Three thousand miles of roads to be closed in Coconino NF

Most RVers have already pulled out of the Coconino National Forest near Flagstaff. At elevations over 7,000 feet where temperatures have dropped into the teens at night and only rise to the mid 30s in daytime, those who can have started their trip to warmer southern climates. Those stuck close to home have probably parked their RV for the season.

But when the snowbirds return and when the locals awaken their rigs from winter hibernation, they will find that nearly 3,000 miles of forest roads have been closed and motorized camping is restricted from nearly 1.5 million acres to 43,000 acres along 581 miles of roads in the Coconino NF.

The decision on the changes to be made to the Travel Management Plan (TMP) was announced on Thursday, November 3rd by the Forest Service and started the clock ticking on a 45-day comment period--so if you have anything to say about the closures, don't wait until you head out in the Spring for your favorite boondocking campsite only to find it closed.

In other changes made to the TMP on the November 3rd announcement, the original version allowed dispersed camping within 100 feet of any open road but was extended to within 300 feet of both sides of just 581 miles of designated road, and one side only of 32 miles of road. With the new rule, campers and day-users will also be allowed to park and/or camp along any open road, so long as they are parked within 30 feet of the roadway.

"We changed what we were going to do after going out and collecting data on over 4,000 dispersed campsites and then tried targeting our dispersed camping corridors to where they were at and where they would cause the least impact to sensitive resources," said Mike Dechter, spokesman for the forest, according to the Verde Independent that reported on the decision.

A map and a complete copy of the decision are posted on the Coconino National Forest Website. Dechter also said that the forest will be publishing an app for smart phones, where RVers can see exactly where they are on the map so they can make accurate decisions on where they can drive and where they can boondock. The Coconino NF will be the first forest in the nation to publish such an app.