Wes Johnson

WJOHNSON@NEWS-LEADER.COM

After months of reviewing public comments, Ozark National Scenic Riverways officials announced changes Friday to the way the popular park will be managed.

Some key changes that will be coming in the next few years include:

• Eliminating many unofficial horse trails, but expanding officially designated ones within the park from 23 miles to up to 45 miles.

• Powerboats up to 25 horsepower will be allowed on the upper stretches of the Current and Jacks Fork rivers during the season for "gigging" (spearing) fish through the end of trapping season, generally from mid-September until early spring. A previous proposal would have banned powerboats on those stretches altogether.

• Powerboats up to 150 horsepower can ply the lower Current River below Big Spring. A much lower horsepower limit had been under consideration.

• Camping on gravel bars will be permitted by paddlers and boaters, as long as their campsite is a half mile away from any designated campground and at least 50 feet away from any designated river access.

• Access to some gravel bar camping areas reachable by vehicles will be closed. Instead, ONSR plans to designate gravel bar camping areas and/or campsites that can be reached by cars or trucks.

ONSR Superintendent Bill Black said none of the changes will go into effect anytime soon. The most pressing issue, he said, is developing a road and trails plan that will tackle the nearly 100 miles of unofficial horseback riding trails that have developed within the park.

"It'll be a three-year project to get it done correctly," Black said Friday. "We'll work with user groups to come up with the best network of trails while reducing those that developed as social trails over the years."

A key goal: Reducing the number of horseback river crossings to reduce riverbank erosion and fecal contamination from horses.

"We don't think it's possible to eliminate all the river crossings," he said. "But if there's a trail where you cross the river four times in a one-mile stretch, maybe there's a way to design it so you only cross it twice."

Black said it's likely ONSR will eventually put a park ranger on horseback to monitor the new trail system and keep horseback riders on designated trails.

While some horseback riders have expressed concerns about reducing the number of miles of available trail within ONSR boundaries, Jim Smith is not one of them.

Smith, owner of Cross Country Trail Ride in Eminence, said he didn't think the trail revisions would impact his business.

"No, not really," Smith said. "Most of the places we ride our trails are already on the map. It won't really affect anybody. Besides, they're going to do what they want to do."

Boat engine horsepower limits on the Current River below Big Spring also won't immediately go into effect, Black said. He envisioned giving boaters a year or two notice that the rules are changing before they could no longer use boats with engines bigger than 150 hp on that section of river.

The ban on powerboats on the upper sections of the Jacks Fork and Current Rivers — except during gigging and trapping seasons — probably won't begin until the spring of 2016.

"Gigging season is already going on now," Black said. "I don't see implementing the no-powerboat rule the next season begins. The idea is those areas would be closed to powerboats during the busy canoe and kayaking months."

Arnold resident Paul Tyler said he likes some of the changes in the Management Plan, but not that one.

"There's been numerous times me or my family has used our powerboat to assist and take care of tourists that got in trouble on the river," he said. "There's really no justification to outlaw boats on that stretch of river. There's never been any altercations between powerboats and canoes up there."

ONSR received more than 3,000 comments after it released its draft proposal of the plan in November, 2013. Black said public input drove several revisions that appear in the Final General Management Plan. A summary of the public comments and National Park Service responses is included in the Final GMP.

What's next? There won't be any action for 30 days. The General Management Plan will be reviewed by the National Park Service Midwest Regional Director, who will sign a "record of decision" that approves the final plan.

National Park Service approval does not guarantee the plan's immediate funding or staffing, although Black said funding already has been approved for the road and trail study.

Want to read the entire plan?

Ozark National Scenic Riverways received 3,094 comments about its proposed management plan — 83 percent of them from Missouri residents. Four public open-house meetings drew 1,450 people.

The final 600-page General Management Plan is accessible on the National Park Service website at http://parkplanning.nps.gov/ozarkgmp. Because the entire document is so large, the number of printed copies has been kept to a minimum, according to an ONSR news release. CDs and an informational newsletter are available upon request by contacting ONSR at 573-323-4236.

More information about ONSR is available at the park's website at www.nps.gov/ozaror or Facebook page.