A Buena Vista-based off-road group has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Forest Service and the Pike-San Isabel National Forest supervisor over her decision to end motorized recreation on roads used by four-wheel drive enthusiasts since the 1980s. 

The decision permanently closed approximately 120 miles of open motorized routes, plus several other routes that had been temporarily closed under previous actions, say the plaintiffs.

Patrick McKay, who filed the lawsuit with Marcus Trusty and the group Colorado Off Road Enterprise on Feb. 14, says it marks the latest chapter in a long-running controversy over roads in Wildcat Canyon, located about an hour’s drive west of Colorado Springs on the border between Teller and Park counties and along the South Platte River. 

“The entire travel management process was driven from the start by extremist environmental groups and anti-motorized activists within the Forest Service itself,” says McKay. 

The lawsuit alleges supervisor Diana Trujillo’s decision, published in September, to close 12 roads spanning Teller, Park, El Paso and Douglas counties was based on “erroneous, flawed, and incomplete information” that made it arbitrary, violating the law. 

Read more at ColoradoSun.com.