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Volume 2 # 3
if the Symms Act were not reauthorized, individual states
Money for Motors from would continue to put money towards these programs. The
State of California annually raises nearly the same amount
the Halls of Congress of money that Symms would allocate for the entire country
in the same time period.
by Bethanie Walder The Symms Act completely duplicates existing pro-
grams. The Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management
“When President George Bush signed the $151 billion federal highway already have money for recreational trail development, both
reauthorization bill just before Christmas [1991], champagne corks could be motorized and non-motorized, so there is no need for
heard popping from one end of the U.S. snowmobile community to the Symms funding to pay for trails. Because of the structure of
other.” (From the “Newsline” of the International Snowmobile Industry
Association; V10, No3; Jan/Feb 1992.)
I
n November 1991 the Intermodal Surface Transportation
Efficiency Act (ISTEA) was passed by Congress. In addition to
authorizing funding for motorized and non-motorized transpor-
tation alternatives, ISTEA authorized the Symms National Recre-
ational Trails Act: an off-road vehicle user’s fantasy come true.
ISTEA is currently up for reauthorization, and so too is the
Symms Act. Though never fully funded, the Symms Act has led to a
number of devastating developments supporting off-road vehicles
and motorized recreation. Up to $30 million per year was allowed
for funding the Symms Act, but very little funding has been
appropriated in the past 6 years. Of this amount, 30% is allocated
to non-motorized uses, 30% motorized, and 40% multiple-use.
T
hings have been moving quickly in the last few months, with slide show
presentations in the Northwest and central Rockies, workshops and discussions
in Oregon and staffing changes in the works. In addition to all of this, we
finally became an independent non-profit organization in March. Many thanks to
Hillary Oppmann, Linda Wells and Barb Wolman of The Wildlands Project (and the
Wildlands
rest of the TWP folks) for all of their help over the past few years while TWP acted as C
Center for
our fiscal sponsor. We are excited about our independence, and also look forward to P
Preventing
continuing to work with TWP on projects and strategies for protecting and reconnect- R
Roads
ing wildlands throughout North America and beyond. TWP’s help and support for the
past few years has been tremendous. P.O. Box 7516
Missoula, MT 59807
Thanks, too, to the Foundation for Deep Ecology for providing a grant supporting our (406) 543-9551
road-fighting efforts nationwide. And to those of you who sent donations in the past wildlandsCPR@wildrockies.org
www.wildrockies.org/WildCPR
month, we appreciate your continuing support. Special thanks to the Environmental Club at
Southside High School in Rockville Center, NY,
for a very generous donation from a fundraiser
Wildlands Center for Preventing
they held.
In this Issue Roads is a national coalition of
grassroots groups and individuals
Comings and Goings Halls of Congress, p. 1 working to reverse the severe
Bethanie Walder ecological impacts of wildland roads.
In April, Tom Youngblood-Petersen became We seek to protect native ecosystems
our half-time organizational development and biodiversity by recreating an
Odes to Roads, p. 4
director. He has been working with environmen- interconnected network of roadless
Marianne Moulton public wildlands.
tal groups in North Carolina and the Intermoun-
tain West for nearly 15 years. Most recently, he Bibliography Notes,
was development director for the Wolf Education Director
p. 6 Bethanie Walder
Recovery Project out of Boise, Idaho. Tom Gary Macfarlane
brings a bundle of energy, new ideas, and a Development Director
brilliant writing hand to Wildlands CPR and we Regional Reports & Alerts, Tom Youngblood-Petersen
are thrilled to have him with us. pp. 7 & 8
Office Assistant
Outreach & Resources, p. 9 Aaron Jones
Aaron Jones, who has been handling most of our
information requests for the past six months is Field Notes, p. 10 Interns & Volunteers
moving back to Portland, Oregon, in May. In Chuck Cottrell, Scott Bagley.
addition to the obvious loss of his fantastic John Masterson
artwork and dedication to helping all of you
Newsletter
meet your information needs, we’ll miss finding him asleep beneath the computer first thing in Dave Havlick, Jim Coefield
the morning.
Steering Committee
Bethanie will be on vacation from the beginning of May through the first week in June. Tom and Katie Alvord
the new office assistant (name withheld pending hiring) will work hard as beetles in her stead. Kraig Klungness
Sidney Maddock
Rod Mondt
Equipment Needs Cara Nelson
Now that we’re official, your donations are tax deductible (though they were deduct- Mary O'Brien
Tom Skeele
ible before, too, through the Wildlands Project), so hey! Why not donate your slide
projector? Ours keeled over during the slide show tours last month (it was a Sears Advisory Committee
Continental 55, which we think refers to its birthyear), so we thought someone out Jasper Carlton
there might have a younger one in their closet. If so, send it in—we’d appreciate it. Libby Ellis
With interns moving through our office these days, we are also in need of a laser Dave Foreman
Keith Hammer
printer and computer, Mac or IBM. The faster the better, the nicer our letter. Thanks! Timothy Hermach
Marion Hourdequin
Field Notes Lorin Lindner
Andy Mahler
Astute readers should notice a profound absence of Legal Notes in this issue of the Robert McConnell
Road-RIPorter. Instead, we’ve included a new feature—Field Notes—which we hope Stephanie Mills
will offer a resource for field-oriented road activists. We’ll alternate Legal Notes Reed Noss
with Field Notes in subsequent issues, so house-bound road scholars needn’t fret. Michael Soulé
Dan Stotter
Steve Trombulak
Visions... Louisa Willcox
We’re looking for back page “Visions...” photos that show inspiring examples of roads falling to Bill Willers
ruin, being actively obliterated or restored. Please send us your slides or negatives! Howie Wolke
Death by Stomping
Recreational Access Hurts Too
By Marianne Moulton
T
he Southern Rocky Mountains and many other wild
places are being advertised to the world as “play
grounds.” These ads tell us that in order to explore the
wilds, we must be able to access and conquer them by
investing in a sport utility truck, a full suspension mountain
bike, a snowmobile, a dirt bike, or even hiking boots.
Outdoor recreation is the fastest growing use of our
public lands. As more Americans find their way into the
backcountry, the unknown risks to the natural world in-
creases. The shocking truth is that trails have impacts similar
to roads. We trample vegetation, introduce invasive and exotic
species, compact soils, ford streams, and make noise.
Recreation, particularly mechanized recreation, has the
ability to extend human influence over a large area. Mecha-
nized recreation is pervasive, preemptive of other uses, can be
irreversible, and appears to portend a shift in fundamental
assumptions about the relationship between “man and
species such as lynx and wolverine. They are the last places
nature,” as well as about appropriate uses of public lands.
largely free of weeds and big enough to provide breeding
How many places left on earth have not had contact with
grounds for large mammals. The roadless wildlands of the
humans? Upon studying a map of roads and trails in
Southern Rockies are among the precious few in the country
where whole ecosystems and natural processes can be
The roadless wildlands of the Southern preserved on a landscape scale.
In the past ten years, ORV (off-road vehicle) groups have
Rockies are among the precious few in systematically increased motorized use in many of Colorado’s
the country where whole ecosystems last roadless lands, potentially disqualifying them from future
wilderness designation. The Forest Service does not consider
and natural processes can be that motorized use detracts from wilderness suitability and
claims that motorized use is reversible. While this may be true
preserved on a landscape scale. physically, the clout of the motorized lobby has proven that
motorized use is not politically reversible.
In the Rio Grande National Forest of southern Colorado,
Colorado, these incursions look like spaghetti on the land-
seven of the eight largest remaining roadless areas, totaling
scape—leaving very few places in this region free of distur-
almost 200,000 acres, are now laced with motorized trails. As
bances. Those that are free of a consistent human presence
a result, they were not recommended for Wilderness designa-
are typically protected topographically by steep terrain. Areas
tion in the recently-approved Forest Plan. One of these
which had only wildlife trails just twenty or fifty years ago
threatened areas is the 45,000-acre Pole Creek Mountain
have now been discovered. Areas which had primitive hiking
roadless area, north of the Weminuche Wilderness and west of
trails have been “upgraded” to accomodate more users or to
the town of Creede. A motorcycle group illegally established
diminsh conflicts between different types of users. Land
motorized use on the formerly quiet trails in the Pole Creek
managers struggle with maintaining areas for many people
roadless area.
where there once were few.
During the Forest Plan revision, the Forest Service ana-
All backcountry users—hikers, mountain bikers, equestri-
lyzed and recommended for motorized use those trails which
ans, motorcyclists, all-terrain vehicle users, jeepers, cross-
did not negatively impact unstable soils, riparian areas and
country skiers and snowmobilers—squabble over who gets to
wetlands, or critical wildlife habitat. The Forest Service
use what area. They are pitted against each other and
happened to overlook the damaging trails strewn throughout
claiming one has more of an impact than the other. Users are
Pole Creek, and then admitted that they were scared of the
claiming ownership of certain trails by partnering with the
political backlash that they would occur if the trails were
cash-strapped land managers to maintain and reconstruct
closed.
trails.
In a recent meeting of conservationists, motorized users,
The proliferation of new trails is introducing thousands of
and the Forest Service, the motorized user groups accused
recreationists into the last strongholds of undeveloped habitat.
conservationists of being greedy and hypocritical. They said if
In the Southern Rockies these roadless lands are essential
a favorite hiking trail were slated for closure, hikers would cry
habitat for songbirds and cavity nesters, and for reclusive
bloody murder because access would be denied. Then we
k
ni
Jo
J.
A. Jones
Wildlands CPR on the Web What is ERFO?
Many thanks to John Masterson of Missoula for redesign- The ERFO fund
ing our web site for us. The site now has a bunch more information was authorized by Title 23 USC, §125 for, “the repair or reconstruction
than it used to, and it gives us room to put new info on the of highways and roads which are found by the Secretary of Transporta-
web every month. We will have the newsletter on line shortly. tion to have suffered serious damage as the result of a natural disaster
Check it out at http://www.wildrockies.org/WildCPR. over a wide area, or a catastrophic failure.”
TYPE OF INCIDENT (CIRCLE ONE OR MORE) USER CONFLICT TRAIL DAMAGE VANDALISM ILLEGAL TRAIL
MOTORIZED TRESPASS RESOURCE DAMAGE WILDLIFE HARASSMENT OTHER _______________
TYPE OF VEHICLES (CIRCLE ONE OR MORE) TRUCK/JEEP ALL TERRAIN VEH. (ATV) MOTORCYCLE
ADDRESS
ADDRESS
Please report any conflicts with traditional outdoor recreation, excessive noise, impacts to wildlife and natural characteristics, or
damage to public property, trails, meadows, lakes & streams, soils, forests or other natural features.
BULK RATE
US POSTAGE
PAID
MISSOULA, MT 59801
PERMIT NO. 569