SAWS Editorial: Fast-tracking
"roadless" and "wilderness"
May
27, 2007
The words “roadless” and “wilderness” should be of
utmost concern to all those whose recreational pursuits include snowmobiling
and other activities that require motorized access to public/federal land.
Knowing their meanings will help readers understand my concerns as stated in
this article.
“…there shall be no temporary road, no use of motor
vehicles, motorized equipment or motorboats, no landing of aircraft, no other
form of mechanical transport, and no structure or installation within any such
area.” – The Wilderness Act of 1964.
Many elected officials in America’s
western states have cast a pall over the 110th Congress, which is
ominous to those supporting multiple-use of our national forests. Many voters
don’t yet know how forests must be properly managed. Responsible reduction of
both disease and catastrophic fire hazards makes healthy American public timber
land abundantly available for recreation and harvesting of this vitally needed
renewable resource.
The Forest Service was created under the auspices
of the U.S. Department of Agriculture to be a land management agency.
The lockdown of our national forests by fast-tracking “roadless” and
“wilderness” designation blows an ill wind upon these lands. Land management
does not occur in roadless and wilderness areas. At this rate (roadless and
wilderness designation), the Forest Service will soon be obsolete: There is no
need for a land management agency without any land available to manage.
However, another federal agency would be created to deal with the massive
forest fires, so there would be no savings to the taxpayers.
Here are but a few of the
current bills impacting public access in western states currently offering
snowmobiling opportunities on public land:
Multiple State anti-access bills:
Roadless bills – Two bills to “protect” 58.5 million acres of
so-called roadless national forests across the United States were recently
re-introduced in the U.S. House and Senate by WA Rep. Jay Inslee and WA Sen. Maria Cantwell.
Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act (H.R. 1975). This
bill would designate 20.5 Million acres as
wilderness in the states of ID, MT, OR, WA and WA. This bill would put
in place the American component of the “Yellowstone to Yukon” portion
of “The Wildlands Project.”
State-specific wilderness
bills:
AK: Udall-Eisenhower Arctic Wilderness Act (H.R. 39). The
Udall-Eisenhower Arctic Wilderness Act would designate 1.5 million-acres of
wilderness.
CA: California Wild Heritage Act of 2007 (H.R. 860/S.493). The
California Wild Heritage Act of 2007 would designate over 2.4 million acres of
wilderness.
ID: Central
Idaho Economic Development and
Recreation Act (H.R. 222). This
bill would designate more than 300,000 acres in Idaho’s Boulder-White Clouds Mountains as
wilderness.
ID: Owyhee
Initiative Implementation Act (S. 802). This
legislation would permanently put off-limits 517,000 acres as wilderness.
OR: Lewis and Clark Mount Hood
Wilderness Act of 2007 (S. 647). This
bill would designate nearly 129,000 acres on Mount
Hood and in the Columbia River Gorge as wilderness.
WA: Wild Sky Wilderness Act of 2007 (H.R. 886/S. 520). This
bill would close 106,000 acres in Washington State’s Mt.
Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest by designation as wilderness.
95.8 Million acres are already
under wilderness designation in these ten states, with 53.7 more acres designated
as “roadless.” Note:
The Forest Service currently manages 34.8 million acres
of wilderness across the United States.
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AK – 57.5 million acres of wilderness.
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14.8 million acres Roadless.
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CA – 14.1 million acres of wilderness.
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4.4 million acres Roadless.
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CO – 3.4 million acres of wilderness.
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4.4 million acres Roadless.
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ID – 4.0 million acres of wilderness.
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9.3 million acres Roadless.
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OR – 2.3 million acres of wilderness.
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Nearly 2 million acres Roadless.
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MT – 3.4 million acres of wilderness.
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6.4 million acres Roadless.
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NV – 2.9 million acres of wilderness.
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3.2 million acres Roadless.
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UT – 0.8 million acres of wilderness.
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4.0 million acres Roadless.
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WA - 4.3 million acres of wilderness.
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2.0 million acres Roadless.
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WY – 3.1 million acres of wilderness.
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3.2 million acres Roadless.
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Current pending legislation, “public-private
partnerships” that effectively bind federal policy to whatever “green”
organizations deem, and the new Forest Service plan revisions – which go
hand-in-hand with closing more public land – all attempt to move 53.7
million “roadless” acres from the right column to the left column.
The more forestland that is locked up and left
unmanaged, the more forests will degrade and die from bug infestations. These
“protected forests” are on a fast track to conflagration. “Endangered species”
lose the optimum habitat for which the claim is made that virtually all forests
and federal land are needed, when the entire landscape is sterilized by FIRE.
In just the past six years, 49 million
acres have burned nationwide according to the National
Interagency Fire Center. Most of this acreage is
either Forest Service or otherwise federal land. “Five former Forest Service chiefs recently told Congress
those soaring costs are affecting everything from campground maintenance to
research on national forest lands”. As stated in the linked
article, “at one time, the Forest
Service depended on the funds it took in from its timber sale program to keep
its checkbook in the black.” That
is no longer the case. And of course the other inferior
alternative is to just let
the fires burn. There are very limited options for fighting fires within
wilderness areas and the best available option – fighting these fires by air –
is very expensive as mentioned above. You certainly will not see any bulldozed
fires lines around wilderness forest fires or fire control access roads.
It seems far cheaper,
short-term, to harvest timber in third-world countries with very few or no
environmental laws and ship the timber to America to support our huge demand.
Over the long-term, however,
stripping other countries’ trees and other resources simply spits upon the
“sustainable” sales pitch being used by global corporate magnates.
By that time, those in control
of our forests intend to have their way back here at home, with no rural
property owning voices to warn us.
Timber growth and harvest,
recreation in rural parts of America and the responsibility for our own backyards means
utilizing our own resources. This benefits everyone – except those with a
vested interest in outsourcing American labor and production in favor of
exploitative “cheap labor” and “cheap products.”
Dave Hurwitz
Snowmobile Alliance of Western States
Additional research and editorial assistance
provided by Julie Kay Smithson propertyrights@earthlink.net
Julie’s website: http://www.propertyrightsresearch.org
Copyright 2007, Snowmobile Alliance of
Western States. All Rights Reserved. Permission is granted
to distribute this information, in whole or in part, as long as Snowmobile
Alliance of Western States (SAWS) is
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Reference information:
It is important to know the difference between
“roadless” and “wilderness.”
Roadless – An
area in a national forest or national grassland that 1) is larger than 5,000
acres or, if smaller, contiguous to a designated Wilderness or primitive area,
or lies east of the 100th Meridian and therefore under the jurisdiction of the
Eastern Wilderness Act, and 2) do not contain improved roads maintained for
travel by standard passenger-type vehicles, and 3) has been inventoried by the
Forest Service for possible inclusion in the Wilderness Preservation System. –
Appendix H (Biological Assessment and Evaluation for Revised Land and
Resource Management Plans and Associated Oil and Gas Leasing Decisions) http://www.fs.fed.us/ngp/final/pdf_feis/Appendix_H.pdf
2. For the purpose of the wilderness review program, this refers to the
absence of roads, which have been improved and maintained by mechanical means,
to ensure relatively regular and continuous use. A way maintained solely by the
passage of vehicles does not constitute a road. Words and phrases used in the
above definition of "roadless" are defined as follows: 1. Improved
and maintained: Actions taken physically by man to keep the road open to
vehicular traffic. "Improved" does not necessarily mean formal
construction. "Maintained" does not necessarily mean annual maintenance.
2. Mechanical means: Use of hand or power machinery or tools. 3. Relatively
regular and continuous use: Vehicular use, which has occurred and will continue
to occur, on a relatively regular basis. Examples are: Access roads for
equipment to maintain a stock water tank or other established water sources;
access roads to maintained recreation sites or facilities; or access roads to
mining claims. (DOI/BLM) http://www.ut.blm.gov/utahwilderness/imp/impglossary.htm
3. Refers to the absence of roads constructed and maintained by mechanical
means. – McGregor Range Draft
Resource Management Plan Amendment and Environmental Impact Statement, Prepared
for United States Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management, Las
Cruces (New
Mexico) Field Office, January 2005.
http://www.nm.blm.gov/lcfo/mcgregor/docs/Draft%20RMPA_EIS_01_05_low.pdf
(DOI/BLM)
Glossary (Pages 259-268 of 282)
Wilderness – An
area of undeveloped Federal land retaining its primeval character and
influence, without permanent improvement or human habitation, that is protected
and managed so as to preserve its natural conditions and that (1) generally
appears to have been affected primarily by the forces of nature, with the
imprint of man’s work substantially unnoticeable; (2) has outstanding
opportunities for solitude or a primitive and unconfined type of recreation;
(3) has at least 5,000 acres of land or is of sufficient size as to make
practicable its preservation and use in an unimpaired condition; and (4) may
also contain ecological, geological, or other features of scientific,
educational, scenic, or historical value. – Draft Environmental Impact
Statement, Pit 14 Coal Lease-by-Application, DOI/BLM http://www.wy.blm.gov/nepa/rsfodocs/pit14/DEIS/09chap5-ref-glos.pdf
(pages 15-18 of 18) 2. Those areas protected by the provisions of the 1964
Wilderness Act. These areas are characterized by a lack of human interference
in natural processes. http://www.nps.gov/yose/planning/sfbridge/ch4.htm 3. A designated area defined in the
Wilderness Act of 1964 in the following way: A wilderness, in contrast with
those areas where man and his own works dominate the landscape, is hereby
recognized as an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled
by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain. An area of
wilderness is further defined to mean in this Act an area of undeveloped
federal land retaining its primeval character and influence, without permanent
improvements or human habitation, which is protected and managed so as to
preserve its natural conditions and which: (a) generally appears to have been
affected primarily by the forces of nature, with the imprints of man’s work
substantially unnoticed; (b) has outstanding opportunities for solitude or a
primitive and unconfined type of recreation; (c) has at least five thousand
acres of land or is of sufficient size as to make practicable its preservation
and use in an unimpaired condition; and (d) may also contain ecological,
geological, or other features of scientific, educational, scenic, or historical
value. – KIPZ – Kootenai and Idaho Panhandle National
Forests http://www.fs.fed.us/kipz/documents/reference/glossary.shtml
4. The definition contained in Section 2(c) of the Wilderness Act of 1964 (78
Stat. 891). (See Appendix B for its full text.) (DOI/BLM) http://www.ut.blm.gov/utahwilderness/imp/impglossary.htm
5. Areas designated by Congressional action under the 1964 Wilderness Act
or subsequent Acts. Wilderness is defined as undeveloped federal land retaining
its primeval character and influence without permanent improvements or human
habitation. Wilderness areas are protected and managed to preserve their
natural conditions, which generally appear to be affected primarily by the
forces of nature, with the imprint of human activity substantially
unnoticeable. Wilderness areas have outstanding opportunities for solitude or
for a primitive and confined type of recreation. They include at least 5,000
acres or are of sufficient size to make practical their preservation, enjoyment
and use in an unimpaired condition; they may contain features of scientific,
educational, scenic or historic value as well as ecologic and geologic
interest. – Appendix H (Biological Assessment and Evaluation for Revised Land
and Resource Management Plans and Associated Oil and Gas Leasing Decisions) http://www.fs.fed.us/ngp/final/pdf_feis/Appendix_H.pdf
and The Forest Ecosystem Management Assessment Team (FEMAT) http://pnwin.nbii.gov/nwfp/FEMAT/
Chapter 9 Glossary http://pnwin.nbii.gov/nwfp/FEMAT/Chapter_9.htm
6. All lands included in the National Wilderness Preservation System by public
law; generally defined as undeveloped Federal land retaining its primeval
character and influence without permanent improvements or human habitation. –
Bureau of Land Management "This glossary defines terms used by the Forest
Service and Bureau of Land Management to explain natural resource concepts and
management activities specific to this final environmental impact statement and
proposed plan amendment." http://www.mt.blm.gov/ea/ohv/Glossary.pdf
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