A logging project that was supposed to close parts of the popular North Mills River area of the Pisgah National Forest through spring could now keep recreationists off their favorite trails until fall, according to reports by the Hendersonville Times-News.
The U.S. Forest Service announced in a Feb. 3 news release it was closing four trails and two roads through May in order to implement an “ecosystem improvement project” known as Brushy Ridge, which was approved in 2011.
But on March 27, Forest Service officials amended the public notice to encompass four roads — including a vehicular ban on the popular Wash Creek Road connector — and five trails. They also announced the project could extend into the fall, given its unpredictability.
That didn’t sit well with recreationists already disappointed by their inability to ride horses or mountain bikes, run trails, hunt game and fish for trout in the North Mills area they love.
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