For Immediate Release, September 14, 2009 Forest Service Off-
road Plan Endangers Leopold's Legacy SILVER CITY, N.M.— The
Forest Service released its “Travel Management Plan” for the
Gila National Forest on September 11, 2009, detailing the
agency’s plan to protect the forest from damage caused by off-
road vehicle use and an overgrown, unmanaged road system.
Unfortunately, the plan does little to protect natural resources
and instead sanctions ongoing motorized uses that are causing
damage to river corridors as well as threatened and endangered
species. |San Francisco River, Gila National Forest. Photo by
Grant Gourley. “This plan utterly fails to protect the forest
for future generations and ironically comes during the year-long
celebration of the 100th Anniversary of Aldo Leopold’s arrival
in the Southwest,” said Cyndi Tuell, Southwest conservation
advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity. The Gila
National Forest was an inspiration to Leopold and home to the
nation’s first official wilderness area, c