Eldorado National Forest

Projects & Plans:
Public Wheeled Motorized Travel Management:

The Eldorado National Forest Has Completed The Travel Management Process

Starting in January 2009, the Eldorado National Forest began implementing the decision made to restrict all motor vehicles to designated roads and trails. This direction follows Forest Supervisor Ramiro Villalvazo’s decision from April 2008's Final Travel Management Environmental Impact Statement, which allows public motor vehicle use on over 1,800 miles of roads and trails across the Forest.

National Background:

Recreational use of the National Forest System has increased in recent decades. Since 1946, the number of visits to the National Forest System has increased 15 to 20 times, to 214 million in 2001. By 2100, the number of Americans is expected to double, and the number of visits to the National Forests is likely to more than double.

Off road motor vehicle use for public enjoyment of the National Forest System has also increased. The number of OHV users has climbed sevenfold in the past 30 years, from approximately 5 million in 1972 to 36 million in 2000. OHV users account for approximately 1.8 million or 5 percent of visitors to the national forests and grasslands. Motor vehicle use off roads in the National Forest System may involve any motor vehicle that can travel off road, such as a sport utility vehicle (SUV) and an off-highway vehicle (OHV).

The expansion of OHV use on national forests and grasslands is impacting the natural and cultural resources of federal lands. The Chief of the Forest Service has identified unmanaged recreation -- especially impacts from OHVs -- as one of the key threats facing the National Forests today. Some OHV use has resulted in unplanned roads and trails, soil erosion, watershed and habitat degradation, as well as, impacts on cultural resource sites.

The Forest Service wants to improve its management by balancing the public's enjoyment of using OHVs with ensuring the best possible care of the land. At the national level, the Forest Service revised its rules in 2005 governing the use of wheeled motor vehicles to develop a system of roads, trails and areas designated for motor vehicle use. This new rule still provides public opportunities for motorized and nonmotorized recreation, while enhancing protection of habitat and aquatic, soil, air and cultural resources.

Final Environmental Impact Statement and Record of Decision

The Eldorado National Forest Travel Management Final Environmental Impact Statement and Record of Decision was released on April 2, 2008. The Forest Service will provide interested people with CDs containing both documents and will post them on this website. The Eldorado held four public open houses following the release of the Record of Decision.

• Question and Answers (202 kb) pdf
• Project Update (473 kb) pdf
• Errata 1: Corrections for the Commenter list.

Documents:

IMPORTANT: The latest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader should be used to view these PDF documents. It is available at the website link below. If you are having problems viewing the maps, be sure to install the latest version of the Acrobat Reader. Adobe Acrobat Reader is free and may be downloaded from: http://www.adobe.com/products/reader.

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Alternative Maps:

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Resource Maps:

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Disclaimer:

The Forest Service uses the most current and complete data available. GIS data and product accuracy may vary. They may be: developed from sources of differing accuracy, accurate only at certain scales, based on modeling or interpretation, incomplete while being created or revised, etc. Using GIS products for purposes other than those for which they were created, may yield inaccurate or misleading results.

Eldorado National Forest
100 Forni Road
Placerville CA 95667-5310
(530) 622-5061

These maps contain contour which were generated and filtered using the Digital Elevation Model (DEM) files. Any contours generated from DEMs using a scale of less than 1:100,000 will lead to less reliable results and should be used for display purposes only.

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Eldorado National Forest 5 Step Process Timetable:

1. Complete an inventory of existing roads, trails, and open areas used by OHV's, and compile Forest OHV Management Direction. Share maps with the public by December 2005. The route inventory includes unclassified roads and provides the baseline data for the route designation effort. Completed.
2. Issue an interim Forest Order prohibiting wheeled vehicles use off the existing roads and trails, as determined by the inventory. This Forest Order went into effect on August 25, 2005 and will remain in effect until the designation process is finished. Completed.
3. Propose Route designations. Working with you, the Forest developed a proposal which identified the existing routes the Forest proposed to designate as motorized travel routes. The Proposed Action was released on October 26, 2005. The scoping period for public comments concluded on December 1, 2005. Completed.
4. Designate Routes through an Environmental Analysis process. The Forest makes its final decision as to which routes will be designated for OHV use. The Draft Environmental Impact Statement was released in July. The comment period closed in October. The final decision was released April 2, 2008.
5. Complete Motor Vehicle Use Map (MVUM) to identify the designated system of routes, sign the routes, and provide user maps. This final step was completed in March 2009.