Clearwater Travel Planning comment period re-opened

The Clearwater Travel Plan Comment Period has been strangely re-opened. Rumor has it the motorized use crowd did not send in enough comments! Let's remind them that roadless areas should also be motorless! Be sure to encourage the Clearwater NF to drop the ill-advised Orogrande ORV Project, a proposal that conflicts directly with the intention of the National Forest ORV Rule and would open more trails to motorized use on the North Fork Clearwater.

Weitas Creek, a spectacular drainage in the Clearwater National Forest with wilderness characteristics that make it an outstanding asset for wildlife, clean watersheds and recreationists, is under assault!

In spite of the fact that this drainage is the most important roadless area for the entire forest, the 250,000 acre area will receive no protection and be allocated to motorized use in the Forest Service’s preliminary plan. The Clearwater NF is currently designating routes and areas open to motorized use across the entire forest. This Travel Planning effort is supposed to address the problem of unmanaged and unregulated motorized recreation which has increased dramatically throughout the West in the past decade. Instead of taking this threat seriously (considered one of the top five threats to National Forest lands by former Chief Dale Bosworth), the Forest Service is catering to the motorized community by allowing individuals to propose new motorized routes for consideration. Proposing illegally carved out trails to be considered as legitimate designated routes is even acceptable! A lack of motorized recreation management over the last decade has already caused incremental problems for Weitas Creek, Pot Mountain, Fish and Hungery Creeks, the Fish Lake trail in the Kelly Creek Roadless Area, and many other wild places in the Wild Clearwater Country. Places that were only used for quiet recreation in the recent past (horse and foot traffic) are now being used by off-road-vehicles (ORVs). Weitas Creek is one of those areas. These areas should be wild and free from damaging motorized use, free from harmful forest practices, and free to be enjoyed unimpaired for generations to come. Please take the time to comment.

Talking Points you may want to include in your comment

•Motorized recreation should not be allowed in any roadless areas on the Clearwater NF, including Weitas Creek, Pot Mountain, Fish and Hungery Creeks and the wild areas south of the Lochsa adjacent to the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness. These areas are of immense value for anadromous (chinook & steelhead) and resident (bull trout, cutthroat trout) fisheries and wildlife

•Be sure to encourage the Clearwater NF to drop the ill-advised Orogrande ORV Project, a proposal that conflicts directly with the intention of the National Forest ORV Rule and would open more trails to motorized use on the North Fork Clearwater.

•Illegally created motorized trails should be restored to natural condition and should not be legitmized as designated routes during the Travel Planning process

•The Weitas Creek backcountry inclues three major stream systems-- Weitas, Cayuse and Fouth of July Creeks, which flow into the North Fork Clearwater. During the roadless area evaluation of the late 70s and early 80s, Weitas Creek was the considered the most important unroaded area on the Clearwater for wildlife. Hemlock Creek, a tributary of Weitas Creek, is a proposed research/natural area. In one of the few upper elevation areas, near Weitas Butte, there is a unique higher-elevation stand of ancient cedars

•Pot Mountain contains important mountain goat habitat and may be the wildest unprotected area on the Clearwater. It has dramati changes in elevation

•Fish and Hungery Creeks are the most important steelhead streams in all of Idaho. This roadless area should be closed to motorized vehicles to protect the watershed

•The trail to Fish Lake was opened to motorized use without any environmental analysis or public participation. Resource damage caused by motorized recreation is extensive there and needs to end

•Some areas adjacent to the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness are closed to vehicles in the summer, yet allow snowmobiles access to the Wilderness on trail heads that begin outside of Wilderness. These trails should be closed to all motorized use

•All Clearwater NF roadless areas are crucial recovery habitat for rare predators. In order for grizzlies to recover, these areas must be closed to motor vehicles. Wolverines and lynx need large areas free from snowmobiles. Already, the Clearwater NF has dedicated areas such as Deception Saddle, Clarke Mountain, Sheep Mountain and almost all of the Palouse Ranger District to off-road vehicles. Roadless areas must be closed to motor vehicle to effectively provide wildlife habitat, protect watersheds, and give rare species the chance to recover

Email comments to: comments-northern-clearwater@fs.fed.us

Please send your comments by Feb. 29, 2008 to:

Lochsa Ranger District, Kamiah Ranger Station

Attn: Lois Foster Team Leader

Rt. 2 Box 191 Kamiah

ID 83536