Got a returned call from a Forest Ranger today

[projectarjun]

I'm looking forward to OP's drone footage of the foliage. I believe we at peak now throughout the Northeast. Great to hear that the interaction was positive.

 

[tlswift58]

That applies to MOST USFS land but Hector is different. It is a multi use facility and I can tell you for sure there are NO motorized vehicles allowed off of the roads there. Hector started out as a bunch of land bought from bankrupt farmers during the depression. It has gone through a few name changes over the years and is part of the Green Mountain District if I am not mistaken.

Mike

Well, hopefully your divisions of the FS are doing a far better job than ours locally. They have let many areas around waterfalls simply grow up and becoming almost not worth going. And I'm not talking ones that are 1-3 mile hike in either. We have several along the Cullasaja River that have pull offs / parking lots (one is very well known / used and they charge a $3 parking fee) that have not been touched in years. What used to be some good photo ops are now nearly zero and a drone is fast becoming the only way to get decent pictures. One of the largest falls, the FS flatly came out and said they were not going to do anything in the future as there were too many accidents at this particular roadside pull-off and fall (never have seen an accident there in all my travels up that road - but sure it does happen with the blind curves in the road). It's either a drone or a nasty scramble down a pretty steep hill to the base of the falls. Yet, in another district east of us - after TS Fred came thru and trashed many of the trails / etc - the FS has gone in and done some pretty extensive cleanup / repairs there. I don't understand the disparity, but it's the federal government and different districts.

 

[Vic Moss]

Green Mountain & Finger Lakes National Forests - Bicycling

Green Mountain & Finger Lakes National Forests - Bicycling

www.fs.usda.gov

This refers to bicycles but it mentions motorized vehicles. I believe they would call a UAS a motorized vehicle if they wanted to be jerks.

All I see is "E-Bikes (with full electric motor power or pedal assist) are not allowed on non-motorized trails." I'm pretty sure we don't qualify under that prohibition.

But unless you have a specific reason to fight this, I'd just stick to the roads and trails allowed for motorized traffic.

Interesting interpretation of the wording by this district.

 

[GFields]

Thanks for sharing!

 

[NG Wildman]

No it was paper but respect got you along way. You know what I mean. Many don’t.

I generally knew within the first 10-20 seconds if I would be issuing a ticket. These days there seems to be no respect. People trying to build walls wherever they can.

 

[sar104]

All I see is "E-Bikes (with full electric motor power or pedal assist) are not allowed on non-motorized trails." I'm pretty sure we don't qualify under that prohibition.

But unless you have a specific reason to fight this, I'd just stick to the roads and trails allowed for motorized traffic.

Interesting interpretation of the wording by this district.

They still are not following federal policy, which last year explicitly categorized E-bikes as non-motorized vehicles in the same category as regular mountain bikes:

https://www.doi.gov/sites/doi.gov/files/elips/documents/so_3376_-_increasing_recreational_opportunities_through_the_use_of_electric_bikes_-508_0.pdf

 

[slozukimc]

They still are not following federal policy, which last year explicitly categorized E-bikes as non-motorized vehicles in the same category as regular mountain bikes:

https://www.doi.gov/sites/doi.gov/files/elips/documents/so_3376_-_increasing_recreational_opportunities_through_the_use_of_electric_bikes_-508_0.pdf

They don’t let ANY bikes on the Appalaichan(sp?) trail. It depends on the area what rules they use. Typical govt confusion.

 

[sar104]

They don’t let ANY bikes on the Appalaichan(sp?) trail. It depends on the area what rules they use. Typical govt confusion.

That's not inconsistent though - the DOI determination simply says that regular bikes and E-bikes should be regarded as the same.