Pryor Coalition Saga - Multiple

Volume 5 • Issue #1
February 2014
Pryor Coalition
Saga Multiple-Use
Wins One!
CBU Note: The Pryor Mountains are
located south of Billings MT and have been
the subject of Travel Management since
2007. On January 7, 2014, the United States
9th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a ruling
favorable to multiple-users!
A
fter a seven year saga, the Beartooth
Travel Management Plan has had a
major ruling from the Ninth Circuit
US Court of Appeals. The decision
for case number 11-35733 came out on
January 7, 2014. I will try to explain what the
issues were and what led to this decision.
My challenge will be to reduce a storage box
of documents, correspondence and related
information down to an informative recap.
For many people the saga began in February
2007 with scheduled public meetings which
the Custer NF called Beartooth Travel
Management Collaboration Meetings. At one
of the meetings, we had a rude awakening
when we were to break into smaller groups,
go over maps, agree on the status of travel
routes and make recommendations. Several
individuals aligned with what would later
become the Pryors Coalition (lawsuit
plaintiffs) wanted to close many roads in the
Pryor Mountains without any knowledge of
the routes or ever having been in the Pryors.
On April 3, 2007, Mike Penfold of Friends
of The Pryors invited several of us for a side
collaborative meeting to discuss the Beartooth
Travel Management Plan. Many positions
were discussed, but it was apparent there
was no progress towards consensus. While
1
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© Wendy Taylor
leaving the meeting, Richard Walton stopped
us and stated the Wilderness Association’s
position will win no matter what the
motorized and other Pryor Mountain users
did or felt, and went on to say they were going
to get 70% of the Pryors closed to motorized
use. Walton is connected with Friends of
The Pryors, the Pryors Coalition and was an
individual plaintiff in the lawsuit. On April
10, 2007, we let Mike Penfold and the Custer
NF IDT (Inter-Disciplinary Team) Leader
know it would serve no benefit to continue
the meetings. Also on April 10th, The
Friends of The Pryors wrote a letter to USFS
Region One Forrester Tom Tidwell saying
“There has been no useful collaboration and
compromise.” There have been no face to
face meetings with the Pryors Coalition and
affiliated groups since then.
After the collaborative effort breakdown,
the Custer NF came out with a Beartooth
Travel Management Plan Draft Environmental
Impact Statement (DEIS) in September 2007,
which included four alternatives. The Final
Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS),
Executive Summary and Record of Decision
(ROD) were issued in June 2008. Although
Pryor Mountain Saga
Continued on page 2
February 2014
1
Pryor Mountain Saga
Continued from page 1
We chose to work with the Beartooth Ranger
District to make the best of what we had.
the motorized community lost many route
miles and did not agree with other FEIS
and ROD decisions, we chose to work with
the Beartooth Ranger District to make the
best of what we had. The Pryors Coalition,
Richard Walton, Susan W. Newell and Phil
Jaquith chose to file a lawsuit on February
19, 2010. The Pryors Coalition includes the
Wildlands CPR, Eastern Wildlands Chapter
of The Montana Wilderness Association ,
Yellowstone Valley Audubon Society, The
Frontier Heritage Alliance and The Beartooth
Backcountry Horsemen.
Treasure State ATV Association (TSATV),
Montana Trail Vehicle Riders Association
(MTVRA), Great Falls
Bike Riders Association
(GFTBRA), Families For
Outdoor
Recreation
(FFOR), Citizens for
Balance Use (CBU and
the BlueRibbon Coalition
(BRC) were given intervener status in the lawsuit
on May 20, 2010. An intervener is a party who
does not have a substantial and direct interest but
has clearly ascertainable
interests and perspectives
essential to a judicial determination and whose
standing has been granted by the court for all or
© Wendy Taylor
a portion of the proceedings. This gave us some
leverage if any settlement was proposed or
contemplated.
Between the lawsuit filing on February 19,
2010 and the January 7, 2014 Ninth Circuit
Court decision, there has been what seemed
like an endless paperwork of motions
and settlement proposals from the Pryors
Coalition. U.S. District Court Judge Richard
F. Cebull’s Summary Judgment in favor of
the USFS and our intervention was on July
20, 2011. Unfortunately, the Pryors Coalition
appealed the case to the 9th Circuit Appeals
Court. The case was argued in front of the
9th Circuit on December 4, 2013, expecting
a decision maybe towards the end of January
2014. We were surprised the Memorandum
decision was issued on January 7, 2014. The
decision concludes with “We must give
deference to the Forest Service’s actions
unless they were arbitrary, capricious, an
abuse of discretion, or contrary to law. Here,
they were not. The Forest Service complied
with NEPA, the TMR, and Executive Order
11644. AFFIRMED.”
All along the way, we felt the complaints
put forward by the Pryors coalition were
weak and more designed to change the
Beartooth Travel Management Plan so it was
closer to their initial goal of closing 70% of
the Pryors to motorized travel. The sixteen
Custer National Forest-Montana
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page Ninth Circuit decision is available at
www.ca9uscourts.gov (Click on Opinions,
then Unpublished for Case#11-35733).
Page 6 of the 9th Circuit decision states
“The coalition argues that the Forest Service
failed to apply the minimization criteria
provided in the 2005 Travel Management
Rule, 36 C.F.R. 212.55(b) (“TMR”)”. I’m sure
many readers of this article are wondering
what minimization means. Minimization
is a catch all word tied in this case to
minimizing environmental impacts and
minimizing user conflicts. Meyers Creek was
an example of a situation where the Pryors
Coalition used minimization as a reason for
Beartooth Travel Management Plan changes
which included both impacts and potential
user conflicts. Impact and user conflict
issues have been popping up in many other
management plans, even when impacts and
conflicts are more perceived than factual.
The decision went on to say “On this record,
we are satisfied that the Forest Service did
not act arbitrarily or capricious in applying
TMR’s minimization criteria to its route
designations”.
A great deal of time and money has been
spent by all sides over the last seven years.
The Pryors Coalition dug in their heels over
how they perceived the Beartooth Travel
Management Plan should read. Earlier
collaborative efforts with the Pryors Coalition
were unproductive, primarily because they
had made up their minds and were not really
in a collaborative mind set. All that time and
money spent by The Pryors Coaltion, the
Forest Service and the Interveners (TSATV,
MTVRA, GFTBRA, FFOR, CBU and BRC)
could have gone a long way towards
maintenance, safety, education and truly
collaborative efforts.
What a wasted
opportunity. This case is another prime
example of why the Equal Access to Justice
Act (EAJA) needs to be changed or repealed.
Bruce Reierson, President
Montana Trail Vehicle
Riders Association
www.tsatv.org
Friendship, Unity, Family
Bozeman,Montana
The Bozeman Mountaineers is a 4-wheel drive
club and non-profit organization based in
Bozeman, MT with the following goals:
• Providing organizational, social, educational, and
recreational activities for its membership.
• Participation in civic activities, and supporting
national and civic emergencies.
• Supporting Montana 4×4 Association, and United
4-Wheel Drive Association.
• Promoting responsible,
conservation minded
activities and functions.
Meetings are at the
Korner Klub the 2nd
Wednesday of every
month at 7:30 p.m.
To learn more about the Bozeman Mountaineers
please visit our website at
http://bozemanmountaineers.org
or find us on Facebook
at http://facebook.com/bozeman.mountaineers
To help achieve our goals we
provide community outreach and
raise money through the following
event: Truck Pull, Mud Bog, Trail
& Top Truck Competitions, Hill and
Hole, Tough Truck, and Trail rides.
Bozeman Mountaineers
P.O. Box 951
Bozeman, MT 59771
February 2013
2014
November
3
15
CBU Editor’s Note: We would like to thank Ken Ivory and the American Lands Council for
their support of States Rights and for providing some insights for the following article.
TAKE BACK
MONTANA!
W
hat happened that we need
to take Montana back? Is it
that the federal government
has escalated to a position of
authority over what were supposed to be sovereign states? And if so, how did the federal
government achieve this coup? The Founding Fathers purposely valued strong, individual states. They also knew that if the states
Senators were not protective of states’ rights,
a powerful federal government would eventually emerge.
Prior to the Declaration of Independence,
the Revolutionary War, the Articles of
Confederation and the Constitution, free
nations did not exist. Governments were
typically ruled from a throne, by kings,
queens, czars and dictators, or by an
aristocratic parliament. The Colonies, in
becoming the United States of
America, were a new venture in
self-rule and self-government.
The colonials were generally
a hardy and independent
bunch, envisioning freedom
from the King of England and
the opportunity to pursue
happiness. There were also
colonials who felt obligated
to the throne, financially and
otherwise. A parallel division
in America exists today. There
are citizens and politicians who
believe individuals and states
should be first and foremost.
And there are citizens and
politicians who think society
and the federal government
4
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should be front and center. Those
who believe the latter tend to ignore
the consequences of failed government
policies thinking that more government is
the answer.
It can be argued that the federal government
has failed in its policies involving public
land management, especially in the western
states. There have been consequences from
the Forest Service’s “let it burn” policy, the
introduction of the Grey wolf into Montana,
Idaho and Wyoming, and economic
consequences to closing one timber mill
after another. The federal government’s
land management policies have contributed
to higher energy costs, higher food costs
and the erosion of the timber, agricultural,
mining and recreational industries. And let’s
not forget that these policies have significantly
contributed to the slow death of small towns
throughout the west. What happened that
allowed the federal government to become
stronger than the States? Weren’t the
States to limit the power and growth of the
federal government?
It has been said that before the Civil War,
America was referred to as “these United
States of America” and after the war as
“this is the United States of America”. It
was not long after the Civil War that States
began diminishing in power and the federal
government started growing in power. The
federal government began holding onto land
as states were formed in the west. Prior to
this time, as states were formed, the federal
government would dispose of the federal
lands to the state as part of its entry into the
Union. This was not the case for Montana,
Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico and the
states to their west.
Around the turn of the 20th century, the
federal government made big shifts in public
land management policies. The first big shift
occurred in 1905 with the creation of the
National Forest Service. The Forest Service
was created by merging the Division of
Forestry with the General Land Office. The
General Land Office was originally created to
dispose of federal land holdings. With the
advent of the Forest Service, the federal lands
policy began to move away from disposing
federal lands to the states, as required
in the Enabling Acts, and more towards
conservation. Within the first two years
of the Forest Service’s inception, President
Teddy Roosevelt more than doubled the
Forest Service lands. The vast majority of
these lands were in western states.
The Seventeenth Amendment, adopted in
May, 1913, is often considered the end of
state representation in federal government
and the opening of the door for an overreaching federal government.
The
Seventeenth Amendment ended the election
of Senators by State legislatures and placed
it into the hands of the citizens. The Senate
was initially charged with looking out for the
interest of the states, thus limiting federal
powers. The senators had to answer for
their actions to the states legislators. State
legislators gave senators their marching
orders and thoroughly reviewed the senators
voting records for accountability. After this
amendment’s passage, senators were no
longer under the watchful eye of the state
legislators. Senators were free to be lobbied
by the rising tide of special interest groups.
Removing senators from election by state
legislators was a big blow for states and
a big win for federal government and
special interests.
As time went on, more acts were passed
to retain federal lands and to increasingly
restrict public activity on these lands. Acts
Clinton used executive order to
place 58 million acres, mostly in
western states, off limits to nearly
all forms of recreation, resource
development, agriculture and
timber interests.
Each acre of land “locked-up” by
federal land policies limits states
opportunities to generate revenue
from that land. As stated by the
U.S. Department of the Interior,
“Payments in Lieu of Taxes” (or
PILT) are Federal payments to
local governments that help
offset losses in property taxes
due to non-taxable Federal
photo courtesy of CBU
lands within their boundaries.
The key law is Public Law 94565, dated October 20, 1976.
included the Taylor Grazing Act of 1934, the
This law was rewritten and amended by
1962 Wilderness Act and the Federal Lands
Public Law 97-258 on September 13, 1982
and Policy Management Act of 1976. Each of
and codified at Chapter 69, Title 31 of the
these acts granted more power and control
United States Code. The Law recognizes
to federal bureaucracies and less access for
industry and recreation. Emboldened by the that the inability of local governments to
passage of these acts, federal congressionals, collect property taxes on Federally-owned
bureaucrats and Presidents began taking land can create a financial impact. PILT
full advantage.
The Alaska National payments help local governments carry
out such vital services as firefighting
Interest Lands Conservation Act (signed by
and police protection, construction of
President Jimmy Carter) placed 103 million
public schools and roads, and searchacres of federal land under restrictive land
and-rescue operations. The payments
use policies, including 56 million acres
are made annually for tax-exempt
designated as Wilderness. President Bill
© James Mattil | Dreamstime.com
Federal lands administered by the BLM,
the National Park Service, the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service (all agencies of
the Interior Department), the U.S.
Forest Service (part of the U.S. Department
of Agriculture), and for
Federal water projects and
some military installations.
PILT payments are one
of the ways that the
Federal government can
fulfill its role of being
a
good
neighbor
to
local communities.”
Is the federal government
fulfilling its role of being a
good neighbor to local
photo courtesy of CBU
communities? The answer
probably depends on your
employment, your recreation interests, if you
think energy costs and unemployment are
too high and whether or not you live near
national forests that are subjected to the “let
it burn” policy or have had your livestock
killed by introduced wolves. It may seem
there is little we can do to improve our
“neighborly” federal government’s policies,
however, that is not necessarily the case.
One western state, Utah, has passed
legislation requesting the federal government
honor its 1894 Enabling Act and dispose of
federal lands to the state of Utah. And there
is interest from other western states to
follow suit. In the next edition of the CBU
Quarterly, we will take a look at the history
of the enabling acts, the equal footing
doctrine, the Federal Land Policy and
Management Act and how the Supreme
Court has historically ruled in cases
involving enabling acts. We will also look
further into Utah’s Transfer of Public Lands
Act. The Transfer of Public Lands Act was
passed in 2012 with Utah granting the
federal government until March of 2014 to
dispose of federal lands to the State of Utah.
To date, the federal government has ignored
Utah’s request. This is sure to end up in the
courts and a safe bet to land in front of the
United States Supreme Court. It will be
interesting for sure and should Utah prevail,
it will be the game changer the Multiple-Use
crowd has been looking for.
B. Erickson,
CBU Executive Board Member
February 2014
5
The Facet Factory An
Introduction to
Snow Metamorphism
By: Eric Knoff
Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center
Snow metamorphism determines if individual
snow crystals are rounding (becoming stronger)
or faceting (becoming weaker). The relationship
between snow crystals ultimately dictates what
kind of layer, strong or weak, is formed. The
interaction between individual layers determines
snowpack stability.
Three main variables drive change within the
snowpack; temperature gradient, temperature,
and pore space size. Of these three, temperature
gradient is the most influential in determining
crystal formation in an alpine snowpack
(Avalanche Handbook, McClung/Schaerer).
Temperature gradient is the difference in
temperature over a distance. If the temperature
within the snowpack differs more than one
degree Celsius per 10 centimeters of snow depth,
a strong temperature gradient is present. These
conditions cause individual grains to become
angular and faceted. Faceted crystals can form
weak layers that may persist within the snowpack
for long periods of time.
Three primary types of persistent weak layers
form in the northern Rockies; depth hoar, surface
hoar, and near surface facets. These distinct weak
layers form under strong temperature gradients
and often produce dangerous avalanche
conditions.
Depth hoar forms when a shallow snowpack
is exposed to an extended period of cold and
clear weather. Large cup-shaped facets form
and may reach 4-10 mm in size. These grains
are cohensionless and have a hard time bonding
due to their angled structure and large size.
Once depth hoar forms, it can be preserved in
the snowpack by subsequent storms and create
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instability for weeks or
even months.
When the snowpack
becomes deeper, only
the top 15-20 cm’s
of the snow surface
will be affected by
air
temperature
fluctuations. When the
snowpack surface is
subjected to fluctuating
daytime and nighttime
heating and cooling
cycles (called diurnal
fluctuations),
the
snowpack
surface
will begin to facet.
The longer the snow
surface is exposed
to these temperature
fluctuations,
the
weaker
the
snow
surface will become.
© Doug,Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center
f A example of snow layers and faceting
A common type of facet layer formed by
diurnal fluctuations is near surface facets. This
persistent weak layer forms in-between storms
and is responsible for nearly 60% of all avalanche
accidents in southwest Montana (Birkeland,
1996). Near surface facets are smaller in size
than depth hoar (1-2 mm) but they are quite
pesky and can persist in the snowpack for long
periods of time.
An equally dangerous weak layer is surface
hoar. Surface hoar forms on cold clear nights it is essentially frozen dew. What sets surface
hoar apart from other types of facets is that it is
created through the growth of new crystals and
not the metamorphism of existing snow crystals.
Surface hoar is fragile and is easily knocked
down by wind or sun – it may remain standing
in some areas and disappear in others. Once
buried, sporadic distribution can make this layer
very unpredictable. Buried layers of surface hoar
are renowned for fracturing far and wide and can
create avalanches that are capable of propagating
into low-angle terrain.
The long and the short of it is that as snow sits
on the surface of the Earth, its structure is in a
constant state of flux until it melts or blows away.
Knowing the processes by which the snow
crystals change gives riders an advantage. Riders
are ahead of the game when they can anticipate
snowpack changes. Becoming an active observer
of snow metamorphism can help riders make
more educated decisions when riding in
avalanche terrain.
CBU supports GNFAC. Please
visit their website,
http://www.mtavalanche.com/,
for more information and education
and please consider a donation.
Doug, Mark and Eric work hard to
try and keep backcountry winter
users safe and informed.
© James Steidl | Dreamstime.com
F
rom the time snow crystals fall from the
sky to the time they melt in the spring, the
shape and structure of each crystal never
stops changing. This is known as snow
metamorphism.
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7
We want to hear from you. Tell us your story of a closed trail or access
to a favorite place. Post your comment and picture. Help us collect these
stories to share with other Montana folks. All opinions, articles and
photos submitted to www.takebackmontana.net are assumed property
of TBM unless otherwise requested.
photo courtesy of CBU
taxable Federal lands within their boundaries
The Law recognizes that the inability of l
ocal governments to collect property taxes
on Federally-owned land can create a
financial impact.)
© Taina Sohlman | Dreamstime.com
Federal Lands Transferred
to the States – Worthy
Consideration
By Montana State Representative
Alan Redfield, HD61 – Park and
Sweetgrass Counties
hat an exciting time to be
alive!” This statement started
out the American Land Council’s conference that I attended with Kerry White and several other Montana Legislators along with legislators and
county commissioners from 17 other states.
The discussion revolved around giving Federal land within a state, back to the state. If
you really think about it, there are many examples where Federal management of public land has resulted in destroying forest and
watersheds, shutting off access, constricting
economic opportunity, breaking state and local government budgets, and threatening our
way of life.
“W
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Some facts that came out during the
conference were quite interesting. Here
is an interesting contrast between North
Dakota and Montana. During the formation
of statehood, North Dakota ended up with
3% Federal land. Montana, on the other
hand, is 35% Federal land. As a result, North
Dakota receives 100% of mineral royalties
from resource extractions while Montana
only reaps 50%, the other half going to
the federal government. The new federal
budget will cut Montana’s royalties by 2 %,
reducing Montana’s royalties over 9 million
dollars /year. This is due to the amount of
Federal land within Montana. North Dakota
is unaffected because their public lands are
controlled by the state.
The long standing practice of federal
compensation, Payment In Lieu of Taxes
(PILT), to Montana counties containing
Federal lands, has dwindled to near nothing.
In some cases, counties have been asked
to return PILT money. (PILT are Federal
payments to local governments that help
offset losses in property taxes due to non-
Just recently Governor Bullock addressed
the Western Governors conference
addressing the same issues. He stated
since 2002 we have 6.3 million federal
acres of beetle killed timber and 4.3 million
federal acres have burned. This reflects
mismanagement by the federal government,
largely due to the shutdown of most logging
and some grazing on federal lands. His other
comments included that Washington realizes
there is a problem but doesn’t really care, and
that Montana does an excellent job managing
its land.
There will be many who will be alarmed
with the ideas put forth at the conference,
however it should be noted that there is a
Supreme Court precedent that has allowed the
transfers of federal lands to states in the past.
Several of the conference attendee’s thoughts
were that there would be opportunity for
the lands to be sold for private ownership.
However, I feel this would create a real
confrontational situation with the public and
therefore I think any transferred lands should
be kept in state ownership. Furthermore,
the Montana Constitution mandates that
State land must be maintained in perpetuity
for the benefit of the people. Because of that
it is assured that there will always be access
for recreation, logging, mining, grazing and
other various uses. There is potential for
generating good, reliable state revenue.
Looking back at the conference, it is an
exciting time to be alive! If you want more
information go to American Lands Councils
web site at www.AmericanLandsCouncil.org
z.
Helen National Foest
Controlled Burn
photo courtesy of CBU
February 2014
9
Gallatin National Forest Fire photo
Can you figure this one out?
25 dollar prize will be
awarded to the first
person to correctly
identify this picture.
Phone lines open on
2/24/14 at
8 a.m.
Send response to
kerry@balanceduse.org
or call 406-600-4CBU.
(406-600-4228)
What Can
You Do For Multiple-Use?
M
ultiple-Users can keep help recreational opportunities by contributing in a few, key ways.
As we know, we must engage our elected representatives and public lands managers. We
also need to submit Op-Eds to our local papers. Elected representatives often read the opinion-editorials to gauge public sentiment. We need to be accurate in order to make good and
substantive comments to our representatives and in our Op-Eds. Things we should be doing as we
recreate include the following, some of which we already do.
Taking pictures and notes of our outings help us when making comments on travel plans, writing
op-eds and our representatives. Make short notes on the trail conditions and who and what we
encounter. We should also make notes about our fishing and hunting trips. These notes should
include the fish and wildlife experienced, what our fish and game take was and if any predators
were encountered. We should also note conversations with LEOs (Law Enforcement Officials)
their name/s and what the conversation included.
Much of this we already do as evidenced by our
Facebook posts. However, it is a good idea to keep
some type of journal for the times we choose to
publically comment, verbally or through an Op-Ed.
Notes and pictures will go a long way
documenting our fun times, help our written and
verbal comments and promote our point of view.
Happy Trails!
© Constance Bond Evans
Missouri River Fly-Fishing Trip
10
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CBU Board
Coming Soon
“My Multiple Use File”
Photos of your multiple-use outings
as shared on Facebook
Do’ s
Responsible Recreation
Starts With You!
From time-to-time, we all could use a friendly
reminder or two on safety and courtesy. We recreate in
the great outdoors for the purpose of enjoyment with
friends and family. Enjoyment and good memories do
not mix well with accidents and mistakes. Here are a
few Don’ts and Do’s that we should keep in mind while we enjoy
our Multiple-Use activities.
Don’ ts
Do extend courtesy
and a friendly smile.
•
Do thank landowners
who grant access for
hunting and fishing.
•
photo courtesy of CBU
• Do offer assistance to anyone in need.
• Do follow the laws and save yourself money and headaches.
• Do recreate safely so you can do it again and again.
• Don’t drive, ride, or recreate while intoxicated.
• Do take photos and share your good times.
• Don’t stop your vehicle of choice in the middle of the trail, on a
• Do set a good example for your kids, family and friends.
blind corner or the crest of a hill.
• Don’t think of trails as race courses.
• Don’t allow yourself to be drawn in to a confrontation on
the trail.
• Don’t ride out-of-bounds
– it does nothing positive for
the multiple-use crowd.
©dreamstime.com
• Don’t trespass.
• Do contact your elected representatives and let them know
what a great time you had enjoying the great outdoors!
A little common courtesy and common sense go a long way to
promoting good times and memories. Confrontations and
accidents ruin outings and cause hard feelings. The multiple-use
crowd is held to a higher standard of conduct by the green-side,
law enforcement and the media. It is unfortunate, but it is reality.
Let’s promote our recreational activities and do our best to do so
in a positive light!
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11
The Shell Game of Travel Management.
I
believe most of us know about the shell
game, but in case you never heard of it
let me briefly explain as it’s an uncomplicated game but difficult to win until you
learn how to play it.
You place three cups, or in the old days half
walnut shells, down and place a pea under
one of the shells. The idea of the game is to
track the pea. As the person running the
game shuffles the shells around the table you
watch intently to make sure you don’t lose
track of the pea in the shuffle so you can win
the game. When the shuffling is complete
you are asked to pick which shell the pea is
under and you proudly point to your shell.
The person running the game lifts up the
shell and to your amazement there is no pea,
or worse yet, for the first two or three rounds
you pick correctly, and once the game runner
hooks you, you lose, because the pea was
never under your shell at all.
Travel Management has been run like a
shell game we have all been drawn into and
now find ourselves trying to follow the pea,
which in this case, is access to our forests.
The United States Forest Service has used the
Travel Management Shell, The Collaborative
Shell, and now The Forest Plan Revision
Shell to “shuffle” our forest access. The
pea is placed under one of the shells and
the shuffling begins, back and forth, side to
side, where is your access, simply follow the
pea. You were told access could be found
under the Travel Management Shell, simply
participate, tell us what you need and you
will have access and find your pea. When
the shuffling was complete and the Travel
Management Shell lifted, you didn’t find your
pea, you found a Record of Decision cutting
your access.
you go. The game master stops, and no
pea, only promises from elected officials to
discuss identified road closure in project
areas through the Natural Resource Advisory
Committee (NRAC) process to protect
your access and that no roads will ever be
closed by the collaborative group. However,
currently, the USFS has roads identified for
decommissioning in the Sandbox Project..
Where your access pea truly lays, is under
the Forest Plan Revision Shell. This shell
actually functions as one large shell covering
the other two, but is treated as one shell to
minimize its true impact. Your access pea
does not resemble the pea the game runner
had to begin with. The game runner started
with an untarnished pea, free from the scars
and blemishes, restriction and penalty. The
pea that comes out after all the shuffling is
scarred, reduced and nearly unrecognizable.
So what is under the Forest Plan Shell
that changed your pea so much?
That’s a good question and
here are some answers.
The plan calls for obliterating 10 to 35
miles of road on the Wallowa Whitman and
Malheur National Forest respectively per year
for 15 years.
These are some of the
reasons the Forest Plan
Revision Shell is where
you will find your access
pea. Engage and start
speaking up! It is the
best ways to keep what
you love.
Pipestone OHV area.
riderplanet.com
Gallatin Valley Back County
Horseman - Spanish Peaks
Courtesy of
Kerry White
©
Stacy
Bragg
2013
Now you see it, now you don’t.
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The plan calls for a “DESIRED CONDITION:
A mosaic of forage and cover areas with
minimal or no motor vehicle access through
forage areas exists in landscapes where elk
use is promoted, as identified in coordination
with state wildlife agencies.”
The Forest Plan Revision
proposes a minimum
road density of 1.5 miles
of road per square mile of
land base. According to
Then the pea was placed under the
Collaborative Shell and around and around
12
Wallowa Whitman National Forest (WWNF)
data, road densities are currently at 2.4 miles
of road per square mile of land base outside
of the Wilderness and National Recreation
Areas. This is an estimate as the WWNF
has no updated inventory of actively utilized
roads. This equates to a 38% reduction of
roads across the area, but may be much
higher depending on the densities or roads
in a given area as well as other extenuating
circumstances.
© Franziska Krause | Dreamstime.com
John George is an active member of Forest
Access For All, a multiple-use advocacy
group in Northeastern Oregon. John’s
analogy of the Wallowa Whitman Forest
Service Travel Management Planning to a
shell game is not exclusive to the Wallowa
Whitman Forest in NE Oregon.
ATV and Generator
manufacturer and model To
Be Determined for TrailRaiser
2014. ATV and generator shown
were from TrailRaiser 2013.)
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Call for tickets 1.406.600.4228
1.406.570.6771
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May 10, 2014 , 6-10pm
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you property belongs to you and your taxes give you access to
your state and federal managed public properties, support CBU!
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