4-wheelers have more places to play in Eldorado

Eldorado National Forest is opening 24 popular high-country off-highway-vehicle routes for public motorized vehicle use and another 18 that will be designated after repairs have been made.

The routes were closed in 2012 by court order until their impacts on water flow in meadows were analyzed.

A supplemental environmental impact statement and a record of decision were released last week. Both documents are available on the Eldorado National Forest website.

“The decision I made … affects two very important resources – healthy meadows and high country recreational opportunities,” Supervisor Kathy Hardy said in a statement. “We need both.”

The changes will be implemented once any administrative appeals to the decision are resolved and the designated routes are printed on the Eldorado National Forest Motor Vehicle Use Map.

Eldorado has already begun applying for grants from the California Department of Parks and Recreations OHV Division to help get some of the repairs started as soon as possible.

Many of the routes will need simple fixes and simple environmental documentation and some will be more complex requiring engineering designs and more detailed environmental analyses.