Opinion ID: 3062246
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Hard Look at Other Fens

Text: Even if the Forest Service successfully took a hard look at the impact on fens immediately adjacent to the Albany Trail, BCA argues the Forest Service failed take a hard look at the impact on the other fens in the area. Specifically, BCA asks us to conclude that the Forest Service failed to consider the likelihood that opening the Albany Trail would draw additional motorcyclists, who would in turn create new unauthorized routes across fens in other parts of the Middle Fork IRA. BCA cites the EA for the proposition that opening the Albany Trail will increase the overall number of users, but the EA actually suggests that the Forest Service expects off-road vehicle use in the Medicine Bow National Forest to increase regardless of which alternative the Forest Service selects. In fact, the Forest Service’s concern about the environmental impact of the growing number of users and resulting unauthorized trails is what prompted the agency to consider trail restrictions in the first place and to close numerous trails. While the Forest Service eventually designated 102 miles of trail for motor vehicle -19- use, it closed 292 miles to protect against environmental damage as well as conflicts between different types of recreational uses. See App. 11, 49. In that context, the EA directly assesses the impact of future unauthorized use. Of course, the precise number of motorcyclists likely to create new, unauthorized trails is difficult to predict. But the Forest Service’s inability to quantify that illegal behavior did not prevent the Forest Service from assessing the relative impact of each of the EA’s alternatives. The Forest Service reasonably anticipated that, if it took no action, users would create unauthorized routes at a higher rate. In attempt to counter that trend, the Forest Service identified that, by providing a legitimate means for [off-road vehicle] users to derive some of the backcountry motorized experiences they seek, fewer users would be inclined to participate in unauthorized travel (Blahna 2006, USDA 2005, Yankoviak 2000, Crimmins 1999). Motorcycle user compliance would likely see the greatest increase, with little to no increase expected for traditional 4x4 users (since the trail system would not affect their travel options). Increases in regulatory compliance are expected to result in 50 percent less use of unauthorized routes slated for closure. . . . [And] the gradual expansion of unauthorized motorized trails is predicted to slow from its current pace due to the provision of adequate authorized trail opportunities. App. 135; see also App. 98 (“It is also anticipated that, when quality trails are built, riders will use them. When riders use properly constructed trails, environmental impacts can be minimized, monitored, and controlled. No amount of restriction or enforcement can begin to provide the environmental protection -20- achieved through the provision of adequate facilities and rider education.”). Absent countervailing evidence in the record, we can conclude from the EA that the Forest Service took a hard look at the relevant information and determined that opening motorized trails would slow the creation of unauthorized routes in the area and, accordingly, the impact on fens in other parts of the Middle Fork IRA.