The Forest Service’s proposal to open 215 miles of trails in the Mark Twain National Forest to off-road vehicles is being attacked by environmental groups as illegal and illogical. The Forest Service says it wants to study the effect those vehicles will have on the forest. The plan does not include any environemtal analysis, though. The proposal calls for the experiment to last three years. A spokesman for the Forest Service says the study will answer whether the opening of new trails will minimize damage and curtail illegal riding in the forest. The Missouri Coalition for the Environment calls the plan an “outrage.”
