U.S. Forest Service, BLM take heat from both sides over recreation, resource protection

RENO - A national group representing off-highway recreationists is suing the U.S. Forest Service to try to overturn a new travel management plan on national forest lands in the Sierra west of Reno they say is overly restrictive.

The Pacific Legal Foundation said in a lawsuit filed recently the agency plan adopted in 2010 illegally closed more than 800 miles of roads and trails the public has used for years in the Tahoe National Forest. "We are filing this lawsuit to stop the U.S. Forest Service from illegally padlocking vast areas of the Tahoe National Forest and blocking the public from enjoying responsible recreational use of public lands," Brandon Middleton, foundation attorney, said in a statement.

Environmentalists counter that a crackdown is long overdue on dirt bikes, Jeeps and all-terrain vehicles they say have profoundly damaged public land .

Tahoe National Forest officials said they could not comment on the lawsuit.

But the conflict has become all too familiar for officials at the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management who insist they're trying to strike a difficult balance between recreation and resource protection, a touchy endeavor drawing fire from both sides.

"People care about this," Leo Drumm, travel and transportation coordinator for the Nevada BLM office, told the Reno-Gazette Journal. "As soon as you mention there could be a (road) closure, people get angry because they are used to being able to go where they want to go. When you mention opening new areas, people get angry because they think we're trashing the environment."