Forest Service rules a burden for hunters

Not all the infernos are raging in the nation's forests. A huge conflagration has erupted over the public's ability to use the national forests, especially people who want to drive a wheeled vehicle off designated roads. Things are changing on the forest edge. On instructions from Washington, D.C., the U.S. Forest Service has reviewed access policies in each forest region and, as a result, serious cutbacks are under way. Motorized vehicles, including camper trailers and motor homes, must park no further than 30 feet from a designated roadway. The access issue gets dicier for hunters. The new rules will allow elk hunters who make a kill to drive a motorized vehicle no more than 1 mile into the forest, but only once. And if your 900-pound elk happens to have fallen 2 miles from a designated road? You and your friends had better have broad shoulders. Or, perhaps, you should consider borrowing someone's mule. It gets more problematic for deer hunters, who must find non-motorized means of retrieving their quarry regardless where the animal is taken...more