Southern Four Wheel Drive Association’s - Dixie Run 2010

Southern Four Wheel Drive Association’s - Dixie Run 2010
This weekend is SFWDA.org Dixie Run 2010. The weather looks absolutely awesome – ya better bring a coat. Plus the trail report is that they are rough and challenging. The vendor ride is Thursday and PowerandPlay.com is looking forward to getting in the woods and seeing everybody once again at Golden Mountain Park.
The Dixie Run has been covered by most every one of the off road magazines and has even been shown on several TV shows including Spike TV. It is the main fundraising effort for SFWDA.org in helping with its ongoing battle to re-open the Tellico OHV Park near Murphy, North Carolina. The Dixie Run event itself will generate well over a million dollars in economic impact to the Sparta, Tennessee area that the people of Murphy, NC must not miss.
PowerandPlay.com is setting up in the vendor area and filming the vendor ride. Make sure and come by the booth to say hey and see what we broke on the trail. Fun, Family and fellowship is what Dixie Run is all about. It is great that manufacture and jobbers that compete every day to be the one you buy from is there eating and riding together and putting the business world to the back burner.
24 years and counting… Heck we are already looking forward to Dixie Run 25 (2011)… And this year has not even happened yet~!

See ya in the woods,
Greg G – Staff writer
www.powerandPlay.com

Southern Four Wheel Drive Associations Trailfest 2010 was a blast

Southern Four Wheel Drive Associations Trailfest 2010 was a blast. Lots of get trail riding in the Coal Creek OHV area also known as WindRock mountain area. Brent Galloway from Coal Creek OHV area did a great job with Event coordinator Chad Christman from SFWDA in putting on a GREAT event. The weather on Friday was fantastic and Saturday we were challenged by some weather issues but fared much better than our friends in Nashville did. Our prayers go out to all of our fellow Tennesseans that have had a terrible week from the 12 plus inches of rain Saturday. There was lots of great people and really nice off-road vehicles in attendance at the SFWDA.org’s Trailfest event. Suzy Duff from James Duffy and Corby Phillips from Warn were set up beside the PowerandPlay.com booth. Everyone had really cool booths set up with neat new stuff. The raffle was chocked full of great give away items. The PowerandPlay.com team is already getting excited about SFWDA Dixie Run 2010 coming in October at Golden Mountain Park.
This year has been a nice mix off Street and off-road events.. Well that is easy to say now after having to spend all afternoon Sunday re-setting up everything to dry out and get cleaned up. There are so many other events that are fast approaching – Jeep Beach in Daytona, Clemson 4WD poker run and the Borla exhaust car show in just the next couple of weeks. It is really cool having to make hard decisions on which great event to attend.
See ya in the woods,
Greg G.
Staff Writer
www.powerandplay.com

More pics here

Last Chance To Act Before USFS Decides Tellico Closure Appeals

This is your last chance to make a difference in the Rescue Tellico fight before the Forest Service makes a decision on the appeals that have been filed. I'm trying to make this as easy as possible, it is up to YOU to follow through!

Go here: http://www.votesmart.org/index.htm , type in your zip and get a list of your elected officials email addresses. Copy and paste the following and send it to them ASAP!

Dear Congressman/Senator,

I know you are busy, especially at this time of year, but I wonder if you are actually aware of the issue at stake in the public’s struggle with the Forest Service over access to the Upper Tellico OHV trails! In short, The Forest Service has been negligent in performing maintenance on OHV trails at the Upper Tellico OHV area for 15 years. Now they have decided to close public access instead of fixing their mess! This type of shoddy work on behalf of the American public CANNOT be allowed to happen! WHO will be held accountable? If the FS is allowed to proceed with this closure it will open a door to closure of public access in the entire United States! Who will stand in the gap?

Here is a link to the appeal filed by the Southern Four Wheel Drive Association & Blueribbon Coalition: http://www.sfwda.org/forum/uploads/3...IA_27Nov09.pdf

Here is a link to the appeal filed by SFWDA Member Flint Holbrook, Flint is a Registered Professional Engineer in TN, KY, OH, WV, NC & SC and is a Registered Professional Hydrologist with over 25 years of experience in the field. http://www.sfwda.org/forum/uploads/3...IA_27Nov09.pdf
The FS has insisted on conference calls for contact instead of face to face meetings, has denied all off the requests in Flint's appeal including 1 day access to the trails by vehicle to confirm FS assertions and his FOIA requests.

The FS is stonewalling access advocates at each turn and "checking off their box" as having followed the rules of mandate if not ethics!

Both of these appeals are professionally written and contain numerous scientific, procedural and ethical examples of FS malfeasance in managing the Upper Tellico OHV area!

I know my elected officials are having a hard time in DC right now with everything else going on but if the FS is allowed to exhibit this type of malfeasance and get away with it where will it stop? Who will be held accountable to the American people for not doing their job and when?

Without some type of pressure from responsible agency USDA and my elected officials the FS will continue to close public access to public lands at their own discretion!

The 45 day appeal window is now closed. The FS Deciding Officer, one of their own hand picked representatives, will make a decision by January 14, 2010. PLEASE help motorized recreation Americans protect our access to public lands!

Forest Service study says negative effect on local economy will be minimal – Yep and national health care will pay for its self!

Forest Service study says negative effect on local economy will be minimal – Yep and national health care will pay for its self!

PowerandPlay.com - This is all so classic of our NEW world government of the future. It is also a lot of BS. The economic impact of Dixie Run 2009 to the Sparta Tennessee area was 1.5 million dollars. The study that the local forest service claims is no where near what...... the private and Government trails teams studies found. Compare a tank of fuel in a truck to a motorcycle. The food purchased to carry in a truck as opposed to carried on a motorcycle - They have killed the local economy and do not care. Tell me which carries more and causes the most economic impact!! The greenies are once again moving to make sure that their agenda is carried out no matter what happens to REAL people~!
Read the article at:

http://www.cherokeescout.com/articles/2009/10/20/news/doc4ade11732f0f4994576184.txt

To All Southern Four Wheel Drive Association Members and Supporters

October 14, 2009
To All Southern Four Wheel Drive Association Members and Supporters:
The long awaited Forest Service decision concerning the fate of the Upper Tellico OHV Area is now known. In a conversation with Forest Supervisor Marisue Hilliard I was informed of agency’s decision to permanently close this beautiful area. I don’t think anyone is surprised by the decision based on Forest Service’s past comments and published preferred alternative. We are however extremely disappointed in this decision and as I told Marisue during our conversation we believe that they are wrong in making this decision.
From an association stand point, we will handle this professionally and along with Blue Ribbon Coalition and United Four Wheel Drive Associations move forward with the battle to get this area back open. While not the decision we wanted, it is the decision we have been handed and we now know the direction we must follow. More information will be shared over the next few days but I wanted to get this message out to everyone today.
Let RESCUE TELLICO be the battle cry! We have only begun to fight.
Thanks for your support,
Gary Parsons President Southern Four Wheel Drive Association

U.S. Forest Service Announces Decision on Upper Tellico OHV Trails System

U.S. Forest Service Announces Decision on Upper Tellico OHV Trails System
ASHEVILLE, NC ….The US Forest Service announced today that it is permanently closing the Upper Tellico OHV trail system in order to correct serious erosion problems in the Upper Tellico River watershed in Cherokee County, NC.
"When we first began our analysis we hoped we could make repairs and modifications to the existing OHV Trail system that would correct the water quality problems while still allowing for some level of OHV use in this area to continue," said National Forests in North Carolina Supervisor Marisue Hilliard. "Unfortunately we discovered that repairing the existing problems and maintaining these Upper Tellico OHV trails in the future would be much more difficult than we expected," Hilliard said.
"Our analysis has shown the problems to be worse than we first thought," said Forest Supervisor Hilliard. "The 39 mile Upper Tellico OHV Trail System is currently contributing unacceptable levels of sediment into the Tellico River and its tributaries. The Forest Service is in violation of its own standards and North Carolina state water quality standards because visible sediment from the OHV trails is reaching the Tellico River and its tributaries in hundreds of locations. Many of the trails are on steep slopes and they all occur on very erodible soils. Much of the Tellico OHV trail system runs parallel to streams in the area, with over six miles within 100 feet of streams. The locations of these trails make it extremely difficult to prevent sediment from reaching the streams even if we are successful in repairing existing problems. " Hilliard said.
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In February, 2009, the Forest Service sought public comment on a detailed environmental assessment which looked at six alternatives for future management of the Upper Tellico OHV trail system including a preferred alternative of closing the OHV trail system.
"After careful considering the 2,400 public comments we received and thoroughly reviewing all alternatives in the environmental assessment, I have selected Alternative C, which closes the OHV System," said Hilliard. "While we are closing the 39 mile OHV Trail system we will be keeping 13 miles of FS system roads in the area open year round or seasonally for highway legal vehicles. This will provide access for hunting, fishing and other recreation activities. We also will be paving and reconstructing a portion of HW 420-1 which accesses private land and serves as a through route from TN to NC for recreationists visiting the Tellico area. Closed roads and trails will be stabilized and rehabilitated to eliminate future sedimentation into the Tellico River," Hilliard said.
"While I realize that our OHV recreationists are understandably disappointed with this decision on Tellico, I want to reassure our OHV users that we are committed to maintaining other OHV trail opportunities on the National Forests in North Carolina which are located on more suitable sites" said Hilliard.
Other national forest OHV trail systems in North Carolina include:
Wayehutta, Nantahala NF, 21 miles (21 miles ATV and motorcycle),
Brown Mountain, Pisgah NF, 34 miles (6 miles 4WD, 27 miles ATV, 34 miles motorcycle)
Badin Lake, Uwharrie NF, 16 miles (16 miles 4WD, ATV and motorcycle)
Black Swamp, Croatan NF, 8 miles (8 miles 4WD, ATV and motorcycle)
Copies of the decision notice, environmental assessment, proposed additional supporting documentation can be found at http://www.cs.unca.edu/nfsnc/nepa/tusquitee/tellico.htm
For more information contact:
Tellico Project Coordinator, Candace Wyman 828-230-5039 (cell)
Tusquitee District Ranger, Steve Lohr 828-712-6317 (cell).

PLEASE: TAKE TEN MINUTES FOR TELLICO NOW!

PLEASE:  TAKE TEN MINUTES FOR TELLICO NOW!  We need you to send in comment letters to the Forest Service.  Pass this on to your friends and fellow OHVers.

UPDATE ON THE TELLICO EFFORT:  BRC, UFWDA, and SFWDA have all teamed up to fight the battle for Tellico.  Thanks to all who responded to our Phase 1 alert and have written, called and visited their elected officials about the USFS proposed closure of Tellico.  We still need those calls and letters to continue.  Don't let up. 

The letters to your congressmen are working!  Jay Bird from SFWDA and Greg Mumm from BRC will be going back to Washington, D.C. to follow up with some offices early next week.  At this late date phone calls will work the best.  Please follow up on your letters to those who represent you. 

For more information and background, see our previous alert here: http://www.sharetrails.org/alerts/?alert=958

Now we are shifting to Phase 2.  It is important and it is time to respond to the Forest Service's draft Environmental Assessment with comments.  We've made this very easy for you with an online letter generator (http://www.sharetrails.org/letters/letter.php?id=39).   All it takes is for you to click here  and there is a very easy process set up for you to send in your comments.

It is vital that you take action to Rescue Tellico.  The Forest Service has told us what they want to do and it is incumbent on the OHV community to change their mind.  We NEED to generate as many letters as possible, so:

PLEASE TAKE TEN MINUTES FOR TELLICO NOW!  The deadline is fast approaching so don't put it off.  Click here and help by sending in your comment letter.  You CAN make a difference.

As always, this has been a long and expensive fight and we ask that you help us to sustain the ongoing effort with your donations.  You can donate simply and easily online at www.sharetrails.org/rescue-tellico .
Thank you for your help!

SFWDA, UFWDA, and BRC

If you would prefer to send in your own letter, we encourage you to do so.  Below are some talking points to help you with that effort.

Letters need to be sent to:

National Forests in North Carolina
Attn: Candace Wyman
160 A Zillicoa Street, Asheville, NC 28801

Letters may be emailed to:

Email: comments-southern-north-carolina-nantahala-tusquitee@fs.fed.us

Be sure to put in the reference line to the project:

RE: Transportation System and Related Recreation Management Actions for the Upper Tellico Off-Highway Vehicle System and Temporary Closure of the Upper Tellico OHV System
Nantahala National Forest: Cherokee County, North Carolina

It is important to tell the Forest Service why Tellico is important to you and your family.

Oppose the temporary closure of the Upper Tellico OHV System effective April 1, 2009 and ask the Forest Supervisor to reconsider that decision. 

• The emergency closure is unwarranted and unjustified based on the information provided. 
• Planning for many historic and permitted events in the area are and have been underway for some time now based on the good faith of the Forest Service and the originally proposed action for planning in the area.  The immediate economic impact to the surrounding communities of this temporary closure order is devastating and cannot be replaced.  Communities affected by this sudden change in management are historically dependent on money brought into the area by OHV recreation and these events. 
• The decision for the emergency closure prior to the decision on the draft environmental assessment appears to point to a pre-determined outcome for the environmental assessment.

The Forest Service should/needs to conduct more complete planning. 

• The draft environmental assessment needs to address findings and conclusions of the independent report from Caliber Engineering recently provided to the Forest Service which conflicts with much of the findings and the internal studies of the Forest Service in the draft environmental assessment. 
• The draft EA does not consider the report commissioned by and provided to the Forest Service by the Enterprise Team, USFS Trails Unlimited, assessing the Upper Tellico OHV System.  This report is also in conflict with the findings reflected in the Draft EA.
• Neither the Caliber study nor the Trails Unlimited report recommended closure of trails in Tellico.  Both concluded the trails could be sustainably managed.
• Failure by the Forest Service to consider other sources of sedimentation invalidates agency implication that the OHV system is the cause of high turbidity measurements.  This failure leads to an inaccurate and unsupported conclusion that closure of the OHV system will resolve turbidity issues, if such exist.  

Ask that the Forest Service to conduct additional study and planning in an Environmental Impact Statement. 

• Given the potentially devastating economic impact to the local communities alone (as cited in the University of Tennessee survey), a finding of no significant impact cannot be a determined outcome. 
• The range of alternatives should be developed utilizing the additional science and information provided in both the Caliber report and the Trails Unlimited report discussed previously.

The Forest Service needs to exhaust all possible options to mitigate the issues prior to closure. 

• The Forest Service must also recognize that closing the opportunity was never the intent or desire of the interested stakeholders. 
• Proper management for the use is the better solution.
• Closure alone will not solve the stated issues.  Mitigation of those issues still must take place.
• Resolving those challenges in partnership with the OHV community provides both the manpower and additional funding from the private sector necessary for proper mitigation.

Be honest, professional and polite.  Most importantly, be timely.  Don't put it off.

For more information and background, see our previous alert on Tellico here:  http://www.sharetrails.org/alerts/?alert=958