Bitterroot Travel Plan Guest Editorial

The latest draft of the Bitterroot National Forest’s Travel Plan is now open for public comment, and the Bitterroot Quiet Use Coalition urges people to support Alternative 4; the option that best protects our Roadless and Wilderness Study Areas while also providing motorized access on over 1,900 miles of roads and trails.

Travel Management Planning is an important process that designates specific roads, trails and areas for use by motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), snowmobiles and other off-road machines. This decision will affect all of us who seek a quiet, peaceful time in the woods, and care about quality wildlife habitat and healthy streams.

Who We Are

The Bitterroot Quiet Use Coalition represents hundreds of recreationists and conservation minded residents who hunt and fish, ride horseback, camp, hike, and generally enjoy the Outdoors. We believe in keeping a properly maintained system of roads for motorized use and preserving traditional and historic trails for quiet uses. This will reduce conflicts, improve watersheds and fisheries, and increase opportunities to view and hunt wildlife. We believe that everyone can enjoy the Bitterroot National Forest through responsible recreation, but that no one has the right to abuse it or ruin other people’s experiences.

Problems with Off-Road Vehicle Recreation

Many of our friends and neighbors use off-road vehicles to get around or carry equipment for work; they are traditionally utility vehicles. Unfortunately as ATV and snowmobile sales boomed, their popularity as recreational vehicles increased beyond what the Forest Service could properly manage. Most of us have seen the ads, sporty four-wheelers ripping through creeks and mud; one even boasted, “mother nature never looked so blurry.” Also, snowmobiles built these days that can climb near any slope and reach historic mountain goat and wolverine habitat with ease.

Former Forest Service Chief Bosworth ranked uncontrolled ORV use as one of the top four threats to the long-term vitality of our national forests. And for good reason, too.

When those vehicles drive through streams, they churn up sediment and cause severe bank erosion, trampling streamside vegetation until it disappears altogether. Displaced soil can wash into critical streams and creeks – damaging habitat for trout and other fish.

The damage isn’t limited to streams, either. Numerous academic studies have found ORVs can degrade wildlife habitat, and alter animal behavior and migratory patterns. Noise and disturbance from ORVs can stress wildlife, scaring them away from important habitat or, in the case of elk, moving them onto private property and thereby reducing hunting opportunities.

Then of course there is the illegal use that has an unfortunate history in the Bitterroot. Retired police officer, Bill Burgund, had his crutch ripped from under him when a speeding ATV struck and sped away. Then there is the Brennan Gulch area and numerous trails that had to be rehabilitated due to extensive ORV impacts.

But let’s be clear, while illegal ORV use is a serious concern, it is the approved and consistent use that causes the most problems. Motorized routes need regular maintenance to avoid impacts, and those funds are typically lacking. Also, many trails were never designed for ORVs and they are more prone to erosion, and often located in important wildlife habitat.

The Forest Service Proposal

The Bitterroot National Forest released a Draft Environmental Impact Statement and developed Alternative 1 as its preferred choice. In doing so the Forest Service took some bold and necessary steps that we commend and support. Most notably, the Forest made the right decision in protecting the Sapphire Wilderness Study Area (WSA) from summer motorized use. Unfortunately, it left the entire area open to snowmobiles, and also would officially designate motorized trails in the Blue Joint WSA, as well as other Roadless lands. Such action will threaten wildlife habitat and cause conflicts for backcountry recreationists who seek a safe and peaceful time in the woods.

In addition, the Forest Service once again proposes to designate a system of ATV trails and authorize renegade routes in the Burnt Ridge Area just west of Darby where residents have quietly fought to keep their neighborhood free the noise and dust caused by off-road vehicle use.

Support Alternative 4

The BQUC supports Alternative 4 because it best protects all our Roadless and Wilderness Study Areas and will ensure quality habitat for important wildlife such as elk, mountain goat and wolverine, as well as provide great opportunities for hunting and fishing, hiking, horseback riding, camping, cross-country skiing and mountain biking. The Forest Service is accepting comments and we urge all who care about our wildlife, streams and traditional recreation opportunities to speak up and support Alt. 4.

Send Written Comments by September 21st to:
Travel Planning Project - Comments
Forest Supervisor’s Office
Bitterroot National Forest
1801 N. First
Hamilton, MT 59840-3114

Or

Email to:
comments-northern-bitterroot@fs.fed.us

The Bitterroot Quiet Use Coalition includes Wildlands CPR, Friends of the Bitterroot, Montana Wilderness Association, Montana Chapter of the Sierra Club, Selway-Pinter Wilderness Back Country Horsemen, Montana Back Country Alliance, Bitterroot Climbing Coalition and Burnt Ridge Homeowners.