DARRINGTON — People headed into Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest this weekend may need a new Forest Service map if they plan to use a motor vehicle.
The map illustrates what type of vehicles can be used and where they can be driven.
The maps are free at Forest Service offices, including the Darrington Ranger Station and the Verlot Service Center. The maps also are available online.
Signs on Forest Service roads and trails will no longer list permissible uses, Forest Service spokeswoman Renee Bodine said.
The new map changes how the Forest Service plans to enforce road closures to motor vehicles in the forest. Those found driving on a forest road, area or trail not shown on the motor-vehicle use map can be cited, she said.
The map is a result of the Forest Service’s 2005 national travel-management rule requiring officials in each national forest to limit environmental damage caused by off-highway vehicles such as four-wheel drive vehicles, motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles.
The maps also create a uniform system of enforcement across the country. The rules don’t apply to snowmobiles.
The entire 2,600-mile road system in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest is open to state licensed, street-legal vehicles. About 100 miles of forest trails are open to motorbikes, and one area, Evans Creek, is open to other vehicles, including ATVs.
The Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest did not make any changes or close roads to vehicles during this process, forest supervisor Rob Iwamoto said.
“We actually started several decades ago looking at motor-vehicle use patterns and making decisions on the use of roads and trails based on public involvement,” he said.
To print the map, go to http://tinyurl.com/MtBakerMVmap or call 360-436-1155 for more information.
Gale Fiege: 425-339-3427; gfiege@heraldnet.com.
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