OHV Access across Juniper Flats ACEC?

Juniper Flats Rd. already provides OHV access across the Juniper Flats ACEC. This road is routed around Cottonwood Springs and is open to motorized users who desire to access Forest Service roads and trails to the south.

To ask for exclusion of OHV's from the entire ACEC would require the closing of Juniper Flats Rd., which would be a more drastic measure. Are you really proposing this? The ACEC is a large area that is intended to protect Cottonwood Springs. The present routes skirt the protected area and there is no real reason to close them short of overwhelming OHV non-compliance.

However, trail J1299 within the ACEC routes through rugged terrain directly to the cultural and riparian areas. It serves no purpose other than to give OHV riders motorized access to a fragile area that other recreational users must access from a remote parking lot.

The proposed J1299 route did not exist prior to the Willow Fire and is a consequence of illegal OHV use in defiance of the post-fire restoration efforts.

Opening J1299 would be an instant reward for flagrant and destructive OHV non-compliance and would be a sell-out of the Juniper Flats ACEC.