PEDRO - Just as the holiday season is reaching its fevered pitch, nature is taking a bit of a breather.

Wayne National Forest officials closed recreation trails to ATV, horse and mountain bike traffic today. Forest campgrounds are now closed as well.

Trails are scheduled to reopen April 15, but they will be accessible throughout the winter months to visitors wishing to walk there.

Campgrounds will reopen according to weather conditions, although generally Iron Ridge reopens around May 1, Oak Hill about two weeks later.

"According to information we've gathered, trail usage makes up 55 percent (of total forest usage)," said John Brown, assistant district ranger in the Ironton district. "That's a pretty high number when you think about it."

WNF has hundreds of miles of ATV, horse and mountain bike trails with more than 20 miles winding through the 5,000-acre area in Hanging Rock along State Route 650.

As a whole, WNF attracts a visitation rate of more than 500,000 every year and the trails definitely play a major part in that draw. About 200,000 of that number utilize those trails annually.

So, why prevent ATVs and other non-pedestrian traffic on trails during the winter?

"We close them for maintenance purposes and the prevention of vandalism," Brown said. "We've had a lot of vandalism lately."

Earlier this year at Lake Vesuvius, vandals spray-painted some of the area's rock faces and newly constructed boardwalk. Shortly after the $1 million dollar boardwalk was unveiled for public use, people began carving their names and other items onto its benches and wooden areas.

Brown said WNF officials were doing what they could to prevent further vandalism. In the meantime, they urge people to show respect for the natural beauty of the national forest by helping to preserve it for generations to come.

By the beginning of the year, the main entrance will be closed to Lake Vesuvius for the winter season, but picnic shelters in that area are open year-round. For more information, call 534-6500.