Osceola trail numbers may be reduced

April 1, 2004

By TONY BRITT

U.S. forestry officials are trying to cut down on the number of roads and trails in restricted areas of the Osceola National Forest to protect forest resources.

Environmentally sensitive areas of the Osceola National Forest, south of Interstate 10 and north of U.S. 90 in Columbia and Baker counties as well as the Pinhook Swamp and the middle prong of the St. Marys River of the forest, are the target areas. However, most of the trails and roads appear to be in the Columbia and Baker county portion of the forest.

The forest currently has 253 miles of roads and trails that are opened to licensed and non-licensed vehicles and bicycles, roads that four-wheelers and license vehicles would be able to ride through. The proposal the forestry service is looking at implementing would reduce the amount of roads and trails to 124 miles.

Susan Kett, Osceola National Forest resource assistant, said the proposal basically changes where unlicensed vehicles, bicycles, all-terrain vehicles and bicycles can be ridden.

The need to reduce the miles of roadways and trails in restricted areas was identified in 1999 while forestry officials were working on their land management plan, which directs day-to-day operation of the forest.

Kett said the restricted areas were deemed environmentally sensitive because of their eco-system's plants and animals.

She said while the roads accommodate a lot of vehicles, they also act as barriers for prescribed burns, smaller animal species and some plants.

"We needed to look at access to these areas to make sure we weren't doing any damage and, if we were, to look at where the access was and select areas to access that wouldn't do resource damage," Kett said. "One of the stumbling blocks is there were so many roads out in the forest, we didn't have a good handle on where all the roads were."

The forestry service is reviewing four alternatives as part of the federally mandated environmental assessment:

n Alternative 1 is to take no action.

n Alternative 2 is to stay with the current situation.

n Alternative 3 is to use a proposal submitted by a coalition environmental group.

n Alternative 4 is to use the work (listing of roads and trails) submitted by a working group formed by forestry officials, composed of forest users from a variety of local and environmental groups.

Forestry officials will take public comments on the proposed alternatives today during a 3-9 p.m. open house at the Osceola Ranger District Office, U.S. 90 West in Olustee (12 miles west of Lake City).

"It's an opportunity for people who would like to come in and ask questions Š and also the opportunity to submit comments" Kett said.

There is a legal 30-day comment period that began Wednesday and all public comments have to be received within the 30-day period to be considered.

Following the 30-day comment period, forestry officials will review comments and district ranger will make the final decision.

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