Sturgill-Dennett Unauthorized Route Decommissioning Project

Background:

After meeting with representatives of Idaho Fish and Game (IDFG), Cecil Andrus Wildlife

Management Area (CAWMU), Idaho Power Corp., and Rocking ‘M’ Ranch, we are proposing to

decommission and eliminate access to an unauthorized ATV route stretching approximately

between the end of Forest Road (FR) 51651 and a system of user-created and system roads on

the Rocking ‘M’ Ranch. The portion lying on National Forest System (NFS) lands totals

approximately 1.37 miles.

According to Conservation Officer Mark Sands, the route was created by public ATV use within

the last 10 years. The route incorporates an excessively steep grade in many places and it

presents erosion and sediment delivery problems to the watershed which encompass the route.

Of even more concern to USFS and IDFG personnel is the fact that the route introduces hunters

and other ATV users in to one of the few portions of the Hunt Unit 31 (Brownlee Zone) which

provides both a degree of elk, bear, and other big game security (areas of limited hunter

pressure, particularly motorized pressure) and non-motorized hunting opportunities. Complaints

about illegal ATV use on this route during open elk seasons constitute Officer Sands’ most

frequently received public complaint.

IDFG/CAWMU are partially responsible for management of the Rocking ‘M‘ Ranch. They are

currently attempting to eliminate illegal vehicle access onto this route from the Rocking ‘M.’

Additional signage and introduction of sections of buck and rail fence will be constructed for this

purpose. Payette National Forest (PNF) contains two means of entry to the route which many

ATV users currently use illegally. The first of these is accessed via the closed and gated road

51650 (see attached map). This road is part of the PNF road system but is closed to public

motorized use. From this road segment, ATV riders cross an ineffective berm meant to keep the

public off the unauthorized route in question. The second access point is located off PNF trail

283 (a trail open to all motor vehicles), where the route abruptly leaves the trail and climbs an

adjacent hill. IDFG managers would like to see this route closed to motorized use to facilitate

the big game security concerns and non-motorized hunting opportunities discussed above.

Proposal:

Elimination of motorized access to this route would ideally consist of three major components:

(1) Full or partial obliteration of the unauthorized routes labeled 516512000 and

516502000

Note that these “two” routes actually constitute a single linear route from PNF trail 283 to

the forest boundary with a short unmapped segment joining them. At a minimum,

obliteration would be performed on the segment beginning on trail 283 and extending to

the hilltop (approximately 950 ft., see photos 1-1 and 1-2) and beginning at the

intersection of the unauthorized route and the forest boundary and extending on to NFS

lands far enough to visually obscure the route. The wire gate in the fence at the forest

boundary would also be eliminated (see photo 1-3). These measures would be intended

to discourage ATV use here should the barriers constructed on the Rocking ‘M’ Ranch

prove ineffective.

(2) Reinforcement of the gate closing FR 51650

ATVs are able to easily maneuver around the gate on both the uphill and downhill side.

The gate location is appropriate and this can be easily corrected with either use of large

boulders, buried to approximately two-thirds of their height, or by welding pipe arms on

the gate and cementing these into the slope (see photos 2-1 and 2-2). A substantial

amount of concrete covers the downhill slope and may need to be chipped away with a

jackhammer or similar equipment (see photos 2-3 and 2-4)

(3) Construction of a buck and rail fence to deter future user-created ATV trails along

trail 283

Construction of a buck and rail fence stretching approximately 210 ft. around the base of

the hill where the current route climbs off of trail 283 would deter future use, in

conjunction with obliteration of the existing route (photo 1-2 depicts the hill and

unauthorized route ascending it). Signage emphasizing the need for areas where big

game are not subject to motorized hunting and the non-motorized hunting opportunities

created would be described on signage displaying USFS and IDFG logos and listing

telephone numbers for reporting motorized violations. It may also be possible to involve

a conservation group, such as Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, in signage and

messaging.

Category of Exclusion:

This project is categorically excluded from documentation in an environmental impact

statement or environmental assessment. It is anticipated that there are no extraordinary

circumstances related to this project that may result in a significant individual or cumulative

effect on the quality of the human environment.

The appropriate category of exclusion is found in the Forest Service National Environmental

Policy Act (NEPA) regulations at 36 CFR 220.6(e)(20).

“Activities that restore, rehabilitate, or stabilize lands occupied by roads and trails, excluding

National Forest System roads and National Forest System trails to a more natural condition

that may include removing, replacing, or modifying drainage structures and ditches,

reestablishing vegetation, reshaping natural contours and slopes, reestablishing drainage-

ways, or other activities that would restore site productivity and reduce environmental

impacts.”

For further information contact:

Jascha M. Zeitlin

Recreation Specialist

Payette National Forest, West Zone

208-549-4224

PROJECT MAP

PHOTOS

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