The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois in Benton on Mar. 20 ordered the U.S. Forest Service to close the Burke Branch area of the Shawnee National Forest to off-road vehicles.

Burke Branch is a 6,000-acre bottom-land hardwood forest located in the Shawnee in South Pope and East Massac Counties near the Ohio River. Six miles of trails in the northeast corridor of Burke Branch were designated for all-terrain vehicle use in 1987 but since have been closed to all unauthorized motor traffic.

Off-road vehicle riders have continued to abuse travel privileges in the Shawnee either through entrance by way of privately owned land or access through forest development roads throughout the Shawnee.

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The court determined the Forest Service had not exhausted its administrative powers regarding the punishment of violators of existing mandates and regulations, which make ATV use illegal.

The ruling requires the issuance of closure orders by the Forest Service for the entire Shawnee, based on the court’s previous ruling in a separate case that resulted in the vacating of the Shawnee Amended Forest Plan and Environmental Impact Statement.

A Forest Plan and EIS are formal plans created by the agency that outline management and uses of the Shawnee for a period of time.

Mark Donham, president of the Regional Association of Concerned Environmentalists and one of six plaintiffs in the suit, said the Forest Service supports ATV riders because the dirt trails can double as access routes to logging equipment.

Routes networking throughout Burke Branch were addressed by the Forest Service as possible designations for ATV travel in their Shawnee Amended Forest Plan, which suggested Burke Branch be used for non-wilderness activities. A non-wilderness activity is any activity that has an environmental impact on the naturally occurring conditions within the Shawnee.

The Forest Service is in the business of cutting trees, Donham said. If an area is a wilderness area, they can’t cut trees, but if the area is open to ATVs it creates a road system and if the Forest Service can designate an area as a non-wilderness area it is easier for the Forest Service to sell timber.

Monica Ross, spokeswoman for the U.S. Forest Service, said that the agency will fully comply with the ruling and has remained tough on illegal ATV use well before the recent court decision.

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[The Forest Service] has toughened-up, Ross said. I’ve seen tickets written for ATV riders, but we don’t have the staff to catch all of it.

The 6,000-acre Burke Branch is patrolled by two Forest Service officers.

Craig Rhodes, an activist against ATV use in the Shawnee, said some nature trails in the area are as wide as two-lane highways from ATV use.

This is serious, Rhodes said. Paths that used to be grassy footpaths are full of muddy ruts that are 4-feet deep.

One issue in the case was whether old dirt roads in the Shawnee were county roads, or the responsibility of the Forest Service. The Forest Service is attempting to determine which roads in the forest are subject to Illinois traffic laws, where ATV use is prohibited by statute.

Regardless of designation, ATV travel in the Shawnee is prohibited. The Forest Service is compelled by law to complete an Environmental Impact Statement on the effects of Off-Road Vehicles to the area before Burke Branch can be opened for non-wilderness uses.

Charlene Brown, plaintiff and landowner near Burke Branch, said the crude paths in Burke Branch are old farm roads, which once connected neighboring farms together. The roads are not suitable for automobile travel, Brown said, but make great paths for ATV riders.

Brown agrees with the Forest Service that Burke Branch is too large to catch all ATV riders, but said the Forest Service needs to target different areas and take illegal ATV use more seriously.

The Forest Service can have police where they need them when they want, Brown says. Look at protests to logging. There are plenty of officers on location to arrest protesters.

Ross said the Forest Service will continue to be tough on ATV riders and enforce the closure order to off-highway travel in the Shawnee.

I have seen the damage [ATVs] cause, Ross said. We’re doing the best job we can. We did issue closure orders, but that’s not the same as barbed wire.