Jeff Galloway may not have been the first, but during his sojourn in Tallahassee he made good use of the roads in the Apalachicola National Forest for his training runs. Galloway was certainly not the last; you can find many runners in the Tallahassee area that have logged miles on the forest roads. The Tallahassee Marathon, the Gulf Winds Track Club 30K, and the Gulf Winds Track Club 20K (the forerunner of the Ten Mile Challenge) were each run on the Apalachicola National Forest's network of roads at one time or another. Unpaved and lightly traveled, there aren't many better places to get in a long run. And you'd hardly ever need to do the same run twice--the U.S. Forest Service reports that the Apalachicola National Forest has 1,524 miles of roads open to the public.Now the Forest Service is reporting that some of those 1,524 miles will be going away.
It's all about money. Up until 2011 the Apalachicola National Forest was only receiving funds sufficient to maintain 30% of the road network. In 2011 this was cut another 26%. So the Forest Service is working to identify a "minimum road system," a stripped-down network that can be maintained on the current budget while hopefully still meeting the needs of the public, the Forest Service, and the timber industry.The Forest Service is accepting public input through 15 July 2011, before the minimum road system is identified. Members of the public will also be able to comment on the completed plan. If you're interested in which roads are currently out there, check out the forest's Motor Vehicle Use Map.
Links:
- Public letter from Marcus A. Beard, District Ranger, Apalachicola National Forest
http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5313741.pdf - Apalachicola National Forest Motor Vehicle Use Map (2011)
http://www.fs.fed.us/r8/florida/apalachicola/recreation/documents/Apala_mvum_mapbook_2011.pdf - Cycling fun on the forest roads: "Memoir of a casualty of the 'Bradwell Bay of Pigs'"
http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2009/09/memoir-of-casualty-of-bradwell-bay-of.html
This sucks. I don't run on these roads but would like to. Is it safe to do so during hunting season? I know very little about these roads but they appear to make great training runs.
ReplyDeleteCole,
ReplyDeleteI ran in the Forest year round since 1974, but started giving it a miss during deer season about 1990. Old Centerville Road and the other red clay roads near the state line were safer; those roads run through private hunting plantations where there are few hunters and they're only going after birds.
Herb.