Due to the lawsuit brought by Trout Unlimited, the Forest Service has recommended that Tellico be permanently closed to OHV travel (except for a few roads for the fishermen).  We have 30 days (less now) to submit comment letters to the FS.  This is our last chance to save one of the premier offroading venues of the south.  Please help by writing a letter.  We have nothing to loose but our right to access public lands.  If they are successful in closing Tellico, it will set the stage for closing other areas across the country.

Details at Pirate4x4 . . .
  http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=765390

If you are in the area PLEASE stop by and gather all the information you can....


Southern Four Wheel Drive Associations's quarterly meeting is being held this Saturday at Golden Mountain Off Road Park (off Hwy 111 just North of Sparta Tennessee). They will be discussing the Tellico issues and providing us with suggestions on how to best combat this closure.

Contact # for the park is 931-644-9917
www.goldenmountainohvpark.com

Detailed information can be found on line at www.sfwda.org or more specifically at http://www.sfwda.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=161


If you can possibly make it, please come by......  Meeting is Free, $15 per vehicle to ride, $5 per passenger and free camping starting Friday afternoon if you don't want to get up early to make th 9 am central meeting..

Zig

Its official today.  Tellico is closed to OHV use until further notice. 

Its official today.  Tellico is closed to OHV use until further notice. 

 :'( Just like the Tennessee side years ago.... It will never re-open..... a sad day indeed.

It's hard to believe I use to work side by side withthe fishermen of the Tellico river on park clean up days and all of them commented on how impressed they were with the turn out of 4x4 enthusiast to help them clean their area BEFORE we went up the trails and cleaned the off road area. To bad their organization (and not the local fishermen) pressed it until the park was closed.

Sooner or later they will close the rivers to kayaking and fishing.... when someone finds something to complain about it too.....  :'(

Zig

Perception is a big part of any battle. It's easy for fisherman to put a good spin on their hobby/lifestyle. All they have to do is show themselves quietly standing by or in the water not disturbing anyone (but the fish.)    A typical view of off roaders is some loud, huge tire'd monster truck tearing thru the mud, and crushing everything under it's wheels. It's all in how it's portrayed to the public. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe there's just many more people who fish than wheel, and are outspoken enough to make some noise about it. Either way it sucks we lost again.