World Class Snowmobile
Riding Area,
The
1.)
Via Email (preferred) to: comments-intermtn-humboldt-toiyabe-bridgeport@fs.fed.us.
2.)
Mail to: Kathleen Lucich, Bridgeport
District Ranger,
3.) Fax: (775) 355-5394
For more information
contact the
The
This is your
chance to undo a great travesty!
The West Hoover Proposed Wilderness Addition,
commonly known as the “
WE NEED YOUR HELP!
The
FS needs to be flooded with comments from the snowmobile community. Anyone that has ridden this area on a
snowmobile will never forget it. It is
truly one of the finest places in our nation to enjoy our great
sport.
The FS is soliciting your comments on a Travel
Management Plan for the area. There are
3 alternatives, two of which would allow snowmobile use.
There
are 2 separate, but related, issues in the scoping notice:
The future management of both the Proposed Addition
to the Hoover Wilderness (West), and the
The FS West
View the notice and map here: http://www.fs.fed.us/r4/htnf/projects/west_hoover/west%20hoover%20scoping%20notice%20version%203.pdf
In
relation to the matter of managing the entire proposed Wilderness addition, the FS has proposed 3
Alternatives:
Alternative A would re-open some of the currently closed area.
Alternative B would continue to keep the entire area (except the
Alternative C, the alternative
Below are Key Points to use in your comments on supporting
Alternative C in relation to management of the Proposed
Addition to the Hoover Wilderness:
We advise a brief paragraph telling the FS about yourself,
and about how much your family enjoys snowmobiling.
Tell the FS you support Alternative C. Alternative C
is manageable, enforceable and represents the best choice for snowmobiling in
this area.
Tell
the FS you oppose Alternative B. Alternative
B would close one of the most valued snowmobiling areas in the nation. Alternative B is an unfair and arbitrary
closure because snowmobiling in the
Additional
Comment Points:
Snowmobiles have a minimal, if not
imperceptible, impact on this area’s character, and on the actual land itself. The
Bridgeport Ranger and many others in the FS already acknowledge this. Over-snow motorized travel will in no way
harm the area. The Marine Corps special
use permit authorizes use in the area for training, including the use of large
tracked vehicles, as well as helicopters, in their exercises. If this type of use is permissible,
snowmobile use certainly should be permissible as well. Impacts from both are temporary and do not
change the character of the area. This
is why Alternative C is appropriate.
This particular area provides access to
miles and miles of above the tree line riding that simply does not exist in any
other area of
Already MORE than enough Wilderness
exists in
The US Marine Corps operates a mountain
warfare-training center and conducts field operations in this area, both within
and outside the area in question. With
the exception of the
The
local economies of
Background Info:
The actual disposition of the appropriate
management strategy of this area has been a matter of debate, and has become
hotly contested within the last year. It
has been the position of Kathleen Lucich, the
Bridgeport Ranger, that the area in question is an “existing closure” that
simply had not previously been enforced.
Many others have
maintained that the area should revert to “traditional use”, which includes
over-snow motorized travel, because of Congress’ inaction, for over 20
years, as to ultimately deciding whether the area is to be officially
designated as a Wilderness.
Motorized vehicle users, particularly
over-snow vehicle users, rightfully consider de facto Wilderness of this sort
unacceptable. It is an underhanded
process, employed by those who oppose motorized recreation, to put too much
public land under lock and key. The
decision to enforce the existing closure is what has brought this issue to a
head.
Until
the ‘03/’04 season, snowmobilers enjoyed responsible
use of this area. During that season,
the ranger took the approach of using enforcement personnel to engage in a
period of “education” to inform snowmobilers that the
area was actually a closure and that enforcement would begin with the ‘04/’05
season. That strategy has been met with
fierce opposition. The most public
display of that opposition to date was at the
The original decision to manage the area as Wilderness was based
upon an interpretation of the language in the 1984 California Wilderness Act
that ordered the Forest to: “Subject to
valid existing rights, the planning areas designated by this section shall for
a period of four years from the date of the enactment of this title, be
administered by the Secretary of Agriculture so as to maintain their presently
existing Wilderness character and potential for inclusion in the National
Wilderness Preservation System.”
First, the mandate was to protect the
“presently existing Wilderness character” that existed in 1984. Snowmobiles had been using this area for over
20 years by 1984, and local users report that snowmobile use was very heavy in the
late sixties and early seventies. At
that time, the local
In relation to the 2nd item, the management of the
Alternative
2 is the less restrictive of the 2 options we are presented with. Please bear that in mind if you choose to
address this issue.
The
following information is for our members as a sign that
The Blue Ribbon
Coalition and the California/Nevada Snowmobile Association are working on this
issue. The
Johny
Welch, CA/NV
Snowmobile Alliance of Western
States
Copyright
© 2004 Snowmobile