Posted on 01/24/2007 10:17:35 PM PST by george76
Millions of acres of prime recreational opportunities in Montana are threatened with closure. Your action could mean the difference between a "closed" sign and a "trail open" sign. Please take a moment to read the information below and act on the action items.
the U.S. Forest Service is planning a de-facto Wilderness management regime on all "Recommended Wilderness Areas" (RWA).
Under normal circumstances, the "Recommended" Wilderness classification is just that: a recommendation. The decision of "whether Wilderness" is supposed to be left to Congress and the American People.
Sadly, the Northern Region of the U.S. Forest Service seems to think they, not Congress, have the authority to manage these lands -- as Wilderness! New Forest Plans state that RWAs will now become closed to all motorized use, including winter snowmobile use.
Why you should care:
The US Forest Service Region 1 (Northern Region) manages 25 million acres of public national forest and grasslands in Montana, North Dakota, northeast Washington, northern Idaho, and northwest South Dakota.
New Forest Plans, under the guidance of the Northern Region Forester, dictate that large areas will be classified as RWAs. Thousands of acres of prime recreational lands will be included as RWAs in these new Plans. The new plans direct that RWAs will now become closed to winter snowmobile use and all other forms of motorized recreation.
Only Congress has the authority to create designated Wilderness, but these RWAs are being treated as de-facto wilderness under the Region 1 Forester's direction as soon as they are created. This unlawful policy must be stopped immediately.
(Excerpt) Read more at sharetrails.org ...
The newly arrived have changed many historical uses.
We had a spring bear hunting season...now illegal.
We had ranchers using and protecting our high country...now 'vacated' by the eco-nuts inside the USFS.
We have the feds wasting taxpayer money by introducing Canadian wolves...
Sad.
Governor BS and Jon Tester have both groups in their back pockets.
Remember the USF&W biologists who use fur samples from the same lynx over several states and over many different forests to rationalize the closing of these forests ?
They were working on creating many new wildernesss areas, blocking ski areas, closing trails and 'ways'...
In Vail they even got help from their friends who burned down a ski lodge, etc.
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