Law will open forest roads to ORV use unless marked closed (State Land)

[gnjeepn]

This is great news.

http://gophouse.org/governor-signs-rep-coles-orv-bill/

[Petsan]

Great news!

[WhiteRhino]

It sounds good but there are things that concern me. Phrases like: "require the DNR to take inventory of all state forest roads to provide a comprehensive map available to the public," and "Forest roads will be open to motorized use only upon completion of each region’s state forest road inventory."

So what happens if they don't map all the current and formerly closed roads?
What happens if they don't do a quality inventory?

So if I'm on a trail that is obviously a trail but it's not on the map, am I legal or not????????????? Slippery slope here.

[gnjeepn]

It looks as it will be similar to what is been done with National forest Service Land. You have to rely on the maps they provide to know if you are legal or not. I have encountered quite a few forest roads in the National forest that on the ground appear to be open but when you check the most recent map they are not there. Could be a good thing if the DNR does their job but we all know how that works out sometimes. Time will tell.

[hemrides]

It sounds good but there are things that concern me. Phrases like: "require the DNR to take inventory of all state forest roads to provide a comprehensive map available to the public," and "Forest roads will be open to motorized use only upon completion of each region’s state forest road inventory."

So what happens if they don't map all the current and formerly closed roads?
What happens if they don't do a quality inventory?

So if I'm on a trail that is obviously a trail but it's not on the map, am I legal or not????????????? Slippery slope here.

Remember this law is for forest roads...roads that today Jeeps or any licensed vehicle(s) can travel...without any ORV stickers. This will not open two track trails, and this is for ORV, non-licensed vehicles....quads, side-by-sides, etc. This will allow them to travel forest roads...roads that they get ticketed on now. As Bill stated you will need to have a DNR map and you are responsible to make sure you are on the correct road(s)...just like the national forest roads. The upper LP is scheduled to be completed by end of 2017..upper being from the knuckles up to the bridge. The rest of the LP by the end 2018, start of 2019.

[signman]

BAD-BAD Law, it looks so good but what a loss. Some ORVs will get some county rd style riding and some of the sled trail connectors. We lose all of the rustic back country rds that we like to ride on. The person in charge of the program is from the Pigeon River Group, he was chosen as they were the first in the state in inventory and classify rds. They are going to use alot of info already in the system from Compartment Maps to GIS Info. They (DNR) are going to determin if its a ROAD, and what kind. Another fly in the soup is KW Habatat and Endangerd Species issues. Will they close rds thru these problem areas to all traffic or just ORVs? Who is going to post the rds closed, grant sponsors (us) or them? Who is going to pay for this? This is just some of the questions I asked at the joint meeting a couple of weeks ago, lots of we don,t know the answer. Talked with Pat Brower as he was not able to be there but was asked to be on a sub committe to help out due to his work with the Feds. Hope we can due better than the Fed Map as we lost 60% of the stuff we like.