Feds Ok Reopening Old Road But Object To Unrestricted Boat Access In Hells Canyon

Fri., March 21, 1997

Scott Sonner Associated Press

Despite opposition from conservationists, the Clinton administration said Thursday it does not object to Rep. Bob Smith’s proposal to reopen an old Forest Service road in a wilderness area along the west rim of Hells Canyon.

However, the administration opposes another bill that would make permanent unrestricted power boat access to the wild and scenic stretch of the Snake River that flows through the national recreation area on the Oregon-Idaho border, the deepest canyon in North America.

About 6.5 miles of the Forest Service road on the Oregon side of the canyon has been closed since 1989 when the agency discovered it weaved into a formally designated wilderness area off limits to motorized vehicles.

“Congress created the recreation area to enhance and preserve public enjoyment of this valuable resource, not to cut off access to the area,” said Smith, R-Ore., chairman of the House Agriculture Committee. He testified before the House Resources subcommittee on forestry, which is considering his bill.

Lyle Laverty, acting associate deputy chief of the Forest Service, said the agency had preferred to wait until its latest management plans were updated but does not object to Smith’s proposal.

“This legislation would adjust the wilderness boundary to bring it in line with what appears the Congress had intended when the wilderness was established,” Laverty said.

Ric Bailey, executive director of the Hells Canyon Preservation Council in Joseph, Ore., testified against both the road opening and the proposal by Rep. Helen Chenoweth, R-Idaho, to ensure unrestricted jet boats in the river.

Bailey said traffic would harm migrating big horn sheep, elk and deer.

Bailey rejected the claim that the boundary was established by mistake, pointing to a 1978 law passed by Congress to clarify the boundary was at the hydrological divide on the west rim.

Chenoweth, chairman of the forestry subcommittee, introduced her bill in response to earlier Forest Service proposals to make the stretch of the river off limits to power boats a few days of the week.

“Telling people who use their boats to get to work that they can’t use the river during a particular time of the year is like telling people who ride bikes to work that they can’t ride on the side of the road during certain times of the year,” Chenoweth said.

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