A new travel plan for authorized motor vehicle use within the nearly 1.9 millions acres of the Dixie National Forest is a modern-day necessity, according to the scoping document released Dec. 15. The plan identifies roads and trails for various levels of permitted motorized uses and prohibits any off-road travel for unauthorized uses.

Cross-country travel using motorized equipment is also addressed in the proposed travel plan. For instance, hunters will not be allowed to retrieve legally tagged game using motorized vehicles, and antler-shed gathering will also have to be done without an ATV or off-road vehicle.

"Overall, increased recreational use and demand on the Dixie National Forest, including increased off-highway vehicle use, has been linked to the immense population growth of southwestern Utah, Salt Lake City and Las Vegas over the past decade," the report states.

"Locally, as well as regionally and nationally, unmanaged OHV use on federal lands has resulted in unplanned roads and trails, erosion, watershed and habitat damage, impacts to cultural sites and increasing degradation of recreational experiences," according to the report.

The Dixie National Forest, which includes public lands within portions of Garfield, Iron, Kane, Piute, Washington and Wayne counties, is rapidly losing opportunities for solitude, primitive hunting and other quiet experiences, the report concludes.

Information on the open houses and the travel plan is available from the project web site at www.fs.fed.us/r4/dixie/projects/MTP/index.shtml or by calling 435-865-3700.

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E-mail: nperkins@desnews.com