Victory for the West Pioneer Wilderness Study Area!
The West Pioneer Wilderness Study Area (WSA), on the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest, has been a little quieter this winter following a victorious lawsuit challenging snowmobile grooming in this special place. Wildlands CPR and Friends of the Bitterroot challenged the re-issuance of a controversial permit that had authorized a snowmobile club to groom nearly 95 miles of trail inside the West Pioneer WSA. The settlement agreement (broken into two phases) does not prohibit snowmobiling, but it does eliminate trail grooming. This will significantly reduce the number of machines entering the area.
The first phase, implemented this winter, orders no grooming in the northern portion of the West Pioneer WSA; an area that contains a large chunk of sensitive wolverine habitat. By the winter of 2010-11, all grooming within the WSA will end. Part of the settlement directs the Forest Service to monitor snowmobile use and coordinate with Wildlands CPR and Friends of the Bitterroot, who have been working with LightHawk to document snowmobile activity. Due to a poor snowpack and high avalanche risk, use levels so far this season are lower than in past years.
Background on the West Pioneer WSA
The West Pioneer WSA totals 148,150 acres and has mostly gentle topography with elevations ranging from 6,500 to 9,500 feet. The area provides important winter habitat for sensitive species such as wolverine and mountain goats.
In 1977, Congress passed the Montana Wilderness Study Act, which included the West Pioneers. The law required the Forest Service to assess the area’s wilderness character, and maintain it at levels that existed when the act was signed into law.
In a 2003 report the Forest Service decided that the area would not be considered for Wilderness designation, even though it scored high. The report also disclosed that in 1977 only seven trail miles were marked for snowmobile use and none were groomed, while in 2003, 90 miles were marked and 36 were groomed. In 2008 when we filed our lawsuit, the Forest Service permitted grooming on nearly 95 miles of trails, a 62% increase in groomed trails from 2003 to 2008.
Increased Trail Grooming Equals Increased Snowmobile Use and Impacts
The increase in trail grooming has undoubtedly led to more snowmobiles entering the WSA, and the lack of steep terrain makes it easy for snowmobiles to travel off groomed routes and into areas important for wintering wildlife such as wolverine and mountain goats. The West Pioneers have several high elevation cirque basins that provide crucial denning habitat for female wolverines giving birth and rearing their young. Unfortunately, the exponential increase in snowmobile grooming over the past thirty years has threatened wolverine populations with extirpation.
Conclusion
Trail grooming inside the West Pioneer WSA has been going on for so long that few have challenged its legitimacy or its effects on wintering wildlife. But with this victory, we have gained an important, if incremental step in protecting the area from snowmobile impacts. We will continue to press the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest to fully protect the WSA from all motorized use that degrades this wilderness quality landscape.
The first phase, implemented this winter, orders no grooming in the northern portion of the West Pioneer WSA; an area that contains a large chunk of sensitive wolverine habitat. By the winter of 2010-11, all grooming within the WSA will end. Part of the settlement directs the Forest Service to monitor snowmobile use and coordinate with Wildlands CPR and Friends of the Bitterroot, who have been working with LightHawk to document snowmobile activity. Due to a poor snowpack and high avalanche risk, use levels so far this season are lower than in past years.
Background on the West Pioneer WSA
The West Pioneer WSA totals 148,150 acres and has mostly gentle topography with elevations ranging from 6,500 to 9,500 feet. The area provides important winter habitat for sensitive species such as wolverine and mountain goats.
In 1977, Congress passed the Montana Wilderness Study Act, which included the West Pioneers. The law required the Forest Service to assess the area’s wilderness character, and maintain it at levels that existed when the act was signed into law.
In a 2003 report the Forest Service decided that the area would not be considered for Wilderness designation, even though it scored high. The report also disclosed that in 1977 only seven trail miles were marked for snowmobile use and none were groomed, while in 2003, 90 miles were marked and 36 were groomed. In 2008 when we filed our lawsuit, the Forest Service permitted grooming on nearly 95 miles of trails, a 62% increase in groomed trails from 2003 to 2008.
Increased Trail Grooming Equals Increased Snowmobile Use and Impacts
The increase in trail grooming has undoubtedly led to more snowmobiles entering the WSA, and the lack of steep terrain makes it easy for snowmobiles to travel off groomed routes and into areas important for wintering wildlife such as wolverine and mountain goats. The West Pioneers have several high elevation cirque basins that provide crucial denning habitat for female wolverines giving birth and rearing their young. Unfortunately, the exponential increase in snowmobile grooming over the past thirty years has threatened wolverine populations with extirpation.
Conclusion
Trail grooming inside the West Pioneer WSA has been going on for so long that few have challenged its legitimacy or its effects on wintering wildlife. But with this victory, we have gained an important, if incremental step in protecting the area from snowmobile impacts. We will continue to press the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest to fully protect the WSA from all motorized use that degrades this wilderness quality landscape.
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