Craig Races To Unser’s Defense Auto Legend Being Prosecuted For Snowmobiling In Protected Wilderness

Sen. Larry Craig asked the chief of the U.S. Forest Service on Monday to personally explain why auto racing legend Bobby Unser - lost two days in a blizzard - is being prosecuted for snowmobiling in a protected wilderness area.

“The inconceivable nature of this action begs an explanation,” Craig, chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources subcommittee on forests, said in a letter to forest chief Mike Dombeck.

Unser says he’s unsure but he might have strayed a quarter-mile or half-mile into Colorado’s South San Juan Wilderness on Dec. 20 while snowmobiling with a friend, Robert Gayton.

The two became lost in a blizzard for two days and nearly died after their snowmobile broke down in the national wilderness area, Unser says.

The Forest Service said Unser was cited for violating the Wilderness Act, which prohibits motorized vehicles in protected wilderness areas.

A court date has not been set, but Unser likely will go before a federal magistrate next month in Monte Vista, Colo. He could face up to six months in jail and a $5,000 fine if convicted.

“There are no signs up there that say this is a wilderness,” Unser said last week.

“We didn’t see any signs, but even if there were 100 signs, how do you see them in a blizzard? If I could see in a blizzard, I wouldn’t be lost, and if I weren’t lost, I wouldn’t have nearly died.”

Craig, R-Idaho, said Monday the “special circumstances surrounding this event” warrant Dombeck’s direct involvement.

“I would like to think that the Forest Service does not normally put strict adherence to policy ahead of common sense and the well-being of people,” the senator said.

Dombeck had no immediate comment Monday on Craig’s letter. His spokesman, Alan Polk, referred calls to Forest Service officials in Colorado, who said they intend to prosecute Unser despite his claims he was lost and near death.

“We’re all very pleased, happy and relieved that Mr. Unser and Mr. Gayton made it out OK, but that is not the issue,” Ron Jablonski, public affairs officer for the Rio Grande National Forest, said in a telephone interview from Monte Vista, Colo.

“The issue is, we have the responsibility to protect and manage those national lands,” Jablonski said Monday. “I think it is probably safe to say there are a lot of things that are going to come out in court. That’s where Mr. Unser will have his day to explain the circumstances.”

Unser’s snowmobile remains stranded somewhere near the Colorado-New Mexico state line.

“We’re working with him right now to try to get his sled out of the wilderness because that’s where he told us it is,” Jablonski said.

Unser said last week that Forest Service officials indicated he was being singled out for prosecution.

“They told me if I hadn’t been Bobby Unser, a celebrity, this whole thing would have been passed over and nothing would have happened. They claim they’re getting pressure from Washington, from the Sierra Club, to write me a ticket,” he told The Associated Press.

Craig, a conservative often the target of criticism from national environmental groups, said that aspect of the case was most troubling.

He demanded that Dombeck tell him “who made the decision to publicize the citation and why?

“Was there pressure being applied from senior officials, or outside sources, to push local foresters into action?” Craig wrote. “How these dedicated professionals could make such an obvious error in judgment escapes me, unless undue pressure was being applied to them.”

Jablonski bristled at the suggestion that his agency was pressured into citing Unser, saying, “I have no knowledge of any pressure that’s been put on anybody from any organization or internally.”

Sierra Club southwest regional representative Tina Arapkiles denied the accusation and said the organization is being used as a scapegoat.

“Wouldn’t it be nice if the Forest Service would do everything we pressured them to do?” she said. “I can think of all kinds of things we’ve been asking the Forest Service to do and they’ve just ignored us.”

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The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = From staff and wire reports Staff writer Susan Drumheller contributed to this report.