Off-highway vehicles are still troubling the U.S. Forest Service, as more regulations are discussed for rental companies.
On Jan. 26, the Red Rock OHV Conservation Crew held a meeting with eight different off-roading companies in the Sedona area. Mainly, the U.S. Forest Service, the Sedona Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Bureau, and the eight off-roading companies agreed that some sort of change had to come in order to preserve the areas that these companies are dependent on for their vehicles.
Coming to an Agreement, Maybe
“We are coming up with potentially a similar agreement to the Fly Friendly Agreement, which is voluntary, of private industry,” President and CEO of Sedona Chamber of Commerce Candace Carr Strauss said at the recent joint chamber and city council budget meeting.
The Fly Friendly Agreement acknowledges that helicopter tour operators have agreed to stop overflights within the city of Sedona and several major resorts and neighborhoods outside the city limits.
The main companies who participated in the RROCC meeting seemed to be willing to agree to certain terms, such as limiting trailhead use during weather events. The organization will be working with the Forest Service to study how many off-road vehicles are appropriate for certain trailheads, according to Carr Strauss.
“The RROCC has spent some great energy on getting organized and starting to increase education and resource protection actions on the ground,” wrote Amy Tinderholt, district ranger of the USFS Red Rock Ranger District. “I expect that the other value of this group will be in developing and committing to agreements as a group to address public and agency concerns about what we are seeing on the ground.”
Owners, such as Brian Carstens of Sedona ATV, and others have said in the past that they would be willing to discuss and agree to certain operating agreements with the Sedona Chamber of Commerce, USFS, and other off-roading companies in the area.
Nena Barlow, owner of Barlow Adventures, has been at the forefront of the conservation efforts by the RROCC and conversations with other rental owners.
“It’s barely been mentioned, I think we wanted to immediately deal with some of the physical things that need to be addressed for safety then work towards more of the etiquette stuff,” Barlow said.
Hiring More Help
Enforcement is one of three goals that the Sedona Chamber of Commerce, RROCC and the USFS is working towards mitigating the issues with OHVs, which has been a concern as additional help has still not been hired.
“We are working to hire additional OHV staff that will be dedicated not only to education and
enforcement in the area but also to complete these larger assessments that will enable us to start getting a handle on these impacts,” Tinderholt said.
According to the chamber, the search for additional OHV staff is currently ongoing, but workforce shortages everywhere are also affecting forest service workers.
“We have the money right now to pay for a working body, there are just no bodies,” Carr Strauss said.
Becki Ross, operator of Windmill Mountain Ranch off Forest Road 525, has seen the effects of OHVs in her backyard increasingly for the past three years. She has been at the forefront of advocating for OHV regulation in the area.
“The lack of law enforcement has created this environment that visitors often think it’s a place to rip it up. The USFS, Yavapai Sheriff’s Office, and Arizona Game and Fish are so behind in funding for enforcement and engineering of roads to address this current OHV trend that the natural resources are suffering immensely,” Ross said. “It doesn’t seem fair that the USFS and county have to repair the roads that are being used almost exclusively by the rentals out of Sedona.”
What’s Next
Within the next couple of weeks, the USFS and RROCC will be working to put up a fence at Diamondback Gulch to prevent riders from going off the trail and causing more damage to the terrain.
The Forest Service just approved this fence that Barlow applied for almost nine months ago. According to her, the next step is cautionary yellow and black speed signs that encourage drivers to go 15 mph on the most popular trailhead roads. But it will be up to the city whether or not signage is put on city roads connecting to major trailheads.
“I would encourage anyone who has concerns about any of these things to support Home Rule and amending [Senate Bill 1350], to allow cities to regulate some of these things,” Barlow said.
Home rule allows an Arizona city to spend its total collected tax money rather than spend a far lesser amount limited by a state formula. SB 1350 is the 2016 state law that prohibits towns, cities and counties from imposing any rules or regulations on short-term rentals.
This effort, as well as Tread Lightly!’s education campaigns around the city, is what the chamber hopes will slow down the issue until additional staff are brought on and road engineering can be completed further.
From the city’s perspective, the OHV issue has been repeatedly discussed by council members.
The last discussion about OHV was at the council retreat where it was agreed that the sustainability team will be looking at the issue closer, when new manager Alicia Peck is further into her position, which she started on Jan. 31. This may potentially lead to a study done by the city that could be presented to both the Forest Service and Yavapai County leaders.
“We know the rental companies and need to be more proactive in setting and following through with expectations,” Tinderholt said.
