have well thought-out plans balancing protection of their ecosystems
    with recreational uses.

Mr. Chairman and members of the Committee, I sincerely thank you for
this opportunity to talk with you today on this increasingly critical
public land management issue, which, left unmanaged, will continue to
severely impact our National Forest and other federal public lands in
this country. I would be happy to answer any questions.