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The Dent County Commissioners, the Salem media and concerned citizens met with rangers from the National Park Service to discuss proposed closures to vehicular traffic to seven areas in Dent County along the upper Current River that include access roads, trails and traces. According to Joni Towery of NPS, they have received a $138,000 internal grant from the Department of Interior to close off vehicular access to areas that have been considered closed or not to exist from the 1991 Road and Trail Study and Environmental Assessment. This money is to be used by September 30^th, 2010, for about 100 areas in Texas, Dent and Shannon counties with 84 of them in Shannon County. According to Superintendent Reed Detring, he wanted to create a partnership between the National Park Service and Dent County Commission when it came to reviewing the areas in question. The first property reviewed was in the Tan Vat area. The property owner requested that the creek area that was located on his personal property and had been used for years to access the parking area and river, not be accessible as there was already a National Park Service Road that served the area. This property had an environmental easement that means that the scenic complexion of the property, meaning that the land, the scenic view and the home cannot be changed. A new structure may be built on the property only on the existing footprint of the original building and it must fit the general look of homes in the area. The National Park Service also said that they wanted to define the parking area at Tan Vat better with boulders and also have signs that provide the rules and regulations. Although this request was straightforward and was being considered, other areas were not as defined.Another trail on the list to be closed is one that is used by locals for camping. The road is not listed in the 1991 plan, and travels about 200 yards to an area near the Current River. Although the area was kept up and the road was not overgrown or in bad shape, the NPS wanted to close the road because the trail was not listed for vehicular use even though it was obvious that it had been used for years. Their solution was to place large boulders at the entrance and force patrons to park at a different location and carry camping gear, tents and food the 200 yards to the area. Other areas that were served by some of the trails that they proposed closing served fields that previously had an agricultural permit at one time. According to Ranger Ross Runge, some of the fields may be kept open in the new Open Fields Management plan that will be subservient to the General Management Plan currently being discussed for the riverways. He said that some may get a hay permit again and others may be controlled by fire to keep them clear, while others will be let go to return to a nature area. Unfortunately, these areas would still not have vehicular access and the only vehicles with access to the property will be through a National Park Service entrance. Other areas that had trails that originally crossed through the Current River were also going to be closed to vehicular traffic. Overall with the areas in question, the park service said that human access to the property and river would be permitted, but not by a vehicle or ATV. Roads that would lead to these areas would be blocked off with large boulders and patrons would be warned with carsonite signs that vehicles were not permitted past a particular point. By the end of the tour, the partnership idea was challenged somewhat when Superintendent Reed Detring said that the NPS already had the authority to close off these areas to vehicles, but wanted to give the Dent County Commission an opportunity to comment on the areas to be blocked off, and if they absolutely had a problem with some of them to send the NPS a letter as to which area it is and why they deem it necessary to keep it open. A letter prepared by Kenneth Wells and signed by several concerned Dent County residents about the closing of the access roads was for the most part discounted by the rangers as they said that it did not apply to these areas as they were considered trails and traces. The Dent County Commissioners will discuss their findings and concerns at their next meeting this morning at 9:00 at the Dent County Courthouse.

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