WildEarth Guardians

Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Jemez Mountains: Fall motorcycle event draws protest

Environmentalists criticize impact of group's annual trials in Lake Fork Canyon
Contact: Staci Matlock The New Mexican

Environmentalists are gearing up to fight an annual fall motorcycle trials event proposed in Lake Fork Canyon in the Jemez Mountains in Santa Fe National Forest.

The New Mexico Trials Association has requested a special-use permit to hold the two-day Lake Fork event in October. The Santa Fe National Forest is currently collecting public comments about the request.

The organization has held the event in the canyon for at least 11 years, according to NMTA member Chris Johnson. That's how long he's been a member. But the event may date back at least 20 years, he said.

The permit requests use of the area around Lake Fork Canyon adjacent to Forest Road 376 within the Jemez National Recreation Area. The permit request is for an estimated 60 to 70 riders and 30 spectators.

Santa Fe-based WildEarth Guardians and Tucson, Ariz.-based Center for Biological Diversity have sent letters to the Jemez Ranger District saying the one-page application for the permit doesn't contain sufficient information on impacts of the event on water resources and wildlife for "meaningful public involvement." The two groups also are protesting the lack of a complete environmental analysis. The Forest Service considers the application one that can be approved under a "categorical exclusion," a less detailed environmental analysis.

WildEarth Guardians, formerly WildEarth Guardians, says the area is not an appropriate place for motorcycle racing. It is fighting to have some of the trails in the area closed to motorized vehicle use in a plan under development by Santa Fe National Forest.

"Our greatest concerns about this event are the irreversible impacts of motorcycles and off-road vehicles on water quality and wildlife habitat. There are numerous sensitive species in the area including Rio Grande cutthroat trout and Jemez Mountains salamander," said Bryan Bird of WildEarth Guardians.

Johnson said the impact from a trials event isn't from the motorcycles, but the campers at the popular events. He said the events are about balance, not speed, and riders move slowly over obstacles while trying to keep their balance. "It is definitely not a desert (motocross) run," he said.

The Lake Fork event has been a traditional and popular one for years with the New Mexico Trials Association.

Joanne Spivack, a dirt-bike enthusiast and past president of the New Mexico Off Highway Vehicle Association, said a trials event is nothing like a fast and furious motocross event. "It's like gymnastics on motorcycles," she said. "The motorcycles are tiny and go extremely slow, less than a walking pace, over extreme obstacles."

In a trials event, 15- to 45-yard-long sections are marked off along an existing trail and include obstacles a dirt-biker wouldn't normally ride over: deep sand, logs and rocks.

There are usually eight to 12 sections along a loop route, and an event takes riders around the loop three times. Riders are scored on the number of times they put their foot on the ground, called a dab, to stay upright. The winner is the rider with the fewest dabs.

Staff at the Jemez Ranger District and the Santa Fe National Forest did not respond to a request for comment.

Bird said dirt-biking in the area has eroded trails. Dirt-bikers who use the area from Los Alamos have continually said they ride responsibly and maintain trails in the area.

Bird and others opposed to off-road use on national forest lands said the Lake Fork area of the Jemez Ranger District "needs to be closed to off-road vehicle use until adequate law enforcement and trail maintenance funds are made available by the Forest Service."

Johnson said the Lake Fork area is one NMTA wants to keep open in the Travel Management Plan currently under development by the Forest Service. The plan will establish designated roads and trails for motorized use.

Comments on the special-use permit for the trials event must be submitted within 30 days of May 20. Written comments can be sent to District Ranger Linda Riddell, Jemez Ranger District, P.O. Box 150, Jemez Springs, NM 87025 or e-mailed to comments-southwestern-santafe-jemez@fs.fed.us.

To see a trials event in action, check out the one coming up at Sipapu this Saturday and Sunday.

Copyright 2008 New Mexican - Reprinted with permission