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WILDERNESS GUARDIAN *
April 2005
Volume 4
Contents:
Wilderness News Briefs provide short issue summaries and contact
information. Action Alerts are full-length, time-sensitive postings.
Wilderness News Briefs:
1. Judge "walks circuit" in Lusk Creek Wilderness, IL
2. Judge rebuffs Rock Creek mine in Cabinet Mountains Wilderness,
MT
3. Forest Service makes good decision for Norse Peak Wilderness,
WA
4. Sharp increase in floatplane permits for the South Baranof Wilderness,
AK
5. Pesticides and piscicides may be exempted from the Clean Water
Act
Action Alerts:
1. Support campfire restrictions in the High Uintas Wilderness,
UT
*Wilderness News Briefs*
1. Judge "Walks Circuit" in Lusk Creek Wilderness,
IL
For years, local Illinois activists have struggled to get the Forest
Service to regulate intensive damage to soils, streams, and vegetation
arising from excessive equestrian use in the Lusk Creek Wilderness
and other small wildernesses on the Shawnee National Forest. The
activists argued their own case before federal district court Judge
J. Phil Gilbert, convincing him to direct the agency to issue special
use permits to the commercial horse camps that provide commercial
guides for equestrian day-trips into the wilderness. After more
than a year the USFS had not prepared nor issued a single commercial
outfitter-guide permit.
This January, Judge Gilbert announced he was going to traverse the
Lusk Creek Wilderness with all parties so he could see the on-the-ground
situation for himself. Accompanied by federal marshals, the court
clerk, Forest Service officials, representatives for the commercial
horse camps, and the two plaintiffs, the Judge reportedly described
the trip as "enlightening" and "unbelievably beneficial."
He plans to keep an eye on how well the Forest Service enforces
protections for the area by scheduling additional visits this summer,
fall, and possibly next spring.
2. Judge rebuffs Rock Creek mine in Cabinet Mountains Wilderness,
MT
By MICHAEL JAMISON of the Missoulian
"KALISPELL - A controversial plan to mine beneath the Cabinet
Mountains Wilderness was pulled off the table Wednesday, with a
court ruling that federal wildlife officials put grizzly bears and
bull trout at risk when they approved the mine.
As approved, the mine would have burrowed beneath the Cabinet Mountains
Wilderness, yielding an estimated 10,000 tons of copper and silver
ore per day for 35 years.
Opponents - including environmentalists, politicians and business
leaders in both Montana and Idaho - worried that the mine would
degrade wildlife habitat and water quality. The plan was to build
many miles of roads in the Cabinets, as well as railroad stations,
pipelines, power lines, a tailings treatment plant and other infrastructure
on more than 1,500 acres…"
Full article at: http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2005/03/31/news/mtregional/news05.txt
3. Forest Service makes good decision for Norse Peak Wilderness,
WA
This spring, the Forest Service decided to allow the Big Crow Basin
shelter along the Pacific Crest Trail to naturally decay into the
Norse Peak Wilderness. The shelter was built in the 1930’s
before the area was designated, and has never been maintained by
the agency.
Certain groups argued that the shelter should be repaired and maintained
under the National Historic Preservation Act. Wilderness Watch objected
to restoring and maintaining an unnecessary structure in Wilderness,
and suggested recording the shelter's historic values through photographic
and written documentation. After three years of deliberation the
agency decided that restoring and maintaining the shelter would
be incompatible with the primitive character of the wilderness.
The shelter's historic values will be documented and the shelter
will be allowed to decay back into the forest at the end of its
natural life span.
4. Sharp increase in floatplane permits for the South Baranof
Wilderness, AK
The Forest Service plans to issue five, 5-year special use permits
to commercial outfitting operations using floatplanes for day access
to certain lakes in the South Baranof Wilderness. This decision
comes despite a seeming lack of public need, as current use of the
lakes is largely unguided hunting and camping. The decision represents
a significant and unprecedented expansion of motorized airplane
access by commercial enterprises, and will have direct affects on
the island’s wilderness character.
Wilderness Watch commented on the proposal in 2001, stating that
allowing an unnecessary surge in commercial aircraft use violates
the agency’s statutory obligation to protect wilderness character.
The Forest Service is not required by law to grant motorized airplane
access for commercial use, and is instead charged with regulating
any existing use to protect the wilderness resource. The allowed
use – 400 visitor days per outfitter per year - far exceeds
historic access levels for commercial enterprises in the area, and
is not supported by a show of need.
Wilderness Watch is working with other conservation groups to review
options for challenging the Forest Service’s decision.
5. Pesticides and piscicides may be exempted from the Clean Water
Act
Note: The EPA is proposing a new rule that will exempt fish
poisons from the Clean Water Act -- such poisons are popular with
fish and game managers as part of fisheries management in wilderness.
In addition, a draft bill (see below) would also exempt aerial-sprayed
pesticides from the Clean Water Act. It is not clear whether this
exemption would apply to spraying herbicides for weeds in Wilderness.
From the E&E Daily
Tuesday, April 12, 2005
Allison A. Freeman, E&E Daily reporter
"Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman James
Inhofe (R-Okla.) is working to draft a bill that would allow land
managers to spray pesticides without obtaining permits under the
Clean Water Act (CWA), according to committee staff. The legislation,
which has not yet been finalized, would likely take a U.S. EPA proposal
to authorize pesticide use in waterways one step further, specifying
that any pesticide applied according to other federal guidelines
does not need a CWA permit, regardless of where it is applied --
on water or on land. The bill has not been released and there is
no introduction date set yet…
Environmentalists object, saying the direct application of pesticides
should clearly be included under the law that was crafted to protect
the nation's waterways. They have said EPA's proposal goes against
both the language of the Clean Water Act and recent court rulings."
*Action Alerts *
1. Support campfire restrictions in the High Uintas Wilderness,
UT
From the High Uintas Preservation Council -
The Forest Service is proposing to restrict campfires on heavily
used lakes in the High Uintas Wilderness, UT. The proposed action
is based on years of formal and systematic firewood inventories
finding that down/dead firewood is seriously depleted. The availability
of down/dead wood is crucial to natural ecological functions and
is the natural condition of the Wilderness.
The Campfire Restriction Order would prohibit campfires and firewood
collection within one quarter mile of several lake basins. It is
important that wilderness advocates speak up to stop resource damage
in one of America's premier Wildernesses!
Please take the time to send in a comment supporting the Campfire
Restriction Order by April 20, 2005. Remind the agency that because
such campfire closures are necessary, recreation use in these areas
is probably too high. Monitoring should be continued, and areas
may need to be closed or have use limits until they recover. Most
of all, remind them that wilderness stewardship is more than recreation!
You can email your comments to: comments-intermtn-ashley@fs.fed.us
(be sure to type "HUW Campfire Restrictions" in the subject
line and provide your name and address).
You can also mail your comments to:
Eileen Richmond
Acting Forest Supervisor
Ashley National Forest
355 N. Vernal Ave.
Vernal, UT 84078
and
Tom Tidwell
Forest Supervisor
Wasatch National Forest
125 S. State St.
8236 Federal Building
SLC, UT 84138
_____________________________________________________________________________
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 web site at www.wildernesswatch.org.
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are fully tax-deductible.
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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