Wilderness Supporters May Boycott Hearing Testimony On Access To Federal Lands Called A ‘Kangaroo Court’

Wilderness advocates may boycott Congresswoman Helen Chenoweth’s field hearing on public access to federal lands Saturday.

They weren’t invited anyway.

Chenoweth’s staff sought testimony from public officials, off-road vehicle groups, and timber-related groups.

When one conservation group inquired about participating, it learned the witness list was full - but its members could submit written testimony.

“Well, I expect a kangaroo court,” said John Gatchell of the Montana Wilderness Association. “There’s a lot of people who have a stake in it. Not just this exclusive group of witnesses.”

The congressional hearing was planned after complaints surfaced regarding access to federal lands. It comes on the heels of today’s Silver Country Tourism Summit, sponsored by Wallace businessman Tom Magnuson’s Silver Country tourism company.

The company promotes 1,000 miles of trails for hiking, mountain biking, off-road vehicles and snowmobiling. The trails are all on public land.

Magnuson is one of the witnesses at the hearing, which also will be co-chaired by U.S. Rep. Rick Hill, R-Mont.

“I hope that the outcome of the hearing is that congressmen Chenoweth and Hill can bring the message to Washington that recreational access to our nation’s forests has been a significant cornerstone to the turn-around in our economic region,” Magnuson said.

Skeptics believe the hearing is an orchestrated means of promoting snowmobile and off-road vehicle access to all areas of the national forest, including the Great Burn proposed wilderness area in the Bitteroot Mountains.

“Snowmobilers and off-road vehicle groups wanting access to every last peak and vale will have a field day while advocates for wildlife, fisheries and nonmotorized recreation won’t be heard at all,” complained Larry McLaud of the Idaho Conservation League.

Chenoweth spokeswoman Khris Bershers said the ICL’s reaction was predictable.

“Some of those groups (on the witness list) you could call conservation groups from a certain perspective. Not from the perspective of the ICL, but they’re interested in conflict,” Bershers said.

The recent upsurge of snowmobile use in the Great Burn area prompted the Lolo National Forest to explore management options for the Bitterroots between Lookout Pass and Lolo Pass. The Great Burn is about 20 percent of the area.

The number of snowmobilers accessing the Bitterroot back-country from Trout Creek in Montana has increased from five to 10 each weekend four or five years ago, to 50 to 70 each weekend this year, according to the Forest Service.

The total number of snowmobilers accessing the back-country on the Bitterroot divide (off the groomed trails) was estimated at 2,500 to 2,600 this winter.

Some snowmobilers and off-road vehicle enthusiasts feared the study was the beginning of the end of access to the entire area between Lookout and Lolo passes.

The Lolo National Forest collected 560 comments on management options for the area, said spokesman Ken Britton. Roughly half wanted snowmobile access everywhere, and other half wanted preservation of some non-motorized areas, he said.

“There’s a ton of room for those kinds of uses,” Gatchell said. “The question becomes, just they go into the most remote areas, or will something be preserved as backcountry or wilderness.”

Del Kerr, who coordinates the grooming of 350 miles of snowmobile trails in Kootenai County, has noticed an increase of users on his trails, too.

Snowmobilers have few if any access problems in the immediate area, he said.

A few years ago, however, the U.S. Forest Service restricted access in the Selkirk Mountain grizzly bear habitat, and he’s heard talk of closures on the Bitterroot Divide.

“That’s a big concern,” he said. “I’m not against wilderness. In certain cases it’s necessary. But we’re getting to the point where it’s excessive.”

Kerr said snowmobilers are generally a pretty good crowd that has little impact on the environment.

In the spring, their trails melt. In the winter, their trails provide a firm path for winter-weary wildlife to travel.

“We put back more than we take,” he said. After last winter’s ice storm, “we went out and cleared 250 miles of trails. The savings to the Forest Service was in excess of $100,000.”

Britton denied that the Forest Service is out to ruin snowmobilers’ fun, and Magnuson said he’s willing to support some reasonable limits.

“I would like to see the issue transformed from one of restriction to one of trail management,” Magnuson said. “This whole region is big enough for everybody, and if there are some reason that they want to close that (Great Burn), then we would support whatever they decide.”

, DataTimes MEMO: Cut in Spokane edition This sidebar appeared with the story: HEARING The Saturday hearing begins at 10:30 a.m. at the Wallace Elks Lodge.