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August 2002
Volume 8
Welcome to the Wilderness Guardian, a monthly online digest
dedicated to providing up-to-date news and
information concerning Wilderness protection and stewardship nationwide.
A service of Wilderness Watch, the
Guardian was created to help Wilderness advocates keep abreast of
breaking news, as well as providing
contact information to facilitate public participation.
Interesting Tidbits & Wilderness Quotes:
"Fire Restoration" would brings logging to proposed Wilderness
– The Forest Service has proposed to log in the Duncan
Canyon Roadless Area which contains proposed Wilderness and one
of the last old-growth red fir stands in the Sierra Nevada. The
side-effects of this "restoration" could disqualify the
area from Wilderness consideration. Contact the California Wilderness
Coalition for more information: http://www.calwild.org
"Wilderness, above all its definitions, purposes and uses,
is sacred space, with sacred power, the heart of a moral world."
— Michael Frome, author
Contents:
Wilderness News Briefs provide short issue summaries and contact
information. Action Alerts are full-length, time-sensitive postings.
Wilderness News Briefs:
1. Gates of the Arctic Wilderness, AK faces access threat
2. Geocaching – A new game that trammels Wilderness
3. National Park Service keeps trail out of Wilderness
4. Decision allows fisherman to continue driving in Edwin B. Forsythe
National Wildlife Refuge Wilderness, NJ
5. Let it burn – Wilderness fires bring healthy forests
*Wilderness News Briefs*
1. Gates of the Arctic faces access challenge
Gates of the Arctic Wilderness encompasses 7.25 million acres across
the Brooks Range in northern Alaska. There is not a single mile
of developed trail, and no trailhead signs. The Park Service is
considering granting a permit to a man and his son to ride ATV's
14 miles through wilderness across the fragile arctic tundra to
access a 160-acre native allotment within the park. The application
is for one-time access later this month to repair a tent frame,
haul out trash, and engage in late summer subsistence activities.
However, the applicant has said that if the ATV route works out,
he may apply for a permanent right-of-way.
The applicant is a resident of a small Native village called Anaktuvuk
Pass, located east of the park. There is no road access to this
village. A substantial portion of the residents own large, 8-wheeled,
1200 lb ATV's called ARGO's which they ride across the tundra both
for recreation and for subsistence purposes -- hunting, fishing,
berry picking.
If the NPS approves this request for ATV access to an inholding,
it could open the floodgates to similar requests by other native
allotment owners, posing a real challenge for Wilderness.
2. Geocaching brings new threat to Wilderness
Geocaching, a game that has players search with GPS units for containers
full of small prizes that are hidden in remote areas, is causing
new problems for Wilderness. Illegal trails are springing up, damaging
plant and animal habitat as well as spreading invasive non-native
plants. The popularity of the two-year old game is spreading rapidly,
both in the United States and around the world. It is estimated
that California has at least 4,000 geocaches hidden throughout the
state.
For More Information:
Orange County Register : http://www.bayarea.com/mld/cctimes/news/weather/environment/3776845.htm
3. The right decision for the Stephen Mather Wilderness, WA
To "mitigate the impacts" of the Skagit River Hydroelectric
Project, Seattle City Light has earmarked $398,000 for construction
of a trail in North Cascades NP from the summit of Desolation peak
to Hozomeen Lake, which is all within the Stephen Mather Wilderness.
To the NPS' great credit, the park has now decided that new trail
construction inside Wilderness in currently trailless areas would
negatively impact Wilderness values. Five other new trail construction
projects were considered but rejected due to requiring new construction
in wilderness. Another trail construction project near the Canadian
border was rejected due to the possibility it could become a smuggling
route or allow terrorists to sneak into the U.S.
Projects still under consideration are outside wilderness, such
as developing a parking lot at one trailhead, constructing short
nature trails, or a trail from the campground to a nearby trailhead.
4. Decision allows fisherman to continue driving in Edwin B.
Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge Wilderness, NJ
Surf fishermen will be allowed to continue driving on a stretch
of beach in the Holgate section of the Edwin B. Forsythe National
Wildlife Refuge Wilderness in New Jersey. Congressman Jim Saxton
met with Interior Secretary Gale Norton to formulate the deal, which
reverses expectations that driving in the fragile area would be
banned.
Designated as Wilderness in 1975, the refuge is one of two Wilderness
areas in the state. Fisherman have been driving their vehicles down
the three-mile-long beach to reach fishing spots, a practice in
conflict with the Wilderness Act’s ban on motorized vehicles.
The fisherman claimed that their actions were protected by an agreement
with refuge officials who promised that they could drive on the
beach if they refrained from fishing during the breeding season
of the endangered piping plover.
5. Hands off approach to fire management results in healthy forests
Forest officials have found that fire allowed to burn in Wilderness
has resulted in healthier forests in Montana. Due to their remote
locations and special management restrictions, Wilderness fires
are often allowed to burn, except when they threaten homes. This
hands-off approach appears to have positive results – more
diversity in plants and animals and less threat of massive wildfires
in the future.
For More Information:
http://www.missoulian.com/archives/index.inn?loc=detail&doc=/2002/August/09-1955-opinion6.txt
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Since
its founding in 1989, Wilderness Watch has pursued its mission
as the citizen voice for Wilderness
stewardship, giving a voice to the wilderness and wild rivers of
our national preservation systems. We
seek to preserve our unique natural heritage - the public will articulated
by the Wilderness Act and Wild
and Scenic Rivers Act.
To join Wilderness
Watch please visit our website at www.wildernesswatch.org.
If you would like to subscribe or unsubscribe from
this list, have any questions, or would like to post a news
release, please contact Hilary Wood at hwood@wildernesswatch.org.
If you prefer the post, please send your
letters to:
Wilderness Watch
P.O. Box 9175
Missoula, MT 59807
Ph: (406) 542-2048
Fax: (406) 542-7714
http://www.wildernesswatch.org
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