Wilderness Area Designation

Outstanding new wilderness areas being proposed are the Snowcrest Mountains, Garfield Mountain and Torrey Mountain, while the controversial West Big Hole area and the West Pioneers Wilderness Study Area continued to be excluded from designation. The Plan proposes to reduce the size of the proposed Mount Jefferson wilderness area by 50%- from about 5000 acres to 2500 acres. The Mount Jefferson area, located 30 miles west of Yellowstone National Park, contains the headwaters of the Missouri River and provides critical habitat for grizzly bear, wolverine, elk, and numerous other wildlife species. The wolverine population is quite small and is threatened by expanding heavy snowmobile use. Research shows that maintaining undisturbed winter habitat in the Mt. Jefferson area is essential for wolverines to survive in this area. Unfortunately, the proposed Forest Plan would reduce the size of the Mount Jefferson wilderness to one-half of its original size, exclude the heart of this habitat from wilderness designation, and leave it open to uncontrolled snowmobile use. American Wildlands views that the proposed snowmobile use would severely compromise this areas as prime wildlife habitat. We encourage the Forest Service to designate all of the proposed new wilderness areas, and restore the proposed Mount Jefferson wilderness area to the original size of 5000 acres.

Motorized Use

We are concerned with the high percentage of the Forest that is proposed to be open for motorized use. The Plan would leave over 5,000 miles of roads (83%) and 1,000 miles of trails (40%) open to ATVs, motorcycles and 4-wheel drive vehicles. Only big game winter ranges and a few other small areas are closed to snowmobile use. Even though no off-road use is allowed under current policy, more user created roads are becoming established by unauthorized use throughout the Forest because of lack of enforcement. The Plan proposes to use road densities of one mile of road per square mile as a way to limit wildlife disturbance and habitat fragmentation. However, localized road densities are often much higher, and may be incompatible with sustaining key wildlife habitats and corridors. Areas such as Horse Prairie South, a critical elk calving area and migration route for elk, mule deer, bighorn sheep and bears, were previously been closed to motorized use, but are now proposed as open yearlong to vehicles. This will negatively affect habitat connectivity and wildlife movement. American Wildlands encourages more closed areas to motorized use, particularly along the lower elevation National Forest boundaries where wildlife movement corridors exist.

More information is available at www.wildlands.org/action/alerts.