firecrew1
Member
I heard from a good friend this afternoon while on a mountain bike ride that our local trail smiley rock was shut down. he mentioned there was a sign at the north end that was ripped off and one at the power plant at the southern end. looking for info on it I came across this post from Nov. 20th 2013 on another forum. kinda pissed me off finding this out since its one of the better trails northern az has.
Holy crap, Smiley Rock trail was closed? Seriously?
Yes it is. It's been removed from the inventory and is not on the current maps. The closure sign at the top has been torn out, but the lower sign near the power substation is still in place. I went to meeting after meeting on the changes in the inventory, and showed FS personnel the route, and that we as 4x4 users have maintained and improved the area. I also had printed the GWT documentation, including the PNF press release that announced it's dedication to the public as an off highway vehicle route. All that was ignored.
Arizona is different than many other states as far as hunting goes. 70% of the state is owned by the Government - be that USFS, BLM, or AZ State Trust, or Reservation, and that is in essence close to non tribal members - in most cases the permits are staggeringly high.
So, in general, we don't hunt on private property. It's rare, especially in the area in question, Units 17A, 17B, 19A, 19B, 10, 8, 6A, 6B, 5A, 5B, and 7 since it's virtually 100% USFS managed lands, at least where the big game animals are. So, those of us that grew up here understand that when hunting season comes around, that's the busiest time of the year in the local NF's, and in general, due to the cold weather conditions, most ordinary campers are no longer in the high country. That's just the way it is - the flat landers don't like cold weather, and the non hunting locals don't like it much either. So, we have a culture here that may not be present in other places - that's the way it is. It's a tradition that has been passed down from generation to generation. People put in for the same hunt units year after year, and with a big enough group, hopefully some will be lucky enough to get drawn to hunt. You can argue about it, but it is what it is. I've been a hunter and fisherman since I was 16 back in 1976, so to see the FS managers just up and decide that in to enforce crap 2013 doesn't sit well.
Holy crap, Smiley Rock trail was closed? Seriously?
Yes it is. It's been removed from the inventory and is not on the current maps. The closure sign at the top has been torn out, but the lower sign near the power substation is still in place. I went to meeting after meeting on the changes in the inventory, and showed FS personnel the route, and that we as 4x4 users have maintained and improved the area. I also had printed the GWT documentation, including the PNF press release that announced it's dedication to the public as an off highway vehicle route. All that was ignored.
Arizona is different than many other states as far as hunting goes. 70% of the state is owned by the Government - be that USFS, BLM, or AZ State Trust, or Reservation, and that is in essence close to non tribal members - in most cases the permits are staggeringly high.
So, in general, we don't hunt on private property. It's rare, especially in the area in question, Units 17A, 17B, 19A, 19B, 10, 8, 6A, 6B, 5A, 5B, and 7 since it's virtually 100% USFS managed lands, at least where the big game animals are. So, those of us that grew up here understand that when hunting season comes around, that's the busiest time of the year in the local NF's, and in general, due to the cold weather conditions, most ordinary campers are no longer in the high country. That's just the way it is - the flat landers don't like cold weather, and the non hunting locals don't like it much either. So, we have a culture here that may not be present in other places - that's the way it is. It's a tradition that has been passed down from generation to generation. People put in for the same hunt units year after year, and with a big enough group, hopefully some will be lucky enough to get drawn to hunt. You can argue about it, but it is what it is. I've been a hunter and fisherman since I was 16 back in 1976, so to see the FS managers just up and decide that in to enforce crap 2013 doesn't sit well.
