Concerned off-road vehicle (ORV) riders plan to meet at 6 p.m. Thursday, January 14, at the St. Ignace Public Library to discuss closures of trails formerly open to off-road vehicles. The closures are being executed by the U.S. Forest Service across the Hiawatha National Forest.

Crews began systematically closing or blocking any trails not open according to federal policy, District Ranger Steve Christiansen has said. The forest published a mixed vehicle use map in 2007, which explains which roads and trails in the forest are legally open for ORV use, he said. The U.S. Forest Service adopted a new forest plan in 2006.

Information about work getting underway to close the trails was published in The St. Ignace News November 12, 2009.

Several residents and riders who used the now-closed trails have complained that the trail closures are unnecessary and inhibit their ability to get around the area.

Mackinac County Sportsmen's Off Road Vehicle Association member Steve DuFresne of St. Ignace, who is organizing Thursday's meeting, said most of the trails that have been closed were rider favorites, either because of their scenic nature or because they provide important connections from one area to another, allowing riders to get from point A to B.

"It almost seems like they are being mean to people," Mr. DuFresne said. "The trails that are still open are the ones nobody rides or are dead-ends. The roads that people really enjoy to ride are the ones that they closed."

Some riders and land owners have complained to the Forest Service. The St. Ignace ranger station was busy for a couple weeks around the start of deer hunting season, answering calls from concerned residents and ORV users about the newly closed trails, Mr. Christiansen said. Most of about 25 calls, e-mails, and letters that came in were from landowners in the Schaeffer Point and Eight Lakes areas, and areas south of H-40, he said, although some ORV users who are not land owners also contacted the station.

"The decision to reopen those roads has not been made and will not be made," he said Friday, January 9.

Some changes will be made, however, in the way the forest service communicates such changes to local residents. Mr. Christiansen's office plans to put up signs on newly closed trails, plan the timing of such closures around events like hunting season, and improve communication with concerned residents, both through direct communication and by posting notifications of key closures in the newspaper.

The reason the forest service has decided to close off some of the trails, Mr. Christiansen said, is because an increase in ORV's on the trails is threatening the health of the forest.

"Motorized use of the forest has increased exponentially in the past few years," he said. "The effects on the forest are being magnified by there being so many people out there."

But attracting the ORV riding culture to the area by keeping more trails open could be good for tourism and local business, Mr. DuFresne said.

"I can't believe the government doesn't do what it can to try to make a better trail system over here," Mr. DuFresne said. "The state's economy is awful, and four-wheelers could be bringing a lot of money into the area."

All are invited to attend the meeting Thursday, and are encouraged to bring ideas for how to resolve the issue and help promote ORV use in the area, he said. Mr. DuFresne also said he hoped this issue would help increase interest in the local ORV association, which has seen decreased membership and participation in recent years.

"We want to give people a better understanding of what is going on out there," he said, "and hopefully get them fired up and get them going on this."

For more information about Thursday's meeting or about the group, contact Mr. DuFresne at 643-0366.