After taking a look at the final 1994 and dissecting the 2012 DEIS plan, we have come to the conclusion that the Forest Service is NOT overseeing the entire ODNRA properly and is leading our beautiful national treasure into extinction.

 

Looking from the outside in, there is not much difference between the 2 documents, just the dates. The main issue of non-native vegetation still has not been addressed.  What is the plan to control and/or remove non-native?  We would not be having such issues if the Forest Service had not originally planted the Shore Pines or the very invasive European Beach Grass. The spider web trail system (our beloved trails) that are destined for closure would not exist as you have seen over time from previous photos.  Most of the spider web trails go thru what the Forest Botanist mentioned on page 70 of the DEIS document “shore pines planted on previously unstabilzed sand which has grown into forest that has little of the plant diversity that you would expect in a natural woodland”.  Since 1972 when the Government recognized the dunes as an Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area, the dunes have been dying a slow death and you, the Forest Service, have done NOTHING to stop it and, if anything, have accelerated the problem.

In the DEIS, we have seen nowhere near what the economic impacts to the countries (Lane, Douglas & Coos) would be.  Did you consult with all 3 counties?  If so, we would like to see the document you sent to the counties and what their response was.  In the DEIS the FS said that there was little economic impact. We would like to know who or where you got your information from.  We have tried to search out your resources to no avail but I did find this on the working group’s final draft page 80.  “As discussed in the “Recreation Capacity” issue narrative, OHV use levels in the south coast region and on the ODNRA have increased steadily over the years. There have been a number of studies and analyses of the contributions to local economies that this use represents. In 1999, OSU published results of the Oregon Off-Highway Vehicle User Survey, undertaken to provide a reliable estimate of the economic impact of motorized recreation in Oregon. In estimating economic impacts, the study identified the jobs and income that are the result of OHV recreation and assessed the revenues generated from motorized recreation in the state.”

In your DEIS report on page 137,”traffic counts of vehicles entering the primary access corridors into the ODNRA indicate that recreation use and visitation to the ODNRA has remained essentially flat for the past decade.”  The working group’s document and the DEIS were both prepared by you with two different economic impacts?  On the same page, “A 2011 Forest Service economic analysis concludes that OHV use at the ODNRA contributes about 2.5 million annually to the three counties within which the ODNRA is located (Coos, Douglas and Lane).  It accounts for about 82 jobs within the three-county area”.  Seriously, a handful on larger ATV shops will contribute that 2.5 million annually to the ODNRA just by themselves.

This document is heavily flawed beyond usability by cantering towards your bookend only which does not meet the OHV community’s interest what-so-ever.  It needs to be discarded and revisited with more RESPECT to the taxpayer’s bookend with data and science that is current and CORRECT.  This is why we feel this DEIS booklet is simply the first card dealt into the poker game…..certainly not the last one.

Lance and Barbara Rowland