Off-Road Vehicle Reform
Working to Protect Montana Public Lands from Off-Road Vehicle Abuse
Wildlands CPR works to reclaim roadless, wilderness study and other important wildlife habitat and connectivity areas from motorized recreational abuse and for quiet, traditional recreation and wildlife protection in Montana.Towards this end, the Montana ORV Coordinator continues to work with organizations around the state helping protect key areas from off-road vehicle impacts. This is accomplished primarily through the Forest Service’s travel planning efforts, which is the official name for a process to designate roads, trails and areas available to off-road vehicles; the end result being the publication of a Motor Vehicle Use Map that illustrates all the places authorized for motorized use. Another aspect of travel planning is the identification of the forest’s minimum road system and decommissioning opportunities. The Forest Service has been resistant to completing this part of travel planning in its current efforts, but we continue to press the agency to meets its obligation.
Montana has nine national forests all of which engaged in some form of travel planning; many forests are done while some are still in the middle of the process. The MT ORV Coordinator focuses mainly on three travel plans: one that covers the Bitterroot National Forest, and two other in the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest. However, he does work with other groups such as the Pryors Coalition on the Custer National Forest and the Swan View Coalition on the Flathead National Forest.
By providing leadership and technical support to the Bitterroot Quiet Use Coalition (www.quietusecoalition.org), the MT ORV Coordinator helped raise awareness of ORV impacts and generated thousands of comments in support of Roadless protection during the first official public comment period on the agency’s proposed travel plan. In August 2009, the Bitterroot National Forest released its Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), and the agency’s preferred alternative protected the Sapphire Wilderness Study Area and six other Roadless areas from summer motorized use. This was a significant change from the first proposed action, and represents a critical victory.
Travel planning on the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest is set to begin in early 2010, but the Montana ORV Coordinator has been working ahead of the process in an effort to gain the best starting place. For example, he continues to meet with Forest Service officials to discuss the best way to conduct travel planning. Also, Wildlands CPR recently settled a lawsuit that challenged the agency’s authorization to groom 96 miles of trails inside the West Pioneer Wilderness Study Area. Grooming in the WSA has ballooned over the past six years, without any environmental analysis or public involvement. Read more about this success here. Furthermore, he has helped Montanans for Quiet Recreation to educate its members and the general public about ORV impacts and the importance of securing non-motorized areas.
Even though most Montana forests are done with travel planning, many are now going back and making changes through site-specific projects. This requires us to be ever diligent in making sure important protections are not lost.
Some of our partners in this work include:
Bitterroot Quiet Use Coalition
Montanans for Quiet Recreation
Pryors Coalition
Montana Back Country Horsemen
Montana Back Country Alliance
Back Country Hunters & Anglers
Montana Wilderness Association/High Divide Alliance
The Wilderness Society/ORV
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