AlleninVA

I have hunted and fished in the 2 National Forests in Virginia for 40 years and have observed that the US Forest Service has been constantly closing road after road during that time and lately it seems the rate is increasing exponentially. I have talked to the local Forest Ranger about re-opening some of these roads and trails and she suggested I contact my congressman. I have since then requested a meeting with my local US congressman, who I met at a recent NRA fundraiser, and luckily he happens to be the chairman of the Agriculture Committee which funds the Forest Service. To that end, I have taken a topographic map of the area I hunt and marked the roads and trails that used to be open and then marked the one road that is currently open. I am also circulating a petition among other hunters I run in to that requests the Forest Service provide more vehicular access to the forest. I plan on submitting these to my congressman and stressing the point that opening more of these roads is primarily needed to remove harvested game. Currently only registered and licensed vehicles can operate on these roads, they have one area reserved for ATV's and there is so much traffic during hunting season that hunting in this area is very difficult.

Can anyone think of any other avenues that might help my cause?
Also, has anyone experienced similar problems in their states with access to the National Forests. The regional office for Virginia is located in Atlanta,GA and I don't know if these road closure policies are local or regional.