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Sun January 6, 2008

New hunting, fishing proposals also to be reviewed

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Eric Brinkman, a graduate research assistant at Oklahoma State University, poses with a 160-pound alligator gar netted at Lake Texoma as part of a research study on the species. State wildlife officials want to limit the harvest of alligator gar by anglers and bow fishermen to one per day, and none during the spawning season, to protect the prehistoric fish. PHOTO PROVIDED
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By Ed Godfrey
The Oklahoman
U.S. Forest officials and state wildlife officials have scheduled unrelated public meetings next week to discuss proposed changes that will affect outdoor recreation in southeastern Oklahoma.

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The most controversial involves the planned restrictions on the use of off-road vehicles in the Ouachita National Forest in Le Flore and McCurtain Counties. Beginning Oct. 1, off-road vehicles in the forest will be restricted to designated trails only.

Riding ATVs and other motorized vehicles is the fastest growing recreational use in the national forests. Recreational riders from Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas and Louisiana flock to the Ouachita National Forest to play.

"Ten years ago it was unusual to see any ATV riding here,” said Gary Rose, federal law enforcement officer with the U.S. Forest Service in the Ouachita National Forest. "Now, we've literally got hundreds and even thousands of people every weekend.”

Because of the growing trend in off-roading and increasing damage to the forest as the result, the U.S. Forest Service nationwide is restricting riding to designated trails only in national forests.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, public meetings are scheduled in Poteau and Idabel where U.S. Forest officials will unveil their choices for designated trails. This is the third and final set of public meetings in the initial process of designating trails, said C. J. Norvell, spokeswoman for the U.S. Forest Service.

More trails and a "game retrieval” exception to the rules have been added to the trail system from the map that was shown to the public at previous public meetings, Norvell said.

During deer seasons, hunters will be able to retrieve a downed deer on an ATV, but they can't go randomly searching for the animal on a motorized vehicle, she said.

After Oct. 1, the designated trails will be reviewed annually and possibly changed, she said.

"We are kind of scattering (designated) trails all over (the forest),” Rose said. "What the public has been asking for, we are trying to accommodate them.”

But beginning Oct. 1, off-road users will not be able to travel as freely through the forest as they have done in the past.

New hunting rules
State wildlife officials also have scheduled meetings across the state next week to get public input on proposed changes in fishing and hunting regulations.

This year's list of changes has not sparked the kind of controversy like last year when state wildlife officials wanted to reduce the deer buck limit from three to two and establish a trophy deer zone in southwestern Oklahoma. Hunting seasons on black bears, mountain lions and river otters also were debated last year.