ORV rules vary by state

To comply with state laws, most national forest roads in Washington have been closed to ATVs, dirt bikes and other unlicensed vehicles that are not “street-legal.”

National forests in Idaho have different rules because of state laws.

In 2005, the Forest Service began working toward a national goal of designating roads and trails that would be open to ORV use. The new rule stipulates that roads, trails or areas are closed to ORVs use unless the vehicles are specifically authorized.

The Colville National Forest is working on a travel plan to designate motorized vehicle routes.

The forest has a total of about 4,400 road miles, said Craig Newman, forest recreation manager. About 2,000 miles of those roads have been gated or blocked to all motorized vehicles for management or environmental reasons.

Since 2005, about 650 miles of Colville Forest roads have been opened to ORV traffic. These routes are published in the 2007 Interim Motor Vehicle Use Map.

A revised 2008 map was set to reveal another several hundred miles of opened roads based on meetings and agreements with public user groups. However, publication has been stalled by vehicle safety issues, such as mixing ORVs with logging trucks. These proposals require more evaluation, Newman said.

The current 2007 interim map is available free from Colville National Forest offices or its Web site.