Conservationists Lose

Sun., Sept. 22, 1996

Associated Press

Wilderness issues

Conservationists have lost another round in their fight against a Nez Perce National Forest plan for work on a motorized portion of the Idaho Centennial Trail near the Gospel Hump Wilderness.

Richard Bacon, a deputy regional forester in Missoula, Mont., rejected conservationists’ arguments that re-routing plans would put the trail too close to the original boundary designated for the wilderness area.

Unless the opponents can enlist Assistant Agriculture Secretary Jim Lyons to hear an appeal, or unless they pursue legal action, Bacon’s ruling clears the way for the project to proceed.

The plan calls for rebuilding or relocating nearly six miles of trail leading northward from the Wind River pack bridge across the Salmon River east of Riggins.

Dennis Baird of Moscow, who worked on a citizen task force to negotiate the compromise that led to designation of the Gospel Hump Wilderness by Congress, maintains the trail work planned by the Forest Service would fall within the wilderness boundary negotiated then. Motorized vehicles are not allowed in official wilderness.

But Nez Perce spokesman David Poncin said when the legal descriptions for the wilderness passed by Congress are mapped out, the trail and the critical Wind River pack bridge fall outside the boundary.

The Idaho Conservation League and its allies say the Forest Service could have found an alternate route for the trail that would have avoided the contested area.

Forest officials said the only other practical route would have cost a lot more to develop, a contention the ICL disputed.

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