Yeah free riding areas are going the way of the Do-Do bird. If you ( the collective you) wanna ride...you better be willing to pay up.
Rangers and trail maintenance cost money.
From the site:
With upcoming federal budget cuts, U.S. Forest Service funding for trails at the Bessey Ranger District will not be available.
The current administration in Washington is not motorized trails friendly and there is a growing trend nationwide to close ATV, dirtbike and UTV trails.
Among the longtime Forest Service the staff at Halsey, there is little if any support for ATV, dirtbike and UTV recreation.
There is strong local opposition by the politically influential toward recreational ATV, dirtbike and UTV trails at the Nebraska National Forest.
There is little if any support among state senators for recreational ATV and dirtbike trails in the area and in Nebraska in general.
In the past there has been strong support to close trails at the Nebraska National Forest among wildlife managers with the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission.
Nebraska has no state wide trail user fee or registration program to fund trails. Even if a user fee or registration program was in place on the state level, at this time there is no state agency willing to manage the fund. We fear that any state managed fund would be eaten up in administration fees or used for other unrelated programs.
The Forest Service has no local trail user fee. Without a trail fee, it can be said that it’s a matter of time before trails that have been allowed to remain open under the new Travel Management Plan may no longer be allowed to exist because of the absence of funds for maintenance and resource repair.