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New River Gorge National River To Close, Rehabilitate Illegal Off-Road Vehicle Trails

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Published Date

April 18, 2016

Staff at New River Gorge National River hope to eradicate 28 miles of illegal trails created by off-road vehicle use, an activity that is not allowed within the West Virginia park.

This spring, closures will impact multiple areas in Fayette County as restoration efforts begin. The affected areas are near Backus Mountain, Bee Hollow, Beury Mountain, Highland Mountain, Mann Mountain, and Dowdy Creek. The restoration project involves planting hundreds of trees, of varying ages and species, and using native seed mixes to revegetate the disturbed areas. Soil amendments, erosion barriers, and site stabilization will increase the effectiveness of the rehabilitation efforts. In addition, the project will restore wetland areas and re-establish natural drainages that have been damaged by illegal use.

Hunting, hiking, wildlife watching, and other legal activities in the park are not affected by these closures. Pedestrian access and an improved parking area along Sand Plant Road (off Route 41 near Layland, West Virginia) will be installed to allow legal access into the park by hunters and others. Throughout the park, the National Park Service boundary is marked with paint and signs are posted indicating users are on NPS land. Additional marking and signage will be added during this project in the affected areas.

The funding for this project is part of the compensatory resource damages granted in the United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia Beckley Division against Mountain Top Management, LLC, et al.. The total amount for the damages was $98,300.

ORV use heavily impacts wetlands, rare plant and animal communities, and cultural resources that the park strives to protect. The significant unfragmented forest of the park is also compromised by the braided network of trails created by ORVs. The park believes that better hunting and wildlife viewing opportunities will result from decreased use by ORVs.

There are a variety of legal places for ORV use in the region. The Hatfield-McCoy Trail System includes hundreds of miles of off-road trails that are open year-round to ATVs, dirt bikes, and UTVs. Also nearby is the privately operated Burning Rock Outdoor Adventure Park, which offers over 100 miles of trails for bikes, ATVs, and UTVs.

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Comments

Submitted by Ray Bane on April 18, 2016 - 5:23pm.

ORV access poses one of the greatest threats to public lands, including national parks.  These machines are designed to claw their way through thick brush, push aside small  trees, churn their way across wetlands and ford streams through knee-deep water.  Many can be described as mini tanks.  National parks in Alaska are particularly impacted by ORV access.  The park service has largely dodged this issue for the past several decades resulting in almost unimaginable resource damage.  The Sierra Club and the Wilderness Society jointly commissioned a study of ORV management on public lands in Alaska.  This project resulted in the report, "Shredded Wildlands", describing severe impacts spreading through the wilds of Alaska.  Unfortunately, the damage is on-going.


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