COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Vehicle ruts veer off Old Stage Road and wind their way to Emerald Valley, a breathtaking vista southwest of Colorado Springs.

Dan Wagman has driven his Range Rover there hundreds of times, as have other four-wheelers.

But the Forest Service closed the route in mid-2004 without public input.

"They took this beautiful valley away from the public," Wagman said. "You can't get back there anymore."

Not by motorized vehicle, anyway.

At issue is a bumpy 1.75-mile lane extending beyond Forest Service Road 371, which extends west from the Emerald Valley Ranch off Old Stage Road. Wagman said the road was used regularly by recreational four-wheel drivers, hikers and cyclists.

Since it closed, Wagman has accumulated a thick file of paperwork on the road. But, he says, none of it shows the government complied with its road-closure rules.

Wagman insists the agency must follow the National Environmental Policy Act by completing an environmental impact statement and seeking public comment. He said the road appeared on a 1984 Forest Service map but strangely disappeared from the agency's 1992 map.

Forest Service officials say they've followed the rules.

First, the road officially ends three-quarters of a mile past Emerald Valley Ranch, they say.

Second, "We can close roads for safety and resource damage at any time that becomes a problem," said Brent Botts, district ranger for the Pike and San Isabel National Forests.

He said the road was closed at the behest of Colorado Springs Utilities, whose water pipeline borders the route.

"It was never a problem until they started finding bullet holes in the pipeline," Botts said. "That's when Colorado Springs Utilities came to us and said, 'We want to protect our investment.' We said, 'Yes, it's under permit, they're allowed to protect it."'

Although traffic has gradually degraded the pipe by loosening couplings, a major incident occurred a few years ago, Utilities spokesman Mark Murphy said.

"Someone used a pipe, and we believe a sledgehammer, to pound a hole in the line, resulting in the loss of water," he said in an e-mail. "Our customers rely on water delivery pipelines like this one to meet their daily needs. It's important that we do everything reasonable to extend the life of the line, ensure service reliability, avoid costly repairs and keep the public safe."

Botts said another consideration in the road closure was protecting the forest from damage.

"We said, 'OK, what's being damaged back there?' We sent out the biologists and hydrologists who came back with their report that said we are having damage to plant species and to the resource," he said.

Botts said vehicles had damaged the protected yellow ladyslipper orchid in the area. But a study conducted by horticulturists and the Forest Service found 6 percent more stems in a June 2004 survey than were found in June 2003. The road was closed after the 2004 survey.

Researchers warned of potential "denudation by off-road vehicles" and noted that one plot included freshly crushed plants.

Botts said the flower needs protection and that Road 371's extension is one of dozens, even hundreds, of illegal trails carved by four-wheelers in the forest.

"Today, we've got five times as many user-created roads out there than there are on a map," he said. The profusion of motorized-vehicle trails has led the service to conduct a road inventory, and a new map will be issued in September 2008.

Road use is among several factors being assessed in an overdue revision of the Pike and San Isabel forest plan, scheduled to be completed in fall 2009.

Botts said that hikers and cyclists still can use the 371 pathway beyond the gate, but he couldn't explain why they aren't barred, because a vandal on foot can damage the pipeline.

The city has erected an imposing metal gate with 2-foot spikes to discourage four-wheelers from entering.

"It was busted and broken open at least four times last summer with bolt cutters and by ramming it," Botts said.

He emphasized the Forest Service involves the public in forest road closures. One example is the years-long process to decide whether to reopen to motor vehicles an 8.5-mile section of Gold Camp Road between High Drive and Old Stagecoach Road. Last year, the service recommended the road be opened but that it be maintained by a third party which must raise money to rebuild the road and a collapsed tunnel.

Wagman has appealed to Sen. Wayne Allard and Rep. Doug Lamborn to intervene and force the agency to conduct a public process to reopen 371.

While Wagman knows forest rangers may not like to monitor 371 and other roads, "That doesn't mean they can close down trails as they see fit and ignore the public in the process," he said. "If somebody in the public doesn't step up to the plate and say you need to follow the law, it sets a precedent to close down trails to the public as they wish."