[RC] BCHA Wins FS Trails Classification Lawsuit - Jim Holland
FYI…….from Back Country Horsemen of America National
…..a win for us….but read carefully…..we still have to “participate”
as a trail activist in our local areas to be sure the FS complies with this
ruling. Please forward to your lists.
FINAL
STATUS OF BCHA-FOREST SERVICE TRAILS CLASSIFICATION LAWSUIT
As
many of you are aware, Back Country Horsemen of America recently filed a
lawsuit challenging the Forest Service’s development of a new trail
classification system (TCS) which will be implemented in a way that we believe
will reduce our access to trails on the National Forests. BCHA’s concern
was that the new trail classification system would make it extremely easy for
Forest Service personnel in the field to downgrade trails, with no public input
much less notice, and thus end up keeping stock off these trails. Despite
exhaustive efforts to work with the Forest Service amicably to resolve our
issues, the agency simply refused to insert safeguards into the new system and
assured us that our predictions of reduced stock use were unjustified. We then
reluctantly concluded that our only option to protect our interests was to
bring the matter before a judge by filing a lawsuit. Our fundamental argument
to the judge was that developing a new trail classification system was
something that the public had a right to be involved in, and it should not be
left solely to a handful of selected agency personnel who may not have our
interests in mind.
In
response to our suit, the Forest Service aggressively argued that the TCS was
an internal agency matter that did not affect us. The agency misleadingly
portrayed the TCS as merely taking “inventory” and that it involved
administrative decisions on how best to apply the limited agency budget. In
other words, it was none of our business. The problem was that the TCS would also
serve as the active management guide for how trails would be maintained.
Moreover, the TCS created a new trail class that was exclusively for hikers,
and would allow field personnel to easily slip trails into this class,
especially trails in wilderness areas, with no public involvement.
The
judge agreed with us that we have a right under federal law to be involved in
decisions such as the one at issue which involve the trail system. This holding
is a critical development in establishing our rights with respect to our
trails. Being informed of and having a right to have input in an agency
decision is critical to protecting our rights, and before this holding the
Forest Service was able to operate behind a curtain. Given her holding, the
judge ordered the Forest Service to comply with the law and involve the public
in its decision-making process, before
it made a decision. The Forest Service has indicated to us that, in response to
the judge’s order, they intend to issue a notice of their intended action
and provide for full public comment on the new trail classification system and
its impacts.
The
key now is to ensure that our concerns are heard and addressed. We have engaged
lawyers to successfully enforce our rights to be involved (which the Forest
Service wanted to deny us), and now it is our turn to make the most of our
rights. To do this, it is very important that, through our formal comments, and
any other communications that we can make, the Forest Service officials who
repeatedly tell us that they support stock use truly understand our concerns.
We will use this opportunity to fight for safeguards in the process that
protect against secret agency action and unjustified limits being imposed on
our use of our trails.
In
addition, we as individuals must continually ensure that any re-classification
of specific trails is done through a public process.
The first step you can take is to find out the classes which are currently
assigned to the trails in your area and inform your local District Rangers and
Recreational Managers that you want to be told of any changes in those
classifications. To ensure that you are kept informed, periodically ask for the
current trail classes to that the agency knows you are staying on top of the
issue. In the event a trail in your area is downgraded, you must actively lobby
your Forest and local Congressman or Senator
and fight that decision.
For
further questions, contact Back Country Horsemen of America Chair Merlyn Huso (hlazym@xxxxxxxxxxxx) or Steve Didier, BCHA
Legal Committee Chair, (steve.didier@xxxxxxxxx).
