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August 2004
Volume 8
Interesting Tidbits & Wilderness Quotes:
Quote: "For my own part, I hope the oilmen continue to lose...Wilderness
possesses an inherent value that cannot be quantified, and that
value increases as our wilderness decreases. [The Arctic Refuge]
is among the very last authentically wild regions in North America.
To my mind, drilling would take the wild out of it. Putting derricks,
pump stations, and pipelines into that natural cathedral would be
like installing a gambling casino in St. Peterâs Basilica."
— Philip Caputo, from The Old Man and the Mountains in Field
& Stream
Contents:
Wilderness News Briefs provide short issue summaries and contact
information. Action Alerts are full-length, time-sensitive postings.
Wilderness News Briefs:
(1) Appeals court rebukes Forest Service for allowing commercial
packstock operations to harm two sierra wildernesses, CA
(2) Court resolves wilderness water rights issue, ID
(3) Animas Creek in Aldo Leopold Wilderness spared from poisoning
(CA)
(4) Judge reduces motorboat permits for Boundary Waters Canoe Area
Wilderness, MN
(5) Spokane company to seek Cabinet Mountains Wilderness mining
permits (MT)
*Wilderness News Briefs*
(1) Appeals court rebukes Forest Service for allowing commercial
packstock operations to harm two sierra wildernesses, CA
SAN FRANCISCO – On Wednesday, the U. S. Court of Appeals for
the 9th Circuit overturned a district court ruling that would have
allowed the US Forest Service to permit commercial packstock operations
in two Sierra Nevada Wildernesses at levels that continue to damage
the wilderness character of the protected areas. The appeals court
upheld the lower court’s determination that the Forest Service
needed to reduce the amount of commercial use while it prepares
an environmental impact statement that fully analyzes the impacts
of the commercial operations.
"It's a win-win for Wilderness and those who love the High
Sierra" stated Gary Guenther, Wilderness Watch’s Eastern
Sierra Representative and a former wilderness ranger in the John
Muir Wilderness. " It sends a clear message to the Forest Service
that while commercial packstock operations are appropriate, they
must be done in a way that safeguards the Wilderness."…
(2) Court resolves wilderness water rights issue
From The Challis Messenger:
After years of negotiation, the wilderness water rights issue that
surfaced in 1999 has been resolved. The State of Idaho and a couple
of conservation groups say they’re pleased with the agreement,
sometimes for the same reasons.The partial decree issued by the
Fifth Judicial District Court specifies a minimum stream flow for
rivers and their tributaries running through wilderness areas and
the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area. It also stipulates that
there will be water for future development in communities upstream
of the protected areas.
The decision affects about 444 river miles in central Idaho and
32 tributaries feeding into the Hells Canyon portion of the Snake
River…
More Information: http://www.challismessenger.com/newspgs/0826water.html
(3) Animas Creek In Aldo Leopold Wilderness spared from poisoning
(CA)
— By Stephen Siegfried
The New Mexico Game Commission moved to disallow the use of fish
poisons as a management tool in Department of Game and Fish projects
aimed at increasing the distribution of native fish.
After discussion following a presentation by NMG&F Chief of
Fisheries Mike Sloane and a public comment period - during which
private citizens and representatives from state and federal agencies
were heard - commissioners voted 3-2 against deployment of the piscicide
Fintrol as an acceptable alternative in stream restoration projects
in New Mexico.
As a result of the decision, NMG&F will be unable to deploy
Fintrol in 29 miles of the Las Animas Creek drainage. NMG&F
had planned to begin poisoning the streams in September to provide
habitat for pure-strain Rio Grande cutthroats from a state fish
hatchery. Streams slated for treatment were Las Animas Creek, Holden
Prong, Sid's Prong and Cave Creek.
The U.S. Forest Service had approved a NMG&F petition to use
the fish poison within the Aldo Leopold Wilderness, as well as national
forest habitat downstream and on private lands on Ted Turner's Ladder
Ranch.
According to the petition, using the fish poison is necessary to
remove trout that genetic studies have determined to be less than
pure-strain cutthroats.
The department planned to poison the streams as many as three times
over a two-year period. The project's purpose is threefold: to establish
a sports fishery for Rio Grande cutthroats; to study the adaptability
of the species; and to provide a source for future transplants to
other streams within the historic range of the native trout.
(4) Judge reduces number of motorboat permits for BWCAW
From the Associated Press:
A federal judge ruled that the U.S. Forest Service must cut motor
permits on three chains of lakes bordering the Boundary Waters Canoe
Area Wilderness by two-thirds to comply with the 1978 law that set
the regulations for the wilderness area.
In a decision filed Thursday, Judge Jack Tunheim in Minneapolis
ruled that Congress had not given the Forest Service the authority
to recalculate the amount of permits for motor boats, as it had
done.
He wrote that the Forest Service's 2002 moved to increase the number
of permits it granted on the lakes was an "arbitrary and capricious
recalculation" of the cap on permits set by the old law.
The decision, if upheld, will make it more difficult for cabin owners,
guides, outfitters and other anglers and boaters to get day-use
permits that allow motorboats in the otherwise motorless lakes that
border, but are included in, the BWCAW. They include the Moose-Newfound-Sucker,
Birch-Farm and Saganaga-Gull Lake-Sea Gull River chains….
More Information:
http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/news/9514932.htm
(5) Spokane company to seek Cabinet Mountains Wilderness mining
permits (MT)
— By JOHN STROMNES of the Missoulian
LIBBY - The president of Mines Management Inc. said Thursday the
firm will seek new state and federal permits for the long-dormant
Montanore mining project in the Cabinet Wilderness near Libby.
"The project was fully permitted as recently as two years ago.
With the existing environmental impact statement as the basis for
re-permitting, we believe the process will be significantly shorter
than if we were starting from scratch," said Glenn Dobbs, president
and chief executive officer of the Spokane-based company.
It took the original developer of Montanore five years to get permits…
For More Information: http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2004/08/06/news/mtregional/news06.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
Phone: (406) 542-2048
Fax: (406) 542-7714
http://www.wildernesswatch.org
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