4-Wheelers OK’d for Glorieta

Senator Griego

An appeal by a state senator and a group of his constituents to keep four-wheelers and other motorized vehicles out of the Glorieta Mesa has been denied by the Santa Fe National Forest. In its review of 22 appeals to the U.S. Forest Service’s new travel management plan released in June that prescribes where visitors can and cannot go on motorized vehicles in the Santa Fe National Forest, forest officials considered claims from appellants on all sides of the roadless debate. The appeal filed by state Sen. Phil Griego, D-San Jose, and more than a dozen constituents argues the forest service did not take into account community concerns about safety or the effects of offroaders on ranching, wood gathering and other traditional practices by Hispanic ranchers and other longtime residents. “It’s atrocious,” Griego said Friday about the rejection of his group’s appeal. “It’s a terrible decision. They made this decision without talking to the ranchers and the farmers, or the Legislature. What they are doing is placing the safety of the people in that area at stake.” The travel management plan was based on dozens of public meetings over the course of seven years. Griego said he is considering legal action, as well as plans to bring the issue before state lawmakers. “They had their minds made up before we went into that resolution hearing,” he said. “The forest service thinks they can run and control everything they touch without giving the citizens – or people affected – the ability to ask questions and get decent answers. “Federal law may overrule state law, but I think state law can overrule a policy that has an adverse health, welfare and safety impact on the community.”...more