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A Conservationist’s Alternative Plan for Management of the Hoosier National ForestSection 3. Need for Change: Specific Management Issues3.10 Hiking trails, Horse trails, Bike trailsA separate system of single-use hiking trails should be developed.The present "multi-use" trail system has resulted in a majority of the trails serving as defacto horse and mountain bike trails. Hikers need trails separate from other high-impact users like bicyclists and horseback riders. For many forest users, the recreational experience they desire is seeing and hearing the forest itself. They need to be close to the natural wonders that they have come to see. Hoosier soils need expensive hardening and widening to protect the forest from erosion caused by high impact users. This process distances hikers from the forest edge, causes increased forest fragmentation, and diminishes the trail user's experience. The Forest Service should develop adequate standards, not goals, for trail maintenance, construction, and location. The Forest Service should adhere closely to those standards and develop a budgetary priority for achieving them. Miles of high-cost, high-impact user trails such as horseback and bike riding should be limited to those that can be managed on a cost-benefit basis. The short- and long-term impacts of a variety of trail hardening methods must be considered. Because most horseback riders and bicyclists are as interested as hikers are in enjoying the wilderness experience, trail maintenance and construction methods should be researched that these users will tolerate. Types of water bars and gravel that horseback and bike riders will not go around must be used, unlike those now in place. There should be no net increase in horse and bike trail miles on the HNF. With the miles of trails now allocated to these users, trail damage is endemic in many places on the Hoosier National Forest. In areas where damage is occurring due to poor design or lack of maintenance, trails must be closed to high-impact users until repairs can be made. 3.11 Land Acquisition/Land SwapsA moratorium should be placed on land swaps until a plan is developed to assure the public that fair compensation for federal lands is being received.Land swaps can be a valuable tool for consolidating land holdings within the Hoosier National Forest or for resolving boundary disputes. However, a moratorium on land swaps should be issued until a plan can be developed that ensures the public is receiving adequate compensation for these exchanges. Land swaps to resolve boundary disputes shall be exempt from this moratorium. Land Acquisition within the Hoosier National Forest purchase areas should remain a high budgetary priority. The emphasis for these acquisitions should be the consolidation of existing land holdings. Consolidated forest blocks provide greater overall benefit to the ecosystem and are also easier to manage, reducing the overall management costs. To this end, outlying parcels may be acquired with the intent of swapping these remote tracts for inholdings at a future date, once an acceptable land swap policy is in place. 3.12 MonitoringIt is essential that the Forest Service develop a more comprehensive monitoring program.The multiple use philosophy of the Forest Service has resulted in serious environmental destruction of natural forest and watershed values on the Hoosier National Forest. Improperly managed horse trails have resulted in parallel ruts and large mud holes that eroded the thin soils of the Hoosier. Improper installation of water bars has created channels for washing off the soils on steep slopes. Skid trails on steep slopes have also resulted in unnecessary soil erosion in timber harvest areas. The salvaging of healthy timber has resulted in the construction of unnecessary roads that negatively impact the scenic qualities of the forest. The harvesting of timber without due consideration for the presence of endangered and threatened species has potentially caused the loss of essential habitat. The use of crushed limestone to stabilize trails results in a difficult tread to walk on as well as encouraging invasive species of plants. The use of crushed limestone also look unnatural and is destructive of scenic values. The maintenance of unnecessary openings for games species of wildlife has resulted in harmful effects on the populations of such native forest species as neo-tropical migrant birds while encouraging non native species such as cowbirds. Herbal species that have been subject to intensive harvest, such as ginseng, must be more closely monitored so that effective programs to protect them can be implemented. The present monitoring program for the Hoosier is not sufficient. It is essential that the Forest Service develop a more comprehensive monitoring program. The Forest Service should develop a better relationship with the scientists in the Indiana Dept of Natural Resources Division of Nature Preserves in order to better understand the unique values that exist on the Hoosier National Forest. Soil scientists and wildlife biologists from respected institutions of higher learning need to be contracted to study the effects of past management actions and their studies need to be made available for peer review and to the public on a regular basis. The Forest Service should develop and publish a State of the Forest evaluation of the watershed, forest, wildlife, and recreation values at least once every two years and make it easily available to the public. 3.13 EnforcementThe Forest Service should effectively and consistently enforce its rules and policies. The Forest Service's implementation of the multiple use philosophy has resulted in many environmental and social problems for the Hoosier National Forest, its user population and its neighbors. The illegal proliferation of horse trails in the Deam Wilderness has been one of the worst examples of inadequate enforcement in the Hoosier. The unauthorized use of ORVs and the harvesting of undamaged timber in salvage sales as well as outright timber theft also need to be guarded against. Finally, but no less importantly, state and federal laws and regulations for the protection of endangered, threatened and rare plant and animal species need to be strictly enforced. The over harvest of Ginseng and Yellowroot are two very important examples of plants that have become rare due to over harvesting. The Forest Service should effectively and consistently enforce its rules and policies. This includes a visible staff presence in the forest, particularly in problem areas where illegal use is occurring such as off road vehicle activity. The Supervisor should seek adequate funding to ensure that the enforcement staff be sufficient in numbers and training to work effectively with the public to protect the forest from illegal and otherwise damaging activities. |