Although U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson ruled in favor of the U.S. Forest Service on April 12, 2012, giving the agency the go-ahead to proceed with its travel management plan, the Forest Service held off on implementation of the plan. The plaintiffs in the lawsuit had 60 days in which to file an appeal. Superior National Forest Deputy Forest Supervisor Tim Dabney announced on June 15 that no appeal had been received by the Circuit Court. In an e-mail to local government officials in Cook, Lake and St. Louis counties and other stakeholders, Dabney wrote, “Therefore, we will implement our travel management project.”
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit were the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy (MCEA), the Sierra Club and Northeastern Minnesotans for Wilderness (NMW). Their attorney argued that implementing the travel management plan and allowing off-highway vehicles in the Superior National Forest would degrade the wilderness character of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.
In its arguments, the Forest Service stated that “consolidating OHV [off-highway vehicle] use is expected to, over the long run, result in lower road maintenance costs, cleaner water, improved wildlife and fish habitat, and fewer conflicts between motorized and non-motorized recreationists.”
Judge Richard Nelson agreed with the Forest Service and said the plaintiff ’s arguments did not “establish undisputed facts,” but relied on claims the environmental groups themselves had submitted into the record in 2008.
Superior National Forest district rangers Dennis Neitzke of the Gunflint District and John Wytanis of the Tofte Ranger District said local staff would now work on formatting and publishing a motorized vehicle use map.
When implemented, the plan would primarily place off-highway vehicle traffic on roads currently being used by other motorized vehicles. According to 2010 travel management plan documents, the plan increases designated loop routes by 285 miles and long-distance riding opportunities by about 300 miles. In order to connect existing trails at various locations, a total of 2.5 miles of new trail will be constructed in Superior National Forest.
A total of 154 miles of unclassified road will be decommissioned, which means they will be obliterated.
Prior to the 2004 National Travel Management Rule, which prohibited cross-country travel, it was legal to travel with all-terrain vehicles not only on low standard forest roads, but also to travel cross-country or throughout the national forest even where there were no roads. Approximately 1.3 million acres of national forest, outside of the BWCAW, were available for riding ATVs.
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