The Associated Press
BEND, Ore. (AP) - Federal and state officials have decided to allow Oregon State Police to help enforce road closures in two national forest areas in Eastern Oregon.
It is hoped the new agreement will help protect wildlife and the Metolius watershed from illegal motorized vehicles.
In the past, only U.S. Forest Service officials were responsible for enforcing rules.
But now Oregon State Police can hand out tickets in parts of the Crooked River National Grassland and the Ochoco National Forest, where motor vehicles aren’t allowed.
In 1992 the Forest Service banned motorized vehicles from parts of the Metolius Basin to protect mule deer which wintered there.
But the ban was generally ignored say local biologists and hunters and vehicle use has actually increased in the area.
“I’ve talked to a large number of hunters that hunt in the area that are frustrated ... because they see other people utilizing motor vehicles,” said Brian Ferry, wildlife biologist for Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. “They go to the trouble of doing the legal thing, and then they see others breaking the law.”