OSCODA COUNTY — After years of discussion, Oscoda County roads will officially be open to ORV traffic beginning on May 15.

The ordinance to open county roads was ratified when the Oscoda County Commissioners approved the minutes of their previous meeting during their Tuesday, May 12, meeting.

However, the minutes were not approved without a fight.

“The ORV ordinance, I think, was misstated,” County Commissioner Michael Hunt said during the meeting. “I do recall that we wanted to open all roads to ORV traffic and it was approved. I don’t remember that there was an ORV ordinance. Ordinance was never mentioned in the motion.”

Hunt refused to vote in favor of the minutes unless the word ordinance was stricken.

No other commissioners supported Hunt. The minutes, along with the ordinance, were passed 4-1.

Hunt, later in the meeting, moved to rescind the ordinance that was enacted earlier in the meeting, and return to the original ORV plan that included links from the current trail system into local towns for food and fuel.

Without any other commissioners willing to second the motion, the proposal by Hunt died without a vote.

While many riders expressed their excitement with the opening of the county’s roads at the meeting, local officials were quick to point out that not all of the county’s roads are truly open to ORV traffic.

Under state law, ORVs will not be permitted on state highways such as M-72 and M-33.

Steven Goldman, District Ranger for the United States Forest Service’s Mio Ranger District, also reiterated to those in attendance at the commissioners meeting that USFS roads are not open to ORV traffic.

“One of the tings that is unique to this county is most of Big Creek and Mentor Townships are forest service property,” Goldman said at the meeting.

“Forest Service roads are not covered by the ordinance,” Goldman said. “You cannot ride an ORV on Forest Service roads.”

Goldman did admit that there might be some confusion by the general public on what roads are county roads and what roads are Forest Service roads.

“The average person may not have any idea of the jurisdictional difference, and they could end up with a $175 ticket, which we don’t want to see,” Goldman said. “It’s going to occur, folks ride those roads all the time anyways when they’re not supposed too. They’ve been closed for 30 years.”

Goldman also said that riders could pick up maps from the Forest Service office, or its Web site, that show which roads are forest roads and which roads are county roads.

The Oscoda County Road Commission still has the right to close upwards of 30 percent of county roads to ORV usage. However, road commissioners can only “close a road to the operation of ORVs… to protect the environment or if the operation of ORVs… poses a particular and demonstrable threat to public safety,” according to state law.

State law also allows townships to close any roads within their jurisdiction to the operation of ORVs at anytime.

However, townships would be forced to enforce their own ordinances, unless they sign a contract with other local police agencies for enforcement.

State law also requires ORVs that are on county roads to ride on the far-right side of the road, while going in the same direction as traffic. ORVs will also be forced to drive in a single-file formation on county roads, unless they are passing other ORVs.

ORVs will also be restricted to a 25 mile-per-hour speed limit on all roads.