LA GRANDE — Hunters will need look at sources in addition to the Big Game Regulations to understand which roads will be closed this fall in Northeastern Oregon.

The regulations for 2023 list several road closure schedules that won’t take effect this year, according to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW).

The closures are part of the Cooperative Travel Management Area system (TMA), also known as “green dot” closures. During the designated season inside TMAs, only roads marked with signs featuring a green dot are open to motor vehicles.

One of the chief goals of the seasonal closures are to reduce pressure on elk and deer, and to avoid pushing elk, in particular, from public land, where they’re accessible to hunters, onto private land, said Nick Myatt, East Region manager for ODFW.

The agency, which works with the U.S. Forest Service and other land management agencies to set TMA schedules, announced in early 2023 that this year’s hunting regulations would show TMA schedules that won’t actually take effect in 2023.

ODFW made changes to several TMAs after a vote by the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission in September 2022.

The changes were included in the 2023 hunting regulations, which are printed in late 2022.

But because the Forest Service has yet to approve the changes, they won’t take effect this year despite the schedules printed in the regulations.

ODFW can’t unilaterally impose road closures, since the agency manages wildlife but not the land itself.

Most of the changes either move the start of the road closure earlier in the year, or set a specific date for the start of the closure rather than, for instance, three days prior to the start of a particular hunting season.

Following is a list of TMA closures that will be in effect this year. These are different from what’s printed in the 2023 regulations.

Sumpter unit

• Dark Canyon: Three days prior to opening of the controlled buck deer archery season, through the close of the last elk season.

• Patrick Creek: Three days prior to opening of the controlled buck deer archery season, through the close of the last elk season, and May 1-June 30.

Starkey unit

• Clear Creek: Three days prior to the opening of deer and elk archery season through the close of Rocky Mtn bull elk second season.

• Trail Creek: Three days prior to the opening of bull elk first season through the close of the bull elk second season.

• Indian Creek/Gorham Butte: Three days prior to the opening of deer and elk archery season through the close of Rocky Mountain bull elk second season.

Bald/Angel

• Not in effect this year.

Chesnimnus unit

• Three days prior to first Chesnimnus any legal weapon bull elk season through the end of the second Chesnimnus any legal weapon bull elk season.

Imnaha unit

• Grouse-Lick Canal: Three days prior to the opening of bull elk first season through the close of bull elk second season.

Pine Creek unit

• Lake Fork/Dutchman: Three days prior to the opening of archery season to end of all elk any legal weapon seasons and from May 1 to July 1.

• Okanogan/Fish: Three days prior to opening of buck deer any legal weapon season to end of all elk any legal weapon season and from May 1 to July 1.

• McCarty Winter Range: Dec. 15-March 31 (not through April 30).

Find GeoPDF maps of several TMAs with the correct dates for 2023 at the following link https://myodfw.com/

articles/hunting-maps or on the ODFW storefront on Avenza, https://store.avenza.com/collections/oregon-department-of-fish-and-wildlife