A U.S. Forest Service project to develop a network of mountain biking trails in the Ochoco National Forest has been withdrawn from consideration.

A final environmental assessment identified the preferred alternative for the Lemon Gulch Trail Project but the deciding official, District Ranger Slater Turner, chose to withdraw the project, according to a news release issued Wednesday.

The project was to be about 20 miles northeast of Prineville. The preferred alternative would have created 27.5 miles of bike trails in the area.

“I know that there will be some people who will be hurt by this. There will be some folks who will feel great about this,” said Kassidy Kern, a spokesperson for the Ochoco National Forest. “But taking this stepping back and withdrawing the decision from consideration is a win for the community because this was not the right time to move forward.”

Kern said the Forest Service is proud of the scientific analysis that went into the final environmental assessment, which was the reason behind releasing it and the preferred alternative.

The withdrawal indefinitely suspends the planning process for the proposed bike-trail system. Plans to issue a draft decision, the next stage in the planning process, have been canceled.

The Forest Service had been working with the nonprofit Ochoco Trails on planning the project, which was designed to alleviate confrontations between mountain bikers and horseback riders on other trails. Ochoco Trails describes itself as a collaborative group that includes hunters, equestrians, bike riders and hikers.

“We are really bummed. There were mostly volunteers that put a ton of time and energy into this. It was a community-led initiative from the start,” said Emmy Andrews, executive director of Central Oregon Trail Alliance, a nonprofit that supports mountain biking in the region and partners with Ochoco Trails.

Andrews said mountain biking has become popular in Prineville and she hopes that the Ochoco National Forest will serve that community at some point in the future.

Over the past year, Lemon Gulch created a firestorm of controversy in Crook County, with some community members organizing online and public protests. Much of the dispute was aired on a Facebook group called “Don’t Bend Prineville,” which was formed to reduce mass tourism and adventure recreation in Crook County.

Ranchers in the area had also worried that an influx of mountain bikers would create the possibility of collisions with livestock.

Many said the project would harm the area’s sensitive environment and have a negative impact on wildlife. Dave Nissen, an opponent of the project, said he was overwhelmed by the decision.

“I have spent two years of my life on this. I am emotional,” he said. “This is unbelievable. I am overwhelmed.”

Nissen said the Forest Service was not paying attention to people who opposed the project, but he said he “is looking forward to working with the mountain biking community and other trail users to develop trails that do not compromise landscape integrity.”

The Forest Service paused the project for eight months to meet with individuals and listen to community concerns, said Kern. But resolving all concerns proved difficult.

“We heard from over 800 people and yet still there is a significant social division in our communities around this issue and we felt this is not the time to move forward with it,” she said.

Turner said in the news release that the project had been “broadly supported” in Central Oregon but noted that some individuals had been left out of the planning process, making the project divisive. The hope now is to continue conversations in the community that can lead to new opportunities related to nonmotorized trails, he said.

A draft environmental assessment released in November compared five alternatives ranging from 19 to 52 miles of trails. It also included a no action alternative. The project was originally announced in a public scoping document in March 2021.

For now, plans to build any kind of mountain bike trails are on the back burner as the Forest Service prepares for wildfire season, said Kern. Priority work includes prescribed fire, thinning and other treatments to prevent fire. She said at some point in the future mountain bike trail work will resurface.

“There is work for the community to move forward into a discussion about what do we want nonmotorized trail use on the Ochoco National Forest to be,” said Kern. “We strongly believe that this final environmental assessment is a really good foundation to have those conversations.”