Forest Service drops plan for Ogden trails

A plan for roads and trails through national-forest land in the mountains east of Ogden has been reversed by a Forest Service committee.

Last month environmentalists said the plan violated federal law, giving an unfair advantage to ATV and other motorized-vehicle users.

The decision came after four appeals to the U.S. Forest Service from Salt Lake City conservation groups and the Sierra Club. The organizations felt that the plan was in violation of the National Environmental Policy Act and the Forest Service's own regulations on ATV use.

They also worried the plan is part of a larger effort to create the proposed Shoshone Trail, an ATV trail system that would run from Brigham City to Bear Lake. Opponents said it is a violation of NEPA to create a large trail system like the Shoshone Trail without first analyzing the environmental impact of the whole trail system.

Faye Krueger, supervisor of the Wasatch-Cache National Forest, said the agency plans to do further work to strengthen the cumulative-effects analysis, looking at possible impacts on the environment from certain actions.

That analysis will begin in the next few weeks.