Issue 103 - March 30, 2006
1. NEW FEDERAL POLICY AIDES STATES IN CLAIMING ROADS
2. INCREASED SNOWMOBILE ACCESS FOR A WYOMING NATIONAL FOREST
3. GRIZZLIES, WOLVERINES AT RISK FROM SNOWMOBILES
4. CALIFORNIA’S ALGODONES DUNES WILL REMAIN PROTECTED
5. CALIFORNIA CITY MAY IMPOSE STIFF PENALITIES FOR OFF-ROAD
VEHICLE MISCONDUCT
6. CONSERVATIONISTS BACK RANCHERS IN GATE DISPUTE
7. MINNESOTA ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS CHALLENGE DEPARTMENT OF
NATURAL RESOURCES’ "SUSTAINABLE" CERTIFICATION
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1. NEW FEDERAL POLICY AIDES STATES IN CLAIMING ROADS
Outgoing Interior Secretary Gale Norton will sign a "secretarial order" reinforcing states’ or counties’ rights to claim roads on federal land as their own, and maintain or expand them. The process outlined in this policy will apply to roads on all public lands, including national parks and wildlife refuges.
The order provides a set of guidelines that effectively repeal Bureau of Land Management rules, which, since 1997, required states and counties to show proof of construction in order to claim a road under RS 2477. Now, counties need only prove road claims under state law. In Utah, this means demonstrating continuous use for 10 years prior to 1976, the year RS 2477 was repealed. This decision reflects a court ruling last fall that upheld the rights of several Utah counties to grade roads across the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.
Under the ruling, neither the state nor the federal government can act unilaterally in changing the status of a road, whether it is an expansion or reduction of its size or use. States’ rights advocates praise the policy as a victory for local control, while environmental groups are concerned that the order will lead to increased development and access for off-road vehicle use on public lands. "There are red flags all over this," said Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance Director Heidi McIntosh. "The biggest red flag is that the trails and other routes that are now closed to vehicular traffic will be turned over the counties, which will in turn try to turn them into highways."
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2. INCREASED SNOWMOBILE ACCESS FOR A WYOMING NATIONAL FOREST
Dale Bosworth, Chief of the U S Forest Service, has decided to lift restrictions against snowmobile access in parts of Wyoming’s Medicine Bow National Forest, pending further review. This decision represents a repeal of the Medicine Bow forest plan, completed in 2003, which environmentalists argue was a compromise for all interests in the face of growing motorized use conflicts in the area. The forest plan denied motorized access in designated "natural research areas."
Motorized interest groups had called for an end to the blanket restrictions in the forest until pertinent local studies have been conducted. Chief Bosworth said he agreed that motorized access should be permitted until site-specific analysis is complete. Environmental groups had also requested a review of the proposed forest plan to address concerns about logging and protecting old-growth trees.
Jeremy Nichols of the Biodiversity Conservation Alliance characterized the reversal as "a cave-in to motorized interests." "We’re incredibly upset right now," he said. "The forest could do site-specific analysis and make a decision, but that could take several years."
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3. GRIZZLIES, WOLVERINES AT RISK FROM SNOWMOBILES
A report commissioned by British Columbia Parks warns that snowmobiles pose a "considerable conservation concern" to grizzly bears and wolverines hibernating or rearing young in dens in Kakwa Provincial Park and Protected Area. The federal Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada lists grizzlies and wolverines as species of special concern in B.C.
There are no area snowmobile restrictions in the winter, and groups are lobbying for even greater access. Pat Bell, the provincial Minister of Agriculture and Lands, is a member of one of the lobbying snowmobile groups. He is the minister responsible for protecting species at risk. In the past, Bell has blocked plans that would have prohibited snowmobiles in key habitat areas. A new management plan for the Kakwa area is currently in the works.
Elsewhere in B.C., research has demonstrated that snowmobiles are displacing threatened mountain caribou, and allowing predators, such as wolves, easier access to prey along compacted snowmobile routes.
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4. CALIFORNIA’S ALGODONES DUNES WILL REMAIN PROTECTED
A federal court has ruled against an attempt by the Bureau of Land Management to rescind protection of the Algodones Sand Dunes in southern California’s Sonoran Desert. The area is home to several threatened and endangered species, including Peirson’s milk vetch, desert tortoise, and flat-tailed horned lizard.
In 2000, 50,000 acres of the 180,000-acre dune area were set aside, and designated off-limits to off-road vehicle use. This reprieve has allowed endangered wildlife to begin to recover. Recently, the Bureau of Land Management released a new plan for land use in the dunes area, which called for allowing increased off-road vehicle access in protected areas. The Center for Biological Diversity, among other groups, sued the agency.
The court ruled that the BLM’s proposed management plan violated several federal statutes, including the Endangered Species Act and the National Environmental Policy
Act. For now, these dune areas will continue to be free of motorized use.
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5. CALIFORNIA CITY MAY IMPOSE STIFF PENALTIES FOR OFF-ROAD VEHICLE MISCONDUCT
Cathedral City, located in southern California, is considering a law that would establish extremely strict fines and penalties for riding off-road vehicles in prohibited areas.
The controversial ordinance, modeled after similar rules in Hesperia and San Bernadino Counties, would raise the fine for a first-time off-road vehicle offense from $50 to $250. A second-time violator would incur a penalty of $500, and a third offense would garner a $1000 fine. It would also give police the authority to seize off-road vehicles after a third offense, and serial offenders could face jail time.
Cathedral City is a very popular spot for off-road vehicle riding, despite the fact that the Bureau of Land Management has deemed motorized use illegal on most area land since 1980. In the decades since, use has actually increased.
The harsher penalties have been suggested in an effort to reduce air pollution and damage to wildlife habitat caused by unauthorized off-road vehicles.
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6. CONSERVATIONISTS BACK RANCHERS IN GATE DISPUTE
After a man was prosecuted for locking his gate across a road running through his ranch, two-dozen ranchers, along with the Ogden Sierra Club, Bear River Watershed Council, and Bridgerland Audubon Society, joined to fight attempts by Utah counties to claim roads on private land as their own. The groups also charge several counties and the Forest Service with failing to adequately protect private land from off-road vehicle trespass and damage.
There is case law in Utah to support the notion that a road can become public through frequent public use, which has led to numerous road ownership disputes. The Forest Service, along with the Utah government, has insisted that roads on private lands leading to public lands must remain open and accessible. Utah landowners have asserted that their land is being damaged, and local wildlife harmed, by off-road vehicle users who refuse to limit themselves to the designated roads and routes.
Dan Shroeder, Conservation Chair of the Ogden Sierra Club, asserts that federal, state, county and city governments have planned expanding off-road vehicle routes for some time. "There seems to be an unspoken agreement among these agencies not to enforce laws against vehicle trespass," he said. "Every landowner in the state should be concerned, as should everyone who enjoys hiking, horseback riding, hunting, viewing wildlife or just listening to the natural quiet."
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7. MINNESOTA ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS CHALLENGE DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES’ "SUSTAINABLE" CERTIFICATION
In December, the Department of Natural Resources received a certification for managing Minnesota’s forests in a sustainable manner. Two environmental organizations are challenging this certification.
The Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy and the Izaak Walton League have asked the certifying party to wait until the Department of Natural Resources proves its ability to control damage inflicted on forests by off-road vehicles.
According to Matt Norton of the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy, one problem is the designation of forests north of Highway 2 as "managed." This leads riders to assume they are free to use any route that is not specifically posted as closed. Norton claims the DNR lacks the staff and resources necessary to effectively manage all the new routes that have been created - legally and illegally - in Minnesota.