Appeal Challenges ORVs on the Lewis & Clark NF

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In response to a ruling by Judge Haddon, the Lewis & Clark National Forest re-opened 140 miles of trail for off-road vehicle use. See my previous posting on the ruling here.

This action came as a result of a closed-door deal with motorized activists and the Forest Service, where the agency agreed to re-open trails in the Judith Wilderness Study Area in order to address the judges ruling.

The Forest Service originally determined that motorized use in the area was degrading the land's wilderness character, which by law the agency must maintain at least as it existed in 1977. In other words, the 1977 wilderness character is the absolute minimum that must be preserved. However, the ruling asserts that it is a ceiling, and the agency cannot increase wilderness character. Besides being just plain wrong, the ruling ignores the agency's own decision that the closures were necessary to protect the landscape.  

Fortunately, the Montana Wilderness Association, represented by the Western Environmental Law Center, filed an appeal challenging Judge Haddon’s opinion. Click here to see a newspaper article about the appeal.

Here is the MWA press release explaining this latest action: 

July 16, 2010                                                                         

Montana Wilderness Association Appeals Travel Plan Decision

The Montana Wilderness Association, represented by the Western Environmental Law Center, is appealing a decision by U.S. District Judge Sam Haddon overturning key elements of the Travel Plan for the Little Belt, Castle, and north half of the Crazy Mountains in the Lewis and Clark National Forest. Judge Haddon’s decision opened up areas in the Middle Fork of the Judith Wilderness Study Area to motor vehicle use that were recently closed in the Forest’s 2007 Travel Management Plan.

“We believe Judge Haddon’s decision is inconsistent with the Montana Wilderness Study Act and makes it virtually impossible for the Forest Service to prevent damage to National Forest lands, especially Wilderness Study Areas,” said MWA Acting Executive Director Jan Sensibaugh.  

The Lewis and Clark National Forest’s decision to close some of these areas to motor vehicle use, and concentrate these activities in other areas of the Forest, in their 2007 Travel Plan was championed by local residents, hunters and conservation organizations. Erosion, natural resource damage, and wildlife habitat degradation in some of these areas had caused significant damage.

“For people who look to quiet areas to hunt, fish, hike, camp, and ride horseback, there simply ought to be some wild places within these popular National Forest lands where people can go – we owe it to future generations, ” said Sensibaugh.

National forests across the country have been engaged in travel planning processes to satisfy a 2005 federal rule that required all national forests to minimize damage caused by cross-country, off-road motorized vehicles. Under the Lewis and Clark National Forest’s outdated 1988 Travel Plan, only 10% of the routes in the Forest were reserved for non-motorized uses. Since then, vehicle use has increased with bigger, faster and more powerful vehicles. Not surprisingly, the damage from vehicle traffic has also increased. 

Before being overturned by Judge Haddon last week, the travel plan, which had been in affect since 2007, addressed the changes in use since 1988 and tried to accommodate what are often incompatible uses while also protecting wildlife, preserving clean water, and preventing the spread of invasive weeds.  The plan created three quiet, non-motorized areas, most notably, a portion (about 60 percent) of the Middle Fork of he Judith Wilderness Study Area, but still left most of these three island ranges open to off-road vehicle use. According to the final Record of Decision, "...the analysis area (Little Belt, Castle and N. Crazy Mtns.) remains largely motorized, with 75% of the total acres being motorized."

 “Now any sense of balance has been lost,” said Sensibaugh.

MWA contends that the ruling contradicts a 2001 decision by U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy, reaffirming the responsibility of the Forest Service to protect the wilderness character of the Big Snowy WSA, including the authority to reduce the mileage of motorized roads and trails.

MWA filed the appeal to Judge Haddon’s decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. 

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