**
*Off-Road Vehicle Damage on Grandmother Mountain*
A primary tributary to the Little North Fork Clearwater River, Foehl Creek is
a spectacular drainage in the St. Joe Ranger District of the Idaho Panhandle
National Forest. As perhaps the wildest part of the entire 260,000-acre
Mallard-Larkins roadless area, its wilderness characteristics provide
outstanding assets for native wildlife, clean watersheds, and remote
recreation. Nonetheless, this wild country is threatened by motorized use.
A recently released Forest Service draft recommendation is allocating much of
the watershed and a trail leading to the Little North Fork to motorized
recreation. Equally destructive under this plan, all trails on Grandmother
Mountain would be open to vehicles, despite already severe environmental
damage caused by motorized traffic there. This fantastic roadless area, the
closest wildland to Moscow, harbors ancient mountain hemlocks, small mountain
lakes, and other unique ecological features. The St. Joe Ranger District of
the combined Idaho Panhandle National Forest is currently designating routes
and areas open to motorized use across the entire forest. This “Travel
Management Planning” effort is supposed to address the unregulated and
unmanaged motorized recreation that has increased dramatically over the last
decade.
As elsewhere throughout the West, vehicle damages to places like Grandmother
Mountain and portions of the Little North Fork Clearwater drainage have been
escalating. Although the Forest Service recently closed the Grandmother
Mountain area to all-terrain vehicles on an emergency basis, degradation from
two-wheeled motorized vehicles still remains extreme. These wildlands should
be free of damaging motorized use and harmful forest practices, unimpaired
for all generations to enjoy. Please take the time to comment on this travel
plan that affects your public lands.
Include these points in your electronic or mailed letter:
1) Motorized recreation should not be allowed in any roadless areas in the
St. Joe Ranger District. In particular, it should be excluded from the
following locations. * All of the Mallard-Larkins roadless area should be
dedicated to non-motorized uses. Trails closed to vehicles should include
Trails 120 and 595 in upper Foehl Creek, Trail 107 and part of Trail 50 in
lower Foehl Creek and the Little North Fork, Trail 105, and the Beaver Peak
Trail 37. The Little North Fork and Foehl Creek watersheds are home to
cutthroat and bull trout, wolves, mountain goats, and the wildest parts of
the Mallard-Larkins roadless area. The remote Little North Fork canyon also
offers challenging river recreation during high water levels.
* All of Grandmother Mountain should be closed to motorized traffic. Trails
251, 261, 273, and 275 have experienced intense damage from two-wheeled
vehicles. Motorized use has also degraded Trails 34, 35, 36, and 52, which
should be closed to all vehicles.
* All of the Mosquito Fly, Midget Peak, and Stateline roadless areas in the
upper St. Joe watershed should be excluded from motorized use. These
wildlands host considerable hiker and horse access that is incompatible with
vehicle traffic. The entire upper St. Joe drainage, which contains crucial
watersheds and important wildlife habitat, should be closed to motorized
vehicles.
2) The proposed travel management plan allows many motorized trails to cross
non-motorized paths in the backcountry or, in some instances, lets motorized
routes change into non-motorized trails in remote areas. This completely
unmanageable prescription for disaster would only foster confusion about
route designations among recreationists. Instead, the Forest Service should
create an enforceable and manageable system that closes distinct roadless
areas – and all trails within them – to motor vehicles.
3) All of the roadless areas in the St. Joe Ranger District are essential
recovery habitat for wolves, grizzlies, lynx, and wolverines. Accordingly,
these wildlands must exclude motor vehicles. Grizzly bears are already
seeking refuge in these forests: a male grizzly crossed St. Joe lands from
the Selkirk Mountains to reside in the North Fork Clearwater country and was
mistakenly killed by a hunter last year. Wolverines and lynx need large
winter ranges free from snowmobiles. All St. Joe roadless areas should be
closed to vehicles, to provide wildlife habitat, protect watersheds, and give
rare, wild species opportunities to recover.
Send your comments by December 15 to: Travel Management St. Joe Ranger
District 222 South Seventh Street, Suite 1 St. Maries, Idaho 83861 or by
email to: comments-northern-idpanhandle-stjoe@fs.fed.us. For more information
about this proposed Forest Service plan, visit the web pages of the Idaho
Panhandle National Forest at:
* St. Joe Ranger District Travel Management Plan [1]
[1] http://www.fs.fed.us/ipnf/stjoe/travelplan/
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