Court Orders Cleanup In Wilderness Area

A federal judge has ordered the U.S. Forest Service to clean up outfitter camps and corrals in Idaho’s Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness by Oct. 25.

U.S. District Judge Thomas Hogan in Washington, D.C., denied without prejudice a contempt-of-court motion by Wilderness Watch, but warned he will side with the watchdogs if the Forest Service does not quickly clean up its act.

Wilderness Watch filed for the unprecedented motion earlier this summer because two years had passed since another judge told the government to remove campsite improvements in the 2 million-acre Frank Church wilderness - the largest such preserve in the lower 48 states.

An inspection trip last summer showed outfitter camps on creeks and springs, numerous primitive structures, corrals permanently situated on top of creeks and campsites littered with garbage, all violations of Forest Service policy.

Hogan said the Forest Service must quickly re-evaluate outfitter camp locations and the existence of any permanent structures.

The agency was not in contempt, the judge said, because it was not willfully violating the remedial order. If there is no progress by October, though, the ruling will be different, Hogan warned.

, DataTimes