The State - News from June 7, 1989

Critics of a proposed off-road motorcycle park in El Dorado National Forest say the U.S. Forest Service has used “heavy-handed tactics” against three people who have opposed the plan. The president of a group formed to oppose the park lost her job as a waitress. A state biologist who warned against damage to deer ranges was accused of drinking on the job. A federal geologist who said the park could cause severe soil erosion is facing a 28-day suspension without pay. “Somebody wanted to play some heavy-handed tactics,” said Sharon Duggan, a Sacramento attorney representing Friends Aware of Wildlife Needs in litigation against the project. The Forest Service wants to create 65 miles of off-road motorcycle trails across 22,000 acres of federal forest land between Sacramento and Lake Tahoe.