Halsey Update

By Dan Nitzel, NOHVA Business Manager

            Now that the weather is beginning to warm up from our long five month winter, our members want to get out on the trails and get some work done!    

          Before I continue further with this article, I want to help explain a few of the terms that appear in our articles about “Halsey”.  Many people mistakenly call the area a state park or a national park.  The area is a National Forest and the official title of the “Halsey trails” area is the ‘Nebraska National Forest, Bessey Ranger District’.  The land is Federal land, managed by the U.S. Forest Service which is part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.  Contrary to popular belief, the area is not a ‘park’, it is NOT operated by the state Game and Parks Commission, it is operated by the U.S. Forest Service, a federal agency.  If the area were operated or managed by our state in any manner, it would have been closed to us long ago!

          Now back to the business at hand!  The work day planned for mid-April was snowed out with over 12 inches of snow!  Plans were to clean out any sand that had filled the cattle crossings on the Dismal River trail, work on some trails and work on fencing at the Dismal River play area.  As of this writing, an alternative work date has not been set. 

          Usually we need to organize a work party to get this done, however this year the sand is not filling the cattle crossings up as usual.  The used rubber tracks that were donated from Nebraska Machinery Company via Halsey Trails Club president Chuck McCarty are working quite well!  Plans are being made to use the tracks on other parts of the trail around tree roots and such.  A work day will be announced on a later date and I will try to inform all those interested when details are decided. 

          As of this writing, the road from the main camp ground to the Dismal River trail is still under construction.  It is hoped that it will be open before Memorial Day, however considering the length of the winter this year the road construction may last a bit longer.  I will inform all of our members when the work is completed.

          Work on the proposed Travel Management Plan is still underway.  The Forest Service is currently reviewing suggestions from the public meetings and trying to figure out final details of the plan.  One of the big hurtles that will need to be overcome will be finding funds to implement trail management that fits federal land management standards.  The war in Iraq is draining funds from almost every federal agency including the U.S. Forest Service.  The Federal agencies that manage our nation’s trail systems are being hit hard, and Nebraska will most likely not be allotted any funding for U.S. Forest Service trails for years to come.  The net result of war time budget cuts could mean a big reduction in public land that will be open to motorized recreation as there will be no funding available to even minimally manage our activity.   To properly manage and maintain the existing trail system we now enjoy at Bessey, it could easily cost over $250,000 a year.   Nebraska will be hit the harder than many other states as we have no state level user based trail funding mechanism other than meager funding that organizations like NOHVA can provide.  

          There is also a possibility that the ranchers who graze cattle about six or seven months out of the year will be successful in their fight to close us out of riding at Bessey.  Local area ranchers are working hard to close the main ATV trails around the Dismal River trail to ATVs and dirtbikes so that they can graze their cattle with few worries.  They blame us for all of their problems and they like to think that the public land that they lease is ‘theirs’ as they have been leasing it for years.  What is needed at Bessey is a meeting between the effected ranchers and motorized trails users.  I am confident that a compromise can be achieved. 

          Additional problems ahead for us in the Travel Management Plan may involve opposition from big environmental groups such as The Center for Biological Diversity and other anti-motorized recreation groups.   Frequently the Center for Biological Diversity finds an obscure species that may be in danger because of activities like we enjoy.  The “Center” has a reputation closing vast areas in the west to motorized recreation.  If they target the Nebraska National Forest, you can kiss good by to riding there as there is no way we can muster the money to fight them.  One thing is probably for sure, if they target us, the ranchers grazing their cattle on U.S. Forest Service land at Bessey will most likely be pushed out as well.   

A new travel management plan that features a large trails system will be difficult to achieve at best, but we are hoping for the best and trying to help the Forest Service as much as our volunteers and meager monetary resources will allow.  I would like to thank the employees with the Forest Service who are trying to hammer out the new travel plan and serve the desire of all those involved.  It is at best a difficult task, and result will not be popular with some or all parties concerned.  When details of the plan are finalized, NOHVA will send a flier to our members if action is needed.

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This page was updated on Saturday, March 07, 2009