In one swath of the Crooked River National Grassland, a handful of people would like to see more trails for full-size, four-wheel drive, off-road vehicles. For one, the Henderson Flat area needs to have an expanded trail system for single-track off-road vehicles and all-terrain vehicles.

A couple others value the area for hiking, camping, sightseeing and its scenic beauty.

”I have witnessed a lot of destruction of soils, vegetation, in this area by vehicles and OHV’s, especially in the past few years,” one of them noted. ”This is a unique area that needs protection, especially with the proximity to Henderson Flats.”

The comments came from people who enjoy a variety of recreation opportunities on public lands and were solicited by the U.S. Forest Service this summer in meetings across Central Oregon. The agency is starting an effort to map the region’s national forests and grassland that will identify the areas where motorized vehicles are allowed. The maps could also change some of the regulations on public lands.

The maps are required by the 2005 Travel Management rule, which aims to make rules regarding motorized vehicles on public lands more consistent nationwide, and to reduce conflicts between users.

The more than 300 people who came to one of the six meetings this summer, or who stopped by Forest Service supervisors’ offices and ranger stations, marked about 500 of their favorite places on maps of the Deschutes and Ochoco national forests and the Crooked River National Grassland, said Mollie Chaudet, project manager for the mapping effort.

”Where are the most important areas for you to access?” was the question the agency asked people, she said. Although the Forest Service will update the motorized-activity maps annually, for the first edition of the map the agency wanted to focus on areas where there is the most agreement that changes should be made, she said.

An example of a change would be in an area where people use off-road vehicles to get to dispersed campsites, she said. If those routes or areas aren’t designated as OK for motorized vehicles on the map, driving to those campsites would be illegal once the map is established, probably in 2009.

A working group will be coming up with areas to be focusing on early next year, and one of its starting points will be the dots that people stuck on maps along with their associated comments.

When people filled out a form associated with the dots, they were asked to list their favorite activities and values for that location. Some of the most common activities were hiking, single-track motorized vehicle use, camping and sightseeing, while some of the most common values were scenic beauty, wildlife, quiet and solitude, motorized access routes, and access to nonmotorized activities at places like trailheads.

In one area of the Ochoco National Forest, for example, someone who went to a meeting in Prineville enjoyed using the area for all-terrain vehicle use and for camping, while another who went to the Bend meeting used a neighboring area in the Ochocos for single-track motor vehicles and hunting.

Nearby, in Gray Prairie, one person used the area for hiking, fishing and camping and to find some solitude, while another person added all-terrain vehicle use and family activities to that list.

In the Lava Cast area west of the Newberry National Volcanic Monument, one person commented that the Sugar Pine trail system has been in use for more than 15 years, and another said the designated trails provided access to a ”unique area.” Someone who attended a meeting in Sisters said they valued the Sugar Pine Butte area for its hunting and scenic opportunities, but noted erosion in the area.

Nearby, someone had marked a spot where they said there was a need to develop trails.

”Needs lots of good, sustainable trails,” the person wrote. ”Needs to (be) mapped, signed OHV trail system.”

Other people left comments about their favorite spots throughout the national forests. Many markers were associated with comments like ”Would like Class II trail system” or ”Keep open. No weather closure.”

Some markers came with different views, like ”Limited access to avoid sensitive wildlife habitat,” near Wickiup Reservoir, or ”There is tremendous resource damage to this area, it needs to be controlled – small trails closed to OHV,” near Santiam Pass.

One person noted where good horseback-riding trails were, even for ”green” horses, while another marked a place where they are worried that all-terrain vehicles will cause damage and spook horses.

Someone who showed up at the Sisters meeting marked an area where they were ”driven nuts by ATV and dirt bike use in this area up and down the road to no end.”

But many people listed the values they enjoyed in the areas as coming from motorized recreation. Two dots in the Stevens Canyon area came with the comments ”like to go ‘mudding’ in this area,” and ”lots of existing user-created trails. Let’s use them.”