Clearwater upholding curbs on motorized use in recommended wilderness

PUBLIC LANDS — The Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests are officially proposing to continue prohibiting year-round motorized use in recommended wilderness areas with the exception of summer motorized/mechanized travel on one trail, Fish Lake Trail 419.

This is the same decision that was made in January 2012 by the previous forest supervisor and it reflects how travel is currently managed.

“The bottom line for me is that the Forest Plan, after considerable analysis of values and public comment and discussion, did recommend four areas for Wilderness designation,” said Cheryl Probert, forest supervisor for the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests, in the Draft Record of Decision for the Clearwater National Forest Travel Planning for Recommended Wilderness.

“Through that rigorous analysis, the Forest Service found compelling reasons that elevated these areas above all the other roadless areas on the forest and led to the wilderness recommendation in the Forest Plan.

“Until such time as the Forest Plan is revised or Congress makes a decision to either designate these areas as wilderness or clearly reject them, management of those areas needs to protect the values that resulted in them being recommended for wilderness designation in the first instance.”project.

Retired Forest Supervisor Rick Brazell issued his Clearwater Travel Planning Record of Decision in January 2012.  Three lawsuits were eventually filed challenging the decision. Probert prepared a new decision to resolve some of the litigation. The new draft decision includes terms of the settlement for a lawsuit filed by the Idaho State Snowmobile Association and The Blue Ribbon Coalition.

The Draft ROD revisits only those portions of the January 2012 decision that pertain to motorized and mechanized travel in RWAs.

In 2005, to deal with the sprawl of unauthorized routes being pioneered by growing numbers of ATVs, the Forest Service Chief issued a Travel Management Rule requiring national forests to designate roads, trails and areas that are open to motorized use.

Public involvement efforts for the Clearwater National Forest Travel Planning project began in 2005 and continued through the appeal period for the 2012 proposals.  From 2006 through 2010, forest representatives met with local and state governments, the Nez Perce Tribe, and various industry and recreational groups to share information about the Forest’s travel planning efforts, and to solicit participation.

The forest received more than 4,000 responses when it requested scoping comments on the proposed action in 2007.

Forest officials advertised an extended formal comment period for the Draft Environmental Impact Statement in 2009, and received more than 3,000 individual comments in response.

Comments were used to develop the alternatives analyzed in the final environmental impact statement going into the 2012 decision.

Two lawsuits remain outstanding for this project:

• The Friends of the Clearwater, Alliance for the Wild Rockies, and the Sierra Club filed a complaint in December 2013.  On March 11, 2015, Judge Edward J. Lodge issued a Memorandum Decision and Order for that lawsuit.  The Draft ROD does not specifically address Judge Lodge’s order.
• Clearwater and Idaho Counties, Idaho, also filed a complaint in December 2013.  The counties’ lawsuit is pending.

The new draft decision is subject to an objection process. A legal notice advertising the start of the 45-day objection period for the will be published in the Lewiston Tribune on July 5, 2016.