Ouachita Forest Trail Management Plan

Today I receive an urgent email about "Feds trying to stop motorcycles from riding on US Forest Service land". Alarmed by this fact, I started digging to find out what was going on. After a bit of research, I talked to Kelly Russell at kmrussell@fs.fed.us, District Ranger for the US Forest Service in Talihina, OK. According to her, Congress enacted a law that requires the US Forest Service to develop a Travel Management Plan for all National Forest Land. The travel management rule requires that all of the nation’s 155 national forests designate a system of roads and trails for all motorized vehicles including OHVs. Hence, this is not something optional for the US Forest Service, or something that is being thought up at the local level.

This ruling was brought about partially by irresponsible ORV users riding off-trail, cutting new trails without thought to the long term health of the forest, and damaging important natural resources. Responsible riders know that forest access requires working with the landowners (in this case the Federal Government), being responsible when they ride, taking care of the riding areas, and assisting with trail development and maintenance.

The Ouachita National Forest team expects that significant public input will be needed to develop this plan. To this end they have held a number of meetings in SE Oklahoma and western Arkansas. Turnout has been low, probably because of the remote locations and weekday meeting dates.

In talking to Kelly, it is clear they are VERY interested in hearing from ORV owners about how, where, and what type of riding is done in the Ouachita Forest. The US Forest Service wants to accomodate ORV users and work with ORV riders to build a responsible, reusable, well maintained system of trails in the Ouachita Forest.

How can you help? First and most important, contact Kelly Russell via email and explain to her what type of riding you like to do in SE Oklahoma, where you like to ride, what type of events, the places you like to visit, and any other details about riding in SE Oklahoma. Public comment officially closes June 29 so you need to get something out very soon (they may extend this comment period 30 days).

Second, you can fill out this questionaire and volunteer to help with trail management, development and to provide input as needed. You may not necessarily need to do a lot of on-site work, but you can do things like help manage the trail while riding, assisting the rangers when you come down with some type of trail project, etc.

Most importantly, get involved and make sure your voice is heard. Ride Oklahoma and Oklahoma Dual Sport will be maintaining contact and actively reporting and working with the US Forest Service and other local clubs, agencies and riders to help make sure the wonderful riding areas we have in SE Oklahoma remain open and accessible to ORV riders.

Important web sites and emails:

US Forest Service OHV Travel Management Rule
Ouachita Forest Site
Feedback form for Travel Management Plan (requires Acrobat Reader)
Kelly Russell - US Forest Service land manager for Ouachita Forest - kmrussell@fs.fed.us

Observed Trials

Chris Johnson from the Medicine Park area sent this intersting video along with his comments.

"Here is an interesting and one of the better examples of the upper .005% of motorcycle trials skill I've seen. Notice Mr. Raga makes this Indoor Trials section look so easy, yet it in fact can only be completed by maybe 10 riders in the world with only he and a few other being able to make it look easy. I like the effortless pullbacks he does to set up for and check traction on that insane undercut step!" Chris




I have seen Chris treat his KLR-250 bike like a itty bitty trials bike, so he knows a thing or two about trials. Are we ready to see ZRod do this on old Hoss?

BMW's growing dirt bike business

I know, you orange-clad off-road riders don't think much of BMW's off-road prowess. In your mind, they build overweight, underpowered street bikes that are modified to go off-road.

But all that is changing as BMW is making a concerted effort to move into the dirt bike world. Not only has their 100+ horsepower BMW HP2 been a giant killer at places like the Erzberg Rodeo in Austria, they are now in the development and testing phases of a single cylinder 450cc true off-road bike.

Click on any picture to see additional pics of the 2007 Erzberg Rodeo.



BMW's under development single cylinder 450cc dirt bike.


Earlier this month at the world-renown off-road event known as the Erberg Rodeo, BMW ridres Chris Pfeiffer, Simo Kirssi and Mickey Dymond put the BMW HP2 and their yet unreleased 450cc dirt bike through it's paces. Simo Kirssi on his HP2 placed first in the King's Class, besting KTM's David Knight on this race of twin cylinder bikes. While the still under development 450 had good success at earlier European off-road races, mechanical failure during the Hare Scramble race ended with a DNF. Still, riders on BMW's won both the King's Race and the Prologue, scoring two for three in this grueling test of man and machine.




So when are we going to see the BMW 450 dirt bike in the USA? Soon I hope. Will it be competitive, both on the track and in the showroom? Let's hope so. Competition is good very everyone and it is wonderful to see another manufacturer enter the off-road and dual sport market.

Get by BMW of Oklahoma City and check out some of the new BMW models coming soon.