Coming Soon
Home > Forum


Author Topic: Mt Hood Closing over 90% of the Riding Area  (Read 6154 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline opfermanmotors

  • Professional
  • *****
  • Posts: 1017
    • View Profile
Mt Hood Closing over 90% of the Riding Area
« on: August 28, 2010, 12:21:16 AM »
Four-wheel-drives, ATVs and dirt bikes can only go in designated areas of the Mt. Hood National Forest under a management plan issued Friday that closes 93 percent of more than 2,000 miles of roads and trails that have been open to the vehicles.

The plan puts an end to vehicles being able to go anywhere not specifically posted as off-limits, which the U.S. Forest Service recognized in 2005 was a major source of environmental damage. By going off suitable trails, vehicles can promote erosion, damage water quality, and harm fish and wildlife habitat.

...

The Mt. Hood plan also bars riding cross-country and concentrates trail riding in four designated areas that will have formal staging facilities. They are known as LaDee Flats, McCubbins Gulch, Mount Defiance and Rock Creek.


http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2012744669_offroad28.html

http://www.katu.com/news/local/101684183.html

Modest beginings start with a single blow of a horn, man.

Offline opfermanmotors

  • Professional
  • *****
  • Posts: 1017
    • View Profile
Re: Mt Hood Closing over 90% of the Riding Area
« Reply #1 on: August 28, 2010, 12:23:53 AM »
« Last Edit: August 28, 2010, 12:27:53 AM by opfermanmotors »
Modest beginings start with a single blow of a horn, man.

Offline factoryX

  • Professional
  • *****
  • Posts: 855
  • Hurry! Follow the other farting sheep!
    • View Profile
Re: Mt Hood Closing over 90% of the Riding Area
« Reply #2 on: August 28, 2010, 01:07:23 AM »
god dammit, not again.


I ride an 03 yz250, wait 04, wait 05, what ever, they're all the same #$@% YOU!

Offline JETZcorp

  • Professional
  • *****
  • Posts: 1696
  • Life, Liberty, and Horsepower
    • View Profile
Re: Mt Hood Closing over 90% of the Riding Area
« Reply #3 on: August 28, 2010, 01:13:30 AM »
What makes them so much better than us?  Why don't WE close down 93% of the forest to hikers?!  You don't want dirt bikes on your hiking trail?  Fuck you!  I don't want hikers on my riding trail, either.  But that doesn't mean I'm going to close down the entire forest and rake you over the coals.

The simple fact of the matter is, there are more of them than there are of us, and that means that we don't matter.  They taught us in school that democracy is a good thing, but all it does is take the top 51% and give them complete power over the lower 49.

Also, look at what this is going to do.  It's going to take all the riders and herd them into these small little areas that just don't have the space for all of them.  Traffic on the trails is going to go up, and that means that more riders will run into each other, the existing trails will be over-ridden and start to suffer damage that they would not otherwise.  More riders are going to try and relieve the "pressure" by creating new trails, but many of these are going to be poorly routed and cause damage to tree roots and shit.  Then, in the next little meeting these people have, they'll bring some pictures of the over-capacity riding area all torn to hell, and they'll say "See!  See how much damage these wild idiots are causing?!  This must be stopped!"  Then more areas will get closed down, and so on, and so on.

If the above sounds like I'm angry, it's okay, I'm not angry.  I'm fucking pissed!!!  What if I wanted to see Surveyor's Ridge, or Owl Point, but don't want to walk five damn miles to get there?  Or what about other places that they've already closed off, like Silverstar Mountain?  My dad has wonderful stories of the good old days when they would go to these places, and ride up to the most beautiful scenic locations they've ever seen, but that were eventually closed off.  Oh, maybe the spot is now a little more quiet, and there are shoe prints in the dirt instead of tire prints, but the view is still the same, you're just not allowed to see it unless you've got a backpack full of granola bars and recycled bottles full of piss-warm water.  What are you supposed to do if you like nature but don't like walking?  Buy an HDTV and watch the Discovery Channel, I guess.  No point even having a bike unless you like racing, you might as well sell that.  And why get a Jeep when you could have a Prius, it's not like you can take the Jeep anywhere the Prius can't go, these days.

I need to stop ranting now, my keyboard has taken so many forceful impacts during the typing of this message, it's about broken in half by now.


Is this Maico a 440 or only a 400?  Well in all the confusion, I forgot myself.
But considering this is a 1978 Magnum, the best-handling bike in the world, you have to ask yourself one question.
Do you feel lucky, punk?

Offline opfermanmotors

  • Professional
  • *****
  • Posts: 1017
    • View Profile
Re: Mt Hood Closing over 90% of the Riding Area
« Reply #4 on: August 28, 2010, 01:27:02 AM »
US is not a (technically) democracy, it's a republic.  If it were a democracy, the minorities would be screwed.  

So even if dirtbikers are a minority they should have the same voice and equal rights as the hikers.

« Last Edit: August 28, 2010, 01:29:52 AM by opfermanmotors »
Modest beginings start with a single blow of a horn, man.

Offline Hondacrrider

  • Professional
  • *****
  • Posts: 433
    • View Profile
Re: Mt Hood Closing over 90% of the Riding Area
« Reply #5 on: August 28, 2010, 07:18:54 AM »
Since, I am not American, or live in the Oregon area, I can not do a whole heck of a lot for this situation, but I can say this sucks, and is a real kick to the berries. I have no idea why you can not ride in the forests in your area, in my area, if you are on dirt, you can ride, the cops don't care, and the people don't care, if you come across a hiker, you very quietly drive by and wave, and be courteous. This brings up an issue, have we as off roaders caused this ourselves? Have we been ignorant and flew by the hikers faster than hell? Have we brought overly loud bikes into the forest, making the area overwhelmingly loud? Have we left loads of garbage all over the place in our forests? The answer to this is yes, so, while not all of us are guilty of this, there are some who are, and the hikers are not going to remember the ones who drove by quietly and waved, they are going to remember the ones who flew by them at mach 7, because it is their human nature to complain about something. Now should you guys just take it? NO!! Since I live in Canada, I feel it is not my place to send your government a letter about my concern of this, or organize a petition, but you guys are obviously capable, go out and do something about this. I will, and I am sure others on this site will too, sign a petition if one is organized.
I'd rather be riding...

Offline SachsGS

  • Professional
  • *****
  • Posts: 1235
    • View Profile
Re: Mt Hood Closing over 90% of the Riding Area
« Reply #6 on: August 28, 2010, 08:50:44 AM »
I live in Canada and the same groups are attempting to do the same things up here. In western Canada motorized offroad enthusiests are increasingly being restricted in their activities by urban sprawl, industrial encroachment, logging, ranching and other agricultural users and yet the general public has the audacity to accuse us of damaging the enviroment.

If we could ask the denizons of the wild, the black bears, chimpmunks and bluejays etc. who would they rather put up with, a bunch of open piped mud boggers during the weekend or the permanant invasive asphalt sprawl of vinyl clad suburbia I'm pretty sure they would choose the former.

Hypocrisy is the term that most comes to mind when I think of these people, they are so closed minded that they fail to see how destructive their own lifestyles are to the enviroment. Deer soon ignore dirtbikes and trails grow over in a year or two but a shopping mall is much more permanent thing.

Offline opfermanmotors

  • Professional
  • *****
  • Posts: 1017
    • View Profile
Re: Mt Hood Closing over 90% of the Riding Area
« Reply #7 on: August 28, 2010, 09:24:26 AM »
That is JetZ's riding area, I don't know anything about why they are changing it.  The area I ride is under seperate management and nothing is being closed there at least. 


Modest beginings start with a single blow of a horn, man.

Offline Turquine

  • Intermediate
  • ***
  • Posts: 82
    • View Profile
Re: Mt Hood Closing over 90% of the Riding Area
« Reply #8 on: August 28, 2010, 01:18:34 PM »
Well, eventually, they will want to close all of it to any type vehicles. They want most people out of the wilderness areas. Hikers will still be allowed, but will of course have to be barefooted so as not to upset the "delicate" ecological balance. If you happen to be a member of the world's wealthy elite, however, you may go where you wish, and ride what you wish. Also if you happen to be a member of the Sierra Club, then such rules will not apply to you.

Offline JETZcorp

  • Professional
  • *****
  • Posts: 1696
  • Life, Liberty, and Horsepower
    • View Profile
Re: Mt Hood Closing over 90% of the Riding Area
« Reply #9 on: August 28, 2010, 07:46:36 PM »
Technically, it's not actually even my area, because I mainly stay in the actual riding park area, and camp on an access road that cuts through private property.  BUT, I am still fundamentally opposed to this shutting-down business.  If there are really so few riders out there that you can shut the place down and still sleep at night, then there can't possibly be enough riders to damage the wilderness.


Is this Maico a 440 or only a 400?  Well in all the confusion, I forgot myself.
But considering this is a 1978 Magnum, the best-handling bike in the world, you have to ask yourself one question.
Do you feel lucky, punk?

Offline Hondacrrider

  • Professional
  • *****
  • Posts: 433
    • View Profile
Re: Mt Hood Closing over 90% of the Riding Area
« Reply #10 on: August 29, 2010, 09:25:16 PM »
Then let's start a petition, I am in a petition signing mode right now, and would be more than happy to help out.
I'd rather be riding...

Offline Mike D

  • Novice
  • *
  • Posts: 4
    • View Profile
Re: Mt Hood Closing over 90% of the Riding Area
« Reply #11 on: September 03, 2010, 12:25:11 PM »
That is JetZ's riding area, I don't know anything about why they are changing it.  The area I ride is under seperate management and nothing is being closed there at least. 




Not to pick on you, but its this exact kind of attitude that keeps getting more and more riding areas shut down. Some tend to think it's no big deal right up until the time its their own riding area thats being shut down. Don't for a second think that that any area you are curently riding at is safe at all. The end goal of these people is to put an end to all ohv use period.
Bikes in the shed:

92' Kawasaki KX 500
Two 86' Honda Fourtrax 250R's
2006 Honda CRF 450r

Offline opfermanmotors

  • Professional
  • *****
  • Posts: 1017
    • View Profile
Re: Mt Hood Closing over 90% of the Riding Area
« Reply #12 on: September 03, 2010, 01:41:25 PM »
Ya, I know, I did support petitions for areas not even in my state.  I know it is hard to see in text sometimes, but my only point was I didn't know why it was closing and perhaps JetZ would know since he rides there.
Modest beginings start with a single blow of a horn, man.

Offline ford832

  • Professional
  • *****
  • Posts: 1532
  • I PITY THE FOOL THAT RIDES A FOURSTROKE
    • View Profile
Re: Mt Hood Closing over 90% of the Riding Area
« Reply #13 on: September 03, 2010, 03:49:14 PM »
If Jetz rode in my riding area I'd shut it down :D ;)
I'd rather a full bottle in front of me than a full frontal lobotomy.

Offline JETZcorp

  • Professional
  • *****
  • Posts: 1696
  • Life, Liberty, and Horsepower
    • View Profile
Re: Mt Hood Closing over 90% of the Riding Area
« Reply #14 on: September 04, 2010, 11:11:58 PM »
I've heard that they no longer allow jets to go supersonic in continental American airspace, so I suppose someone probably got tired of Jetz going supersonic on American soil, as well.  It's all starting to make sense, now.


Is this Maico a 440 or only a 400?  Well in all the confusion, I forgot myself.
But considering this is a 1978 Magnum, the best-handling bike in the world, you have to ask yourself one question.
Do you feel lucky, punk?