How will the decision affect the status of user-created roads and trails?
User-created roads and trails (routes not included on the travel atlas and/or unauthorized) are a subset of the existing roads and trails found on the ground and are not part of the permanent authorized transportation network. Legally, the Forest Service cannot recognize nor maintain unauthorized routes. Therefore, it is proposed to either designate these travelways or eliminate them. Currently there are about 1,239 miles of inventoried roads and motorized trails that are not officially part of the forest travel system. The total is roughly 1,367 miles of unauthorized routes if non-motorized trails are included. These routes may have been constructed for a specific short-time purpose and were never properly closed or were reopened by users. Some are the result of traffic going off-route repeatedly forming a user created road or trail. Several unauthorized routes have been used and managed, that is thought to be, authorized routes for many years, but for whatever reason were never offic
