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Using and Preserving Our National Forests in Arkansas

Apr 16, 2010

Using and Preserving Our National Forests in Arkansas

By Dr. Richard Grippo

       "Multiple use, sustained yield" are the legal directives given to the administrators of our national forests (Forest Service of the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture) in the United States. The idea is that national forests are just that:--forests that belong to and can be used by every citizen in the United States. The uses can be many and by law include logging, watershed protection and improvement, mining, wildlife and fisheries preservation, livestock grazing and outdoor recreation.
        No matter what activities are undertaken in a national forest, they must be accomplished in a sustainable manner that does not prevent other uses from taking place now or in the future. The management goals must be based on both scientific evidence and public input to determine sustainable use. This would include timber harvest plans that leave seed and shelter trees to allow for regeneration of new trees and thus continuance of the forest.
         Also included are other types of harvesting and recreation that do not cause a negative impact on the forest land and water. Although the national forest system is huge (191 million acres), there are enough users that meeting the multiple-use, sustained-yield goal requires implementation of some type of management and regulation.
           Arkansas is home to several beautiful national forests, including the Ozark, Ouachita and St. Francis National Forests.   The philosophy of multiple use and sustained yield has been successfully implemented in these national forests for decades, and Arkansans have enjoyed many economic and recreational uses of these public lands. Lately, however, a controversy has arisen in the Ouachita National Forest.
           In 2005, the U.S. Forest Service issued a Travel Management Rule that called for each of America's 155 national forests to designate a travel system for motorized vehicles, including off-highway vehicles (OHVs, often called all-terrain vehicles or ATVs in Arkansas). The rule was stablished to limit harmful environmental impacts associated with unregulated OHV use on national forest land. For the Ouachita National Forest, four years of intensive scientific study determined that cross-country travel off established trails and forest service roads was a significant contributor to natural resource damage in the forest. This damage was such that continued cross-country travel by OHVs was unsustainable, causing a decrease in the preservation and availability of the forest for other users.
            According to the Ouachita Forest administrator, most OHV operators ride legally and sensibly and use the National Forest in a responsible manner that preserves this precious resource. But some operators do not ride in a sustainable way, and to balance the desires of off-highway riders with the responsibility to maintain a healthy and sustainable forest, designated routes that allow access, but protect against damage and result in a sustainable travel system are being implemented beginning in the spring of 2010.
           Public input was important in deciding on the specific regulations that would be implemented. After public input, an option was included to allow large game hunters to retrieve legally downed game within game retrieval corridors.   Also included are forest roads that will be seasonally opened in the fall when the majority of big-game hunts occur in Arkansas and Oklahoma.
           Some people have objected to the new rules, claiming that they will cause significantly fewer riders to use the Ouachita National Forest and thus economic losses will occur in towns near and within the national forest that supply goods and services to the OHV riders.   The U. S. Forest Service feels that the advantages of the rules far outweigh these disadvantages. Advantages include enhancement of water quality by minimizing erosion caused by user-made stream crossings and routes, limiting the disturbance of forest wildlife and vegetation, reducing resource damage in general forest areas, and allowing maintenance funds to focus on designated trails instead of scattered restoration of damaged ecosystems caused by cross-country riding.
           For Arkansas to continue to be The Natural State we must all act in an environmentally responsible manner. For more information contact the ASU Department of Biological Sciences at biology@astate.edu.

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