The road is a Forest Highway and gateway to 109,000 acres of National Forest Land that is used primarily for public recreation purposes. A project is in the planning process to study an 11 mile section of the road from milepost 1.36 to the Middle Fork-Taylor River Trailhead at milepost 12.0. Various concerns were raised. Comment sheets were provided and the Federal Highway Commission and Department of Transportation urged their guests to take them and spread the request for comment.
Copies are available at club headquarters in Seattle.
The Mountaineers Recreational Access Committee is meeting monthly with groups such as ORCA, American Hiking Society, Pacific Crest Trails Association, and American Whitewater to lend a strong voice for muscle-powered recreation on such issues as access and user fees on our public lands. Through this regular communication with other groups, we hope to keep you better apprised of recreation access developments and better coordinate the lobby for a human-powered recreation nationwide. We currently signed on and contributed to this year's Recreation and Conservation Funding Request to Congress. This 17-page document outlines, budgets, and explains our requests for adequate recreation and conservation funding for public lands. The funding request was prepared and supported by a consortium of 35 recreation and conservation interests including the Access Fund, American Hiking Society, American Whitewater, Colorado Mountain Club, Outward Bound USA, Student Conservation Association, and Washington Trails Association, among others.