The need for more trails and for better allocation of those in existence were paramount at a public forum hosted by the National Forest Service Tuesday night.

The meeting in Clarkesville was the fourth in a series of public events geared at getting feedback on the long-term management of the trails at the Chattahoochee and Oconee National Forests.

As the 128 people in attendance broke into small groups and started sharing their concerns, it quickly became clear there is a fine balance between providing enough recreational trails and maintaining the forests' natural beauty and ecosystem. Attendees ranged from bikers to hikers to horseback riders, and each group shared its own individual needs.

Bob Adamson of Royston said there are plenty of trails for motorcycles and all terrain vehicles but very few for larger four-wheel drive vehicles. One woman jumped in to add that the trails designated for horses need better drainage.

The Chattahoochee National Forest takes up about 730,000 square acres across North Georgia, stretching from Alabama to South Carolina. The Oconee National Forest is smaller with 116,000 square acres south of Athens.

Together, they stretch over 26 counties, hold more than 800 miles of recreation trails and are visited by about 2.2 million people each year.

Forest Supervisor George Bain said the location and maintenance of Chattahoochee-Oconee trails has been a
concern for the National Forest Service.

"For a variety of reasons we know that we have some reason to be concerned with some of our trails," he said. "We're having some environmental impacts that we don't think are acceptable. We also know that we have some users out there we have some issues with, folks that might be using our trails inappropriately."

Many of the concerns voiced Tuesday night tied back to the need for better allocation of existing trails so various users won't have to worry about colliding.

"When we're going on a bicycle 20 or 30 miles per hour around a corner, that's when it becomes dangerous," John Jones, owner of a Dawsonville bike shop, told his group.

"That's when the issue comes up where (horseback riders) can get hurt."

Stan Crane, group ride leader for the Gainesville chapter of the Southeast Off-Road Bicycle Organization, echoed Jones' concerns.

"If it's a shared trail, there's always a bit of anxiety over running into each other," Crane said.

Some raised the idea of rotating who can use trails throughout the week, but many ultimately said more trails are needed to completely alleviate the problem. The trail system has not grown with the growing North Georgia population, some said.

Other concerns centered on better trail signs and difficulty ratings as well as more education for those wishing to volunteer with the forest service.

The final public forum will be held Thursday in Eatonton.

Bain said the forest service plans will soon start holding workshops about once a month to assess specific trails.

"We want to get some folks out in the woods so they see some of what we're talking about," he said. "... Get people to see what a good trail looks like, what an impacted trail looks like, what's causing those impacts and what's needed to fix that."

There is no time line set for starting specific trail improvements, but the feedback from these events will be used draft overall goals as well as eventually specify projects, Bain said. He said some of the park's sponsors are considering applying for grants to fund these improvements.

"I don't know how long this is going to take," he said. "It's going to take as long as it takes. We're not in a great big hurry. We'd rather have it done right than fast, and that simply takes time when you're pulling a lot of people and a lot of people with diverse interests together."