I was delighted to read in the October 6 Xplore section that local Forest Service officials are "beginning to aggressively implement" their 15-year-old travel plan. Better late than never.

Two months ago the Sierra Club released a report documenting the many discrepancies between the printed travel plan and on-the-ground signing and management. We found 50 miles of routes in the Ogden Ranger District that were legally closed to motorized travel but "managed as open" on the ground.

Although news coverage of our report included headlines like "Report slams rangers," our goal was not to lay blame but rather to inform the public of this ongoing problem and make constructive suggestions on how to fix it. As the recent Xplore article describes, the Ogden District is now taking the problem seriously and implementing some of our suggestions. The new improvements in signing and other public information are significant. We extend our thanks to District Ranger Chip Sibbernsen and his staff.

Of course, much work remains to be done. The Forest Service does not have the resources to mark every unauthorized travel route in a single season, so many such routes remain unsigned at this time. We therefore urge every ORV user to obtain a copy of the official travel map and limit motorized travel to legally open routes. Travel maps are available free at the Union Station Visitor Center and at http://utah.sierraclub.org/ogden/orv/.

For the long term, we hope that the upcoming travel plan revision will result in a system of ORV routes that balances the desires of motorized and nonmotorized users, promotes the safety of all users, respects private property rights, and adequately protects our watersheds and wildlife habitat.

Dan Schroeder, Chair, Ogden Sierra Club