Locals Officials Respond to USFS Decision Regarding Wolf Pen Gap

BY MELANIE BUCK –

Local officials are responding to the long-awaited United States Forestry Service decision rendered last week involving the public use of the very popular Wolf Pen Gap Trail System, a tourist-destination near Mena that is responsible for generating $58.6 million annually, according to an independent 2010 study conducted by UALR.

Polk County Judge Brandon Ellison expressed gratitude, “Although I would rather see our public lands open as much as possible, I understand the compromise that has been made. An extreme environmental group threatening litigation against the Fish and Wildlife Service has caused a cutback of the number of days Wolf Pen can be open. This situation is not helpful to our economy, however, other discussed alternatives would have been worse. I want to publically thank Ouachita National Forest District Ranger Tim Oosterhous for his efforts on our behalf.”

In a released statement, Forestry officials stated: “Currently 41.7 miles of roads and trails are available for OHV use at Wolf Pen Gap, either year- round or seasonally. Key components of Alternative I define a trail system with 39.6 miles of routes, including mixed use routes and seasonal designations. Designated routes will be open seasonally from the second Friday of March each year, through Oct. 31. Two holiday periods will open the trail system to OHV use: from three days prior to Thanksgiving through two days after Thanksgiving, and from Dec. 25 through Jan. 2.”

Gar Eisele, who has been advocating for the public use of the system since the threat of closure began 7 years ago, was more than pleased that a compromise had been reached, “We are pleased that Mena-Oden District Ranger Tim Oosterhous has selected Alternative “I” as outlined in the Wolf Pen Gap Environmental Assessment. I agree with Tim’s assessment that this decision finds common ground to protect the forest while allowing continued use of nearly 40 of the 42 miles of trail during times of the year when it is most used by visitors.”

Eisele was very quick to share credit with the many partnerships that came together with a common goal of finding a balance between preserving and sustaining the trails/environment, “The result of this decision is that the trails remain open avoiding the economic disaster in our region had they been closed. I feel certain that we [Tourism Committee of the Mena/Polk County Chamber of Commerce] would not have reached this result without the help of the Parks, Recreation and Travel Commission’s assistance who, on January 21, 2010, allowed us to present the possible closing the of trails to their meeting in Hot Springs. The commission passed a resolution in our favor and the resulting publicity put us on our way to saving the trails. We are grateful to Representative Bell, Senator Teague and the entire Arkansas delegation, past and present. We appreciate Judge Ellison’s involvement and especially Scott Simon and his entire team at the Nature Conservancy of Arkansas for their unwavering assistance.”

The President of Ouachita ATV Club, Tim Kiser, released a statement saying, “Ouachita ATV Club has mixed emotions about the signing of Alternative “I” as the final decision for management of The Wolf Pen Gap ATV Tail System. We are glad that we have finally reached a long awaited decision, which gives us the piece of mind in knowing that Wolf Pen Gap trails will be open for the enjoyment of local as well as out of town visitors. The decision chosen is based on finding something that would work for all interested parties. We can adjust and work with this decision; even though, we would have liked Wolf Pen Gap to be open year round, we are blessed with lots of other riding opportunities around Mena and therefore, can hopefully see our tourist based economy continue to thrive and grow. The one thing in particular that disappoints us is that an implementation period for the new decision was not put into place, as we were told that it would be, at the inception of this process. The immediate implementation does come with some hardships to both businesses in the area and to tourists who have made plans to visit during the next few months. Our other concern is that the monitoring system for rainfall doesn’t have a consistent and measurable trigger for closure, which makes it hard for people to make plans. Overall, we are relieved that the process is over for now and that we can move forward. On a personal note, I would like to say that we should all be happy that we have the Wolf Pen Gap Trail system as part of our local points of interest and that we should never take for granted how fortunate we are to live in Mena, Arkansas. Please be sure to extend a warm welcome to those who visit our town. They have the option to go other places… we are lucky to have them!”

In addition to changes made to road and trail designations, a number of other actions will occur within the next 5 years, including improvement of more than 269 stream crossings, construction of a foot trail to Hawk’s Gap overlook, installation of picnic tables at two vistas, construction of a pavilion at the North Trailhead, and obliteration and relocation of the “warm-up” trail at the West Trailhead parking lot.

For more information on Wolf Pen Gap call 479-394-2382, or stop by the Mena Ranger District Office, 1603 Highway 71 North, Mena, AR.

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Jeri Pearson

Jeri is the News Director for Pulse Multi-Media and Editor of The Polk County Pulse. She has 10 years of experience in community focused journalism and has won multiple press association awards.

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