CODY - Under a draft plan released this week, motorized travel will still be allowed on existing roads along a protected section of the Clarks Fork River near Clark, but the U.S. Forest Service will crack down on off-road travel.

"It comes back to better information and education," said Marty Sharp, environmental policy coordinator for the Shoshone National Forest.

The proposed management plan for the river outlines a preferred alternative that generally allows for continued motorized travel on existing rugged, high-clearance dirt roads, Sharp said.

Better signs, new information kiosks and other public education efforts would focus on stopping off-road travel, which Sharp said has been an ongoing issue in the area.

"If we still have problems with off-road travel, it would ratchet up to the next level, which is higher fines and more law enforcement presence," he said.

The river management plan is required by federal law because of the 'wild and scenic' status given to a 20-mile section of river that flows through the spectacular Clarks Fork Canyon, from the Crandall community to the eastern mouth of the canyon, near Clark.

The roaring, rugged river spills through picturesque canyons with soaring rock cliffs, and offers some of the most challenging fishing and kayaking water in the region. It is home to wolves, grizzly bears, elk, moose, bighorn sheep, coyotes, bobcats and cougars.

The river's popularity as a recreation destination for a diverse group of outdoors enthusiasts has brought increased traffic in recent years, according to the draft environmental assessment.

The plan calls for continued use of the area by existing outfitters, but no new permits or additional use days within the 20-mile section of the river and a quarter-mile corridor extending from each river bank.

The plan allows for stepped-up enforcement actions as necessary against off-road vehicle use, and the possibility of closures on Road 119, the main access road into the lower canyon, at the eastern end of the wild and scenic area.

A full closure of that road would require a new round of environmental review, and would be sought as a last resort only if all other enforcement options had failed, Sharp said.

Another alternative that had been considered but was not proposed under the plan would have closed Road 119 and others in the half-mile-wide river corridor, Sharp said.

Tom Phipps, owner of Mountain Valley Motorsports in Cody, said he hoped that land managers would escalate enforcement and fines as necessary to target offenders, rather than closing roads to law-abiding ATV users.

"The biggest issue most people have is the continual closing of public lands and crimping down of stuff we have available to us," he said.

At issue is a section of sand dunes and gravel bars near Road 119 at Rapid Creek, where unauthorized off-road traffic has detracted from the wild quality of the river, the plan states.

The plan calls for construction of a 450-foot metal fence that would block ATV traffic but allow hiking and horseback travel in that sensitive area.

Wapiti environmentalist LaMar Empey, who was instrumental during the late 1980s in early efforts to designate the wild and scenic section, said it was important to restrict motorized travel to designated roads along the river.

"Even some fishermen, when they go up there, want to drive off-road because nobody walks anymore," he said of the lower canyon section.

Empey said that while his initial efforts to protect the river often met with resistance, many people have come around to the viewpoint that the spectacular canyon is worth preserving.

"If anything, I think people's love for that river has increased. It's just that they want to do more with it now, and the capacity of people to travel in motorized vehicles has greatly increased," he said.

Public comments on the Clarks Fork plan will be accepted through July 30, and can be sent by e-mail to: comments-rocky-mountain-shoshone-clarksfork@fs.fed.us or mailed to: Clarks Fork Ranger District, 203A Yellowstone Ave., Cody, WY 82414, attn: Marty Sharp.]]->