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Sitka Ranger District Open Roads Information Available

Contact: Carol Goularte, 907-747-4218

Tongass National Forest-Sitka, Alaska – July 14, 2008

Sitka, AK - The Tongass National Forest, Sitka Ranger District released a new Motor Vehicle Use Map (MVUM) for the District July 1, 2008 as part of the national 2005 Final Travel Management Rule for National Forests. This is the first MVUM to be released on the Tongass National Forest.

The MVUM displays National Forest System routes (roads and trails) or areas designated as open to motorized travel. The MVUM also displays allowed uses by vehicle class (for example, off-highway vehicles (OHVs) less than 50 inches wide and motorcycles), season of allowed use, and provides information on other travel rules and regulations. Routes not shown on the MVUM and areas not designated as open are closed to public motor vehicle travel. Routes designated for motorized use may not always be signed on the ground but will be identified on the MVUM. It will be the public’s responsibility to consult the MVUM so that they know that they are staying on open (designated) routes for motor vehicle use.

The MVUM is a black-and-white map with no topographic features. It is designed to provide legal designations of where you can travel using various motorized vehicles. To provide an on-the-ground reference, it is best used in conjunction with another detailed map which is available free of charge at the Sitka Ranger District office. The MVUM is available free to the public at the Sitka Ranger District Office during regular business hours (Monday-Friday, 8 am to 4:30 pm). The MVUM will be available on the Tongass National Forest website and sections of it may be printed from your home computer.

The MVUM will be updated annually to correct mapping errors or discrepancies and update road conditions or travel decisions. With annual updates, the MVUM is meant to be a useful and dynamic tool for the public and the Forest Service by displaying changes to roads as they are newly opened or closed. The current MVUM is based on the November 2007 decision on the Sitka Ranger District Access and Travel Management (ATM) Revised Environmental Analysis. Generally, roads that were displayed as open in that decision are shown on the MVUM (and thus are open). In some cases a road with a decision to be open may not be displayed on the MVUM (and thus, is a closed road) in any given year if road conditions deteriorate, major maintenance/reconstruction is planned, or a new roads analysis/decision to close a road is made.

Future MVUMs will also be used to display adding/opening roads and trails to OHV or other access. Many miles of road in the November 2007 ATM decision were displayed on the maps and in the document as potential OHV trails. As described in that document and the Revised EA, these roads were closed to OHVs until their respective resource concerns were mitigated such as through hardened stream crossings, removal of stream obstructions, removal of slide material, or where field-verification identifies fish crossings as having limited or no impact to anadromous fish. The Sitka District Ranger hopes to be able to provide more OHV access over time on roads identified as potential OHV trails. Ongoing efforts to provide future OHV access are focused on portions of road in the Appleton Cove and St. John the Baptist Bay areas.

“I plan to continue to explore ways to provide additional access for recreation and subsistence. We will actively work with local groups and communities to pursue partnerships to facilitate improved access,” stated Sitka District Ranger, Carol Goularte.

In the future, new maps will be available in January each year.

For more information about the MVUM or access management, call Carol Goularte, Sitka District Ranger at 747-6671.

USFS