back to main News

Court Affirms Off-Road Vehicle Injunction and "Natural Area" Protections In Shawnee National Forest

(BENTON, IL) Today U.S. District Court Judge J. Phil Gilbert issued an opinion and judgment in a lawsuit brought by the Shawnee Trail's Conservancy (STC), Illinois Federation of Outdoor Resources, Blue Ribbon Coalition, and Illinois Trail Riders against the U.S. Forest Service. The RACE and the Sierra Club were intervenors on behalf of the Forest Service. Tom Buchele, long time environmental attorney from Illinois, and currently director of the University of Pittsburgh environmental law clinic, represented RACE and the Sierra Club.

In the case, the Trail's Conservancy was attempting to get the Court to lift an injunction against off-road vehicle (ORV) use on the Shawnee, and attempting to have "natural area" designations nullified because of slight variances between map and on-the-ground boundaries of designated "natural areas" on the Shawnee.

However, the Court threw out the lawsuit on the grounds that it was too vague and didn't adequately define any specific "agency action" to challenge. In the order, the Court said that the Forest Service was not required to allow off-road vehicles on the Shawnee, and was not required to have equestrian trails in designated "natural areas."

"This case buries once and for all the myth that was spread by the STC that the Shawnee was required to have off-road vehicle trails. What this case has actually done is to needlessly take up the Shawnee's time and resources in dealing with the serious problem of controlling overuse and damage of trails from unregulated commercial equestrian camps and illegal ORV riders," says Jim Bensman, Sierra Club representative and Heartwood Forest Watch coordinator. Heartwood provided legal assistance for the case.

"The Court also reaffirmed that before the Shawnee can allow ORVs on the forest, that it will have to have an adequate law enforcement plan in place, something that we will also insist on," says Mark Donham, RACE President and Heartwood Program Director.