Community-Based Watershed Management, March 2012, Juneau Alaska. Southeast Alaska Watershed Coalition

1. At the crossroads: A journey through the swamp and back again
Changing community perspectives over 15 years of ATV management in Yakutat

2. Perception 1:So What’s the Problem?
Vegetation Loss and erosion

3. Both the environmental
impacts and the evolution
of the vehicles suggests
roads

4.  The effected area is often wider than roads
engineered for full sized vehicles.

7. Argo
57 inches wide
Polaris Ranger
60 inches wide
Kawasaki Prairie
41 inches wide
Pug
Kawasaki 56 inches wide
Mule
60 inches Suzuki Samurai
wide
57 inches wide
Toyota Truck
67 inches wide

9. So are salmon

10. Salmon (Anadromous)
Stream

11. Wetland drainage = diminished flow during critical periods

12.  Stream is now
 Broad
 Shallow
 Short

13. So we identified the local user perceptions
Perception 1: What’s the problem?
Perception 2: These are just trails
Perception 3: I am guaranteed my hunting access rights
Perception 4: Off road riding is just plain fun
People began warming to the fact that we may have a problem
So . . . . . . .
What is the solution?

14. Solution 1: Map the extent of the problem
NPS, ADF&G, USFS & the tribe city and community through public meetings

15. Solution 2. Engage the community in active salmon management and restoration
Wire tagging
smolts on Tawah
Creek
Yakutat citizens put
in a lot of hard work
to enhance and
protect salmon
habitat

16. Solution 3. Educate the little ones
 Sufficient water
 Clean, cold water
 Correct temperature
 Clean gravel

17. Forest Service and CBY
Fisheries staff help
the Yakutat Second
Grade collect and
fertilize eggs for
the Salmon in the
Classroom project.

18. Solution 4. educate the big ones
 Beach dune habitat is
very important to
nesting seabirds
 Both birds and habitat
are especially
vulnerable to OHV
damage

19. Yakutat Moose Study
 Collect data
 Location
 Body condition
 Reproduction
 Look for relationships
 Habitat quality
 Habitat use
 Weather
 Vulnerability to predation
 Human activity
Yakutat Salmon Board and Capitol
Community Broadcasting, Inc. (CCBI), 2005
Tracks in Time Video
Aired state wide annually distributed over
1000 copies including all 13 wildlife refuges

20. Solution 5. Close old trails and restore wetlands

21. Solution 6. Build good trails and stream crossings for existing users

22.  I. Introduction

 The Forest Service recognizes the magnitude of the problem. In April 2003, Chief
Bosworth identified unmanaged recreation, particularly off-road vehicle use, as one of
the four greatest threats to National Forests. He described a litany of adverse impacts
caused by off-road vehicles, including soil erosion, habitat destruction, damage to
cultural and sacred sites, and conflicts with millions of other visitors. He has also
highlighted the unchecked proliferation of unauthorized – or renegade -- ATV and dirt
bike routes across National Forests and made clear that this problem is only going to get
worse.

 The Chief stressed the urgency of the problem: “This is not an easy issue to tackle, but if
we wait a day, a week, or even a year, the impact on the land and the issues surrounding
the problem will become even harder to deal with. We need to address this issue now.”
In fact, the magnitude of this threat is even greater when one considers the role that dirt
bikes, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) and other off-road vehicles play in fragmenting wildlife
habitat and spreading invasive weeds – two of the other threats the Chief identified. The
agency is well aware of the wide range of impacts to the land, air and water
quality, wildlife and habitat, and the experiences of millions of Americans who visit
National Forests annually for nonmotorized recreation

23. National ruling requires an OHV Plan. Though the education
is helping, it has not solved the problem

24. NEPA Law Enforcement
Where do people need to Stop use that is causing
go? damage.
What is the best method Difficult to prevent
and route of getting damage with existing
there? regulations.

25. NEPA Enforcement
Implementation Special orders to protect
1. Design trails and prevent
2. Get funding resource damage
3. Construction

26. Identified so far:
 Resource damage: soils, wetlands, vegetation
and fish habitat
 Water quality, quantity and flow regime
 Access: Subsistence resources and public lands
 Crowding and user conflict
 Legal: OHV Routes in Roadless and in LUD II
 Enforcement
 OTHERS:

27. Agency perspectives have changed. The first photo was a one pass trail
and ticketed in 2004 while the second photo depicts a 2010 trail to a restoration site
This causes problems in public perception

29.  There is more awareness about the damage
from ATV’s
 There needs to be monitoring to determine if
the new rulings are increasing or decreasing
the effects on habitat
 Trail building is ongoing, but expensive so
additional funding is necessary
 Questions?