The National Park Service is out with a final plan for managing off road vehicle use on popular trails in Wrangell-Saint Elias National Park. The plan and environmental impact statement cover trails in the northern part of the park and preserve, along the Nabesna Road, east of Glennallen. Park Service planner Bruce Rogers says the documents reflect settlement of a lawsuit brought by environmental groups which questioned the agencies adherence to its own rules regarding consideration of the impacts before issuing permits for recreational off road vehicle use.
Rogers says the plan calls for closure of 3 heavily damaged A.T.V. trails off the Nabesna Road. Rogers says off road vehicles use will still be permitted by qualified federal subsistence users.
Dan Bross is a reporter at KUAC in Fairbanks.
