Summer Solstice 2006. Volume 11 No.

Mojave Riparian Recovery Threatened

By Daniel Patterson and Dan Funsch

The White Mountains of Mono Country, California. Photo by Daniel Patterson.

Inside…
Mojave Riparian Recovery Threatened, by Daniel
Patterson and Dan Funsch. Pages 3-5
Biblio Notes: The Impact of Roads on Aquatic
Benthic Macroinvertibrates, by Christine
Morris. Pages 6-8
Regional Reports. Pages 9-11
Depaving the Way, by Bethanie Walder. Pages
12-13
Citizen Spotlight: Glen Jensen. Pages 14-15
Get with the Program: Restoration and
Transportation Program Updates. Pages
16-17
Policy Primer: Citizen Alternatives for Travel
Planning, by Tim D. Peterson. Pages 18-19
Odes to Roads: The Deep Blue Breath of Wildness,
by Phil Condon. Pages 20-21
Around the Office, Membership Info. Pages 22-23

Check out our website at: www.wildlandscpr.org

 P.O. Box 7516
Missoula, MT 59807

I
(406) 543-9551
n April, Senator Conrad Burns (R-MT) introduced legislation to allow motorized access www.wildlandscpr.org
to 16 wilderness dams in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness Area along the Montana/
Idaho border (see alert on page 15). While the bill sounds outlandish, we must take Wildlands CPR works to protect and restore
this threat seriously. wildland ecosystems by preventing and
removing roads and limiting motorized
The threat is great for two reasons. First, in December 2004, Congress passed a law recreation. We are a national clearinghouse
to change wilderness boundaries to allow for road use. Second, during the past few years and network, providing citizens with tools
Congress has been passing comprehensive land management bills that threaten the con- and strategies to fight road construction,
cept of wilderness as places free from motors. Senator Burns’ bill is a real danger to one deter motorized recreation, and promote road
of the largest wilderness areas in the lower 48 states. removal and revegetation.

First, let’s look at the 2004 precedent. The Cumberland Island Wilderness is part Director
Bethanie Walder
of Georgia’s Cumberland Island National Seashore. This Wilderness Area was shrunk,
partially “un-designated,” by a bill that allowed motorized recreational access to historic
Development Director
sites. The “Cumberland Island Wilderness Boundary Adjustment Act” mandates that five
Tom Petersen
to eight round-trip rides be made available daily on two roads. It was passed as part of a
larger “must pass” appropriations bill, and it set a dangerous precedent.
Restoration Program
Coordinator
Second, several new land management bills (see RIPorter 9:4) (either proposed or en-
Marnie Criley
acted) contradict the traditional concept of designated wilderness under the Wilderness
Act. For example, three new “wilderness” bills in Colorado provide legislatively protected Science Coordinator
motorized recreation opportunities (outside of the wilderness boundaries). Numerous Adam Switalski
similar bills are currently being debated in Congress.
NTWC Forest Campaign
Burns wants to change the Bitterroot Coordinator
boundaries to allow maintenance at 16 dams Jason Kiely
that were constructed prior to the wilderness
designation. He claims the bill is solely for Transportation Policy
maintenance and safety, but it would exempt Coordinator
activities on the dams, lakes and rights of way Tim Peterson
from the National Dam Safety Program Act (as
Program Assistant
well as other environmental laws). The bill
Cathy Adams
would allow unlimited motorized travel along
the rights of way, not just motorized use for
dam maintenance. Newsletter
Dan Funsch & Marianne Zugel
In 1997 the Forest Service determined
Interns & Volunteers
that emergency measures were needed to
Anna Holden, Breeann Johnson,
make the Bass Creek dam safe, and they Tracy Jo Schweigert, Marlee Ostheimer
allowed water users to rebuild a road and
repair the dam with heavy equipment. The Board of Directors
agency has repeatedly made provisions for Amy Atwood, Greg Fishbein, Jim Furnish, William
motorized “emergency” dam access without Geer, Dave Havlick, Rebecca Lloyd, Cara Nelson,
special legislation. This bill is not justifiable, Sonya Newenhouse, Patrick Parenteau
it is simply a direct attack on The Wilderness
Advisory Committee
Act.
Jasper Carlton, Dave Foreman,
Keith Hammer, Timothy Hermach,
Senator Burns has feigned a safety con- Marion Hourdequin, Kraig Klungness, Lorin Lind-
cern while actually pushing motorized access ner, Andy Mahler, Robert McConnell, Stephanie
into this incredible wilderness. While the bill Mills, Reed Noss, Michael Soulé, Steve Trombulak,
is unlikely to pass Congress if debated on its Louisa Willcox, Bill Willers, Howie Wolke

Bass Creek dam, in the Selway-Bitterroot merits, if it were attached to an appropria-

Wilderness. Photo courtesy of Montana Trout. tions bill or some other must-pass legislation,
it could quickly become law. For more infor-
© 2006 Wildlands CPR
mation, see page 15 or visit our website.

2 The Road-RIPorter, Summer Solstice 2006

 “With Friends Like That...”
BLM Threatens<Mojave Riparian Recovery
By Daniel Patterson and Dan Funsch

F
or a few precious years, two of the nation’s finest
specimens of desert riparian area have been
protected from off-road abuse. In hard fought
battles that began nearly a decade ago, the Center
for Biological Diversity (“the Center”), Friends of the
Inyo, the Sierra Club of California, and their allies won
protections for the Mojave Desert’s Furnace Creek and
Surprise Canyon. Now, the Bureau of Land Manage-
ment (BLM), the Inyo National Forest, and a small but
vocal community of off-road enthusiasts are threaten-
ing the recovery of both these unique areas.

Furnace Creek drains the eastern side of the

magnificent White Mountains in Mono County, while
Surprise Canyon cascades down from the Panamint
Range of Death Valley National Park into the BLM
California Desert Conservation Area (CDCA) in Inyo
County. At the behest of off-roaders, BLM and the
Inyo National Forest are considering allowing off-
road vehicles to ‘mud bog’ in Furnace Creek and to
once again open Surprise Canyon to off-road vehicle
use. This would rewrite two success stories of desert
riparian restoration, and lead to the quick degradation
of water quality and wildlife habitat. The issue has
recently attracted the attention of California’s OHV
Commission, as well as California’s Senators Feinstein
and Boxer.

Furnace Creek Background

Furnace Creek is a beautiful perennial stream
draining the arid east side of the White Mountains, on
the boundary between the Mojave and Great Basin
deserts, containing some of California’s northernmost
Joshua Trees. This slow moving creek creates rare Looking up a waterfall along Surprise Canyon. Photo by Daniel Patterson.
desert wetlands and nurtures a mature forest of gigan-
tic cottonwoods and water birch thickets. It is home
to the Mono Basin sage grouse, which the Center has
petitioned for Endangered Species Act protection, in the early 80’s, but natural reclamation by willows, cottonwoods,
and is a rich part of the desert web-of-life. The area water birch, cattails and sedges was not enough to keep off-road
provides important habitat for neo-tropical migratory vehicles, jeeps & motorcycles out. Vehicles punched through the
birds, such as yellow and MacGillivray’s warblers, yel- creek, shrubs, bogs and all, leaving a muddy mess in their wake. Off-
low-breasted chats and lazuli buntings, and supports roaders wanted the road rebuilt, while conservationists argued the
marshes of cattails and sedges. The health of this area should be closed to off-road vehicles to facilitate the canyon’s
riparian area is also vital to local deer populations, natural recovery. In 2003, both the Inyo National Forest and BLM
raptors, mountain lions, bobcats, and quail. found that the off-road vehicle damage was legally unacceptable and
issued an interim closure for the area.
Furnace Creek’s lower section is within the BLM
California Desert Conservation Area (CDCA) and
managed by the BLM Ridgecrest Field Office, while its
upper length lies within the Inyo National Forest. An
old “road” up Furnace Creek washed out sometime — continued on next page —

The Road-RIPorter, Summer Solstice 2006 3

— continued from page 3 —

Surprise Canyon Background

Like Furnace Creek, Surprise Canyon is managed by the Ridgecrest In 2000, the Center for Biological
BLM office as part of the CDCA. It the most productive spring-fed stream Diversity, Public Employees for Envi-
in the entire Mojave Desert: it is fed by Brewery Spring within Death ronmental Responsibility, and Sierra
Valley National Park, and Limekiln Spring. Surprise Canyon is home to Club filed a lawsuit against BLM in the
the endangered Inyo California towhee and endemic Panamint alligator Northern District of California, seeking
lizard, and it is potential habitat for endangered riparian obligate birds to close the canyon to off-road vehicles.
such as the Southwestern willow flycatcher and Least Bell’s vireo. Then in 2001, as part of a settlement
agreement, BLM published a protective
closure notice in the federal register,
which banned motor vehicle use in the
canyon at least until BLM completed
“Desert riparian lands should be conserved and its CDCA Plan amendment. The vehicle
restored, and protected in their natural state. Off- closures were to be a top option consid-
road vehicle recreation should not be expanded, ered by BLM in the CDCA Plan.

encouraged, or maintained in fragile desert riparian

Re-opening Old Wounds
landscapes...”
Recently, a handful of extreme
— California OHV Commission off-roaders started a move to again
open Surprise canyon to off-road traffic.
They hope to ride through and winch
up the waterfalls, despite the great
damage this would cause to natural
For years, BLM had allowed unregulated extreme off-road vehicle and recreational values. Many good-
use of Surprise Canyon. Off-road vehicles regularly winched-up water- sized riparian trees – cottonwoods and
falls, cut native vegetation and spilled oil & gas into the water. The dam- willows – would have to be removed.
age was so bad that at one point BLM stated: “The canyon riparian zone The Park Service and BLM are prepar-
currently does not meet the BLM’s minimum standards for a properly ing an Environmental Impact Statement
functioning riparian system due to soil erosion and streambed altera- (EIS) to address options for the area,
tions caused by off-highway vehicle use.” which will be presented in the form of
an amendment to the CDCA Plan. While
the Park Service appears to oppose
re-opening the area to off-roaders, BLM
seems intent on allowing the off-road
destruction.

In Furnace Creek, a similar initia-

tive by off-roaders would re-open the
area to allow “mud bogging,” where off-
road vehicles drive through fragile wet-
lands. This would impair water quality
and sensitive wildlife habitat and turn
back the clock on the natural restora-
tion that has been occurring since the
closure. The Inyo NF and Ridgecrest
BLM office are now considering options
for Furnace Creek. They released an
Environmental Assessment (EA) early
in 2006 and analyzed six alternatives to
either permanently close — or realign
and improve the road.

Rare desert stream beds at the mouth of Surprise Canyon. Photo by Daniel Patterson.

4 The Road-RIPorter, Summer Solstice 2006

State Commission and U.S. Senators
Weigh In
The State of California addressed the issue
in late 2005 by adopting a new policy to protect
critically endangered desert streams. Recognizing
that desert riparian areas have declined by over
90 percent in California, the California Off-Highway
Vehicle Commission (OHV Commission) passed a
policy declaring:

“Desert riparian lands should be conserved

and restored, and protected in their natural state.
Off-road vehicle recreation should not be expanded,
encouraged, or maintained in fragile desert riparian
landscapes. It is the policy of the Commission that
absent extraordinary and demonstrable need, it
will not fund or support any grants or cooperative
agreements which will directly or indirectly encour-
age, increase, or maintain off-road vehicle use in or
through the bed, bank, or channel of any existing
desert riparian botanical area. The Commission
shall maintain a list of priority Desert Riparian lands
and shall evaluate the list at least every five years
to maintain the integrity of these protected areas.
The Division shall not solicit or approve any grant or
cooperative agreement which will develop or rees-
tablish off-road vehicle use in a desert riparian area
unless exempted from this policy by noticed vote of
the Commission.”

While the state OHV Commission does not have

management authority over either Furnace Creek or
Surprise Canyon, their strongly worded statement
lends support to the effort to protect these areas.
Shortly after the OHV Commission acted, BLM’s Cali-
Hikers take in the scenery along Furnace Creek. Photo by Daniel Patterson.
fornia Director wrote a letter opposing the policy.

Next to join the debate were California Sena-

tors Feinstein (D) and Boxer (D). In a letter in December 2005, they
requested that the BLM and the Park Service support the permanent
closure of Surprise Canyon above Chris Wicht Camp, the terminus of
an access road. Their letter cited the area’s “rare and remarkable”
resources, the presence of endangered species, and the availability
of alternative destinations for off-road vehicle riding. They also
pointed out that while the 1994 California Desert Protection Act
omitted a narrow “cherry stem” of the canyon from Wilderness des-
ignation, it did so to allow potential access to mining claims, not to
authorize recreational off-road vehicle use.
Help Protect These Desert Riparian Treasures
While awaiting the release of decision documents for the Fur-
nace Creek Road Environmental Assessment (EA) and the Surprise
Canyon EIS, the Center for Biological Diversity is organizing allies
and preparing for possible legal action should it be needed. The
Center submitted joint comments on the Furnace Creek EA along
with the California Wilderness Coalition, Friends of the Inyo, and
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. Meanwhile,
over near Surprise Canyon, the Center is working closely with local
residents who realize that they cannot take clean water and natural
quiet for granted. They vow to take direct action if
necessary to keep off-road vehicles out of the canyon.
Please lend your support to the campaign to protect
these unique areas by contacting the Center for Bio-
logical Diversity.
For More Information
Read the California OHV Commission Policy on
Desert Riparian Areas: http://ohv.parks.ca.gov/default.
asp?page_id=24182
For more information on Furnace Creek: http://
www.friendsoftheinyo.org/web-content/pages/furnace/
Furnacepage.htm
Join the campaign by contacting the Center for
Biological Diversity at 520.623.5252 or dpatterson@bio
logicaldiversity.org
— Daniel R. Patterson is a Desert Ecologist with the
Center for Biological Diversity. Dan Funsch is editor of
The Road RIPorter.

The Road-RIPorter, Summer Solstice 2006 5


The Impact of Roads on Aquatic Benthic
Macroinvertebrates and Using Bioassessments as
Indicators of Stream Health
By Christine Morris
S
edimentation is widely acknowl-
edged as a major cause of deg-
radation of instream habitats
(Wood et al. 2005). During rain storms
and snowmelt, dirt and gravel roads
bleed sediment into ditches that often
drain into streams. These roads are a
major source of stream sediment loads,
especially harmful fine sediments, and
roads contribute more sediment to
streams than any other land manage-
ment activity (USDA 2000). Sedimenta-
tion is directly related to a decrease
in benthic macroinvertebrate density
and a change in diversity according
to a number of studies. In this paper I
review some of the impacts of sedimen-
tation on benthic invertebrates and ex-
plain how examining macroinvertebrate
diversity can help determine overall
aquatic ecosystem health.
Overview of Impacts
Wood and Armitage (1997) define
four primary ways in which fine sedi-
ments impair macroinvertebrate diver-
sity and health: 1) altering substrate
composition and changing its suitability
for some taxa; 2) increasing drift due
to sediment deposition or substrate in-
stability; 3) affecting respiration due to
silt deposition on respiration structures
or low oxygen concentrations associ-
ated with silt deposits; 4) impeding
filter feeding by increasing suspended
sediment concentration, reducing the
food value of periphyton, killing aquatic
flora, and reducing the density of prey
items. In addition, through drift caused
by scouring the streambed, macroinver-
tebrates can become more susceptible
to predation or experience damaged
respiratory systems (Newcombe and
MacDonald 1991).
6 The Road-RIPorter, Summer Solstice 2006
Bibliography Notes summarizes and highlights some of the
scientific literature in our 10,000 citation bibliography on the
physical and ecological effects of roads and off-road vehicles. We
offer bibliographic searches to help activists access important
biological research relevant to roads. We keep copies of most
articles cited in Bibliography Notes in our office library.
Roads are also respon-
sible for chemical contamina-
tion of streams. For example,
Forrow and Maltby (2000)
investigated the mecha-
nistic basis for reduced
leaf processing in a stream
contaminated with motorway
(superhighway) runoff. They
found the feeding rate of
Gammarus pulex (Amphipo-
da), the dominant detrivore
at the site, was significantly
reduced downstream of the
motorway discharge. Ap-
proximately 70 percent of
the reduction in feeding rate
could be accounted for by
the direct effects of exposure
to contaminated sediment.
Increased stream temper-
ature and reduced dissolved
oxygen content of streams
can also be attributed to road
activities such as the clearing
High school students learn the importance of
of stream-side vegetation and macroinvertebrates in stream monitoring. Photo by Adam
the input of sediments. Fine Switalski.
sediment reduces dissolved
oxygen content of the affected stream as suspended solids absorb heat from sun-
light and increase stream temperature. Temperatures greater than 21oC (70oF) can
severely stress most coldwater macroinvertebrates (Frondork 2001).
Using Macroinvertebrates for Stream Assessments
Bioassessment of rivers and streams can reveal water quality and stream
ecosystem impairment. Aquatic benthic macroinvertebrates are especially useful
indicators as each species has a specific tolerance for water conditions (Frondork
2001). These aquatic biota are affected by the physical, chemical and biological
conditions of the stream and may show impacts from habitat loss not detected
by traditional water quality assessments. As monitors of environmental quality,
macroinvertebrates can reveal episodic as well as cumulative pollution and habitat
alteration. The use of macroinvertebrates as bioindicators has been shown to be
one of the most reliable and cost-effective assessment tools of water and habitat
quality in streams throughout the world (King et al. 2000).
 Macroinvertebrate assess-
ment is crucial for determining
aquatic ecosystem health in
roaded landscapes. The presence
of roads has been shown to be
highly correlated with changes in
species composition, population
sizes, and hydrologic and geomor-
phic processes that shape aquatic
and riparian systems (Trombulak
and Frissell 2000). Macroinverte-
brate diversity and abundance are
affected by roads; their physi-
cal and behavioral changes can
pinpoint sources of road-caused
habitat impact.

Various models have been

used to assess macroinvertebrate
response to road induced aquatic
changes. The heterogeneity of
stream ecosystems, the variable
responses of macroinvertebrates,
and the differences between Water quality degradation due to roads is not often apparent to the casual observer, so it is important to
agency models suggest that analy- rely on indicators such as macroinvertebrates. Photo copyright Mark Alan Wilson.
sis of the reference conditions and
the model used is essential in interpreting bioassessment
results. Though impact is evident, collaboration between
agencies and citizen scientist working groups to define model
standards is needed for remediation of problems indicated by
bioassessment results.
EPT Index
The most general macroinvertebrate assessment model
uses the EPT index. This index claims that although different
insect taxa vary widely in their sensitivity to sedimentation,
the taxa from the orders Ephemeroptera (E), Plecoptera (P),
and Trichoptera (T) behave similarly. However, a taxonomic
group can exhibit a great deal of heterogeneity (Lenat et al.
1981), so an assessment method like the EPT may be insensi-
tive to changes in species composition unless composition is
altered along with overall taxa richness (Hawkins et al. 2000).
Multimetric and multivariate approaches can increase a
model’s accuracy. These models evaluate the sampled com-
munity by comparing observed conditions to what conditions
or taxa are expected to occur in the absence of disturbance.
The sampling method is important to consider as well. Gradi-
ent sampling designs have been shown to be more sensitive
and powerful statistically than designs based on random
allocation of samples (King et al. 2000).
The type of model used in macroinvertebrate assessment
significantly affects determination of water quality impair-
ment. Identifying the specific impact on a macroinvertebrate
population may also be difficult due to the geomorphological
and geochemical controls on the physical and chemical char-
acteristics of streams. Many of the environmental variables
are interrelated (Griffith et al. 2001) and as a result, com-
munity assemblages will be correlated with these variables,
though species distributions may be directly affected by
only one or a subset of the variables (Griffith et al. 2001). In
addition to the physical variations that may influence data
acquisition and interpretation, state agencies use different
methods and models to biologically assess water quality.
(Barbour et al. 1999).
Multimetric Assessments
US EPA Region IV has suggested adopting national
multimetric assessment methods, sharing information on suc-
cessful approaches to decision criteria, developing regional
reference conditions across political boundaries, and devel-
oping shared ecological databases. They have also initiated
cooperative efforts to increase exchange of biological data in
shared ecoregions or basins. Conducting side-by-side assess-
ments with multi-agency projects and using a single method
would also assist in stream classification and developing
regional reference conditions by ensuring that differences in
assessment results are a consequence of natural differences
in biotic communities and not investigator bias (Housten et
al. 2002).
Conclusion
Roads cause a variety of impacts on stream ecosystem
health and water quality. The use of macroinvertebrate as-
sessment can reveal these impacts if properly conducted.
Careful environmental analysis of the site, data comparison
to reference sites and species-specific response models can
provide accurate assessment of stream impairment and
can generate predictions of macroinvertebrate response
to road-caused impacts. Comparison of macroinvertebrate
assessment results based on methods and models collected
by various citizen groups and state agencies will facilitate an
accurate understanding of road-caused impacts on stream
health.
— Christine Morris is a graduate student in Environmental
Studies at the University of Montana.
— References follow on next page —

The Road-RIPorter, Summer Solstice 2006 7

References
Barbour, M. T., J. Gerritsen, B. D. Snyder, and J. B. Stribling.
1999. Rapid Bioassessment Protocols for use in
Streams and Wadeable Rivers: Periphyton, benthic
macroinvertebrates, and fish. EPA 841-B-99-002. Second
Edition. US Environmental Protection Agency, Office of
Water, Washington, DC.
Forrow, D. M., and L. Maltby. 2000. Toward a mechanistic
understanding of contaminant-induced changes in
detritus processing in streams: direct and indirect
effects on detrivore feeding. Environmental Toxicology
and Chemistry 19(8):2100-2106.
Frondork, L. 2001. An Investigation of the Relationships
between Stream Benthic Macroinvertebrate Assemblage
Conditions and their Stressors. Thesis for Virginia
Polytechnic Institute and State University.
Griffith, M. B., P. R. Kaufmann, A. T. Herlihy, and B. H. Hill.
2001. Analysis of macroinvertebrate assemblages in
relation to environmental gradients in Rocky Mountain
streams. Ecological Applications 11(2):489-505.
Hawkins, C. P., R. H. Norris, J. N. Houge, and J. W. Feminella.
2000. Development and Evaluation of Predictice models
for measuring the biological integrity of streams
Ecological Applications 10(5):1456-1477.
Housten, L., M. T. Barbour, D. Lenat, and D. Penrose. 2002. A
mulit-agency comparison of aquatic macroinvertebrate
stream based bioassessment methodologies. Ecological
Indicators 1(4):279-292
Hikers make their way along the spring-fed creek in Surprise Canyon. Photo by Daniel Patterson.
8 The Road-RIPorter, Summer Solstice 2006
King, R. S., K. T. Nunnery, and C. J. Richardson. 2000.
Macroinvertebrate assemblage response to highway
crossings in forested wetlands: implications for
biological assessment. Wetlands Ecology and
Management 8:243-256.
Lenat, D., D. L. Penrose, and K. W. Eagleson. 1981. Variable
effects of sediment addition on stream benthos.
Hydrobiologia 187-194.
McGurk, B. J., and D. R. Fong. 1995. Equivalent roaded area as
a measure of cumulative effect of logging. Environmental
Management 19(4):609-621.
Mebane, C. A. 2001. Testing bioassessment metrics;
macroinvertebrate, sculpin, and salmonid responses
to stream habitat, sediment, and metals. Environmental
Monitoring and Assessment 67:293-322.
Newcombe, C. P., and D. D. MacDonald. 1991. Effects of
suspended sediments on aquatic ecosystems. North
American Journal of Fisheries Management 11:72-82
Trombulak, S. C. and C. A. Frissell. 2000. Review of ecological
effects of roads on terrestrial and aquatic communities.
Conservation Biology 14(1):18-30.
United States Department of Agriculture. 2000. Forest Service
Roadless Area Conservation Rule: Final Environmental
Impact Statement.
Wood, P. J., J. Toone, M. T. Greenwood, and P. D. Armitage.
2005. The response of four lotic macroinvertebrate taxa
to burial by sediments. Arch. Hydrobiology 163(2):145-
162.
Wood, P. J. and P. D. Armitage. 1997. Biological effects of
fine sediment in the lotic environment. Environmental
Management 21(2):203-217.
Forest Guardians Awarded
Collaborative Road
Decommissioning Grant
On Friday April 28th, a 15-member federal panel
granted Forest Guardians $360,000 under the Col-
laborative Forest Restoration Program (Community
Forest Restoration Act, Pub. L. No. 106-393) to decom-
mission and close excessive roads on the Santa Fe
National Forest in New Mexico. The Santa Fe National
Forest has the highest road density of any forest in
the Southwest Region. The federal grant is unique in
that it greatly expands the concept of forest restora-
tion in the Southwest beyond tree-cutting.
High road densities degrade water quality, com-
pact soils, fragment wildlife habitat, and contribute to
fire ignitions during inappropriate weather conditions.
The project will eliminate these negative conse-
quences, improving forest health and water quality for
downstream users such as land grant communities,
municipalities, acequia (irrigation) associations, and
acequia systems.
Under the terms of the grant, Forest Guardians
will work with several collaborators, including Billy
Cordova Logging Inc., Coronado High School, and the
Coyote Volunteer Fire Department to restore forests
that were heavily logged and roaded over the last cen-
tury. The goal is to rehabilitate 20 miles and 10 stream
crossings. Road decommissioning and revegetation
is expected to cost $5,000 per mile and $3,000 per
stream crossing. The project will also help develop a
sustainable forest restoration industry in the area.
Off-road vehicle tracks in a high alpine meadow. Photo
courtesy of Forest Guardians of Santa Fe, NM.
The Road-RIPorter, Summer Solstice 2006
New Federal Policy Aides States
In Claiming Roads (RS 2477)
Outgoing Interior Secretary Gale Norton signed a
“secretarial order” reinforcing states’ and counties’ rights
to claim roads on federal land as their own, and maintain
or expand them. The policy will apply to roads on all
public lands, including national parks and wildlife refuges.
The order effectively repeals Bureau of Land Man-
agement rules, which, since 1997, required states and
counties to show proof of construction in order to claim a
road under RS 2477. Now, counties need only prove road
claims under state laws.
Norton’s order reflects a court ruling last fall that
upheld the rights of several Utah counties to grade roads
across the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.
Under the ruling, neither the state nor the federal govern-
ment can act unilaterally in changing the size or use of a
road.
States’ rights advocates praise the policy as a vic-
tory for local control, while environmental groups are
concerned that the order will lead to increased devel-
opment and access for off-road vehicle use on public
lands. “There are red flags all over this,” said Southern
Utah Wilderness Alliance Director Heidi McIntosh. “The
biggest red flag is that the trails and other routes that are
now closed to vehicular traffic will be turned over to the
counties, who will in turn try to turn them into highways.”
No Progress In Snowmobile
Emissions Since 2001
A Yellowstone National Park study has concluded
that even the cleanest snowmobiles have failed to meet
projected improvements in emissions. The study dem-
onstrates that snowcoaches are up to 41 times cleaner
than the most environmentally-friendly snowmobiles in
the Park. Yellowstone asked snowmobile manufacturers
to reduce carbon monoxide emissions by 70 percent (rela-
tive to 1999 two-stroke engines), but no 2005 snowmobile
has met that goal.
Yellowstone National Park is working on an envi-
ronmental impact statement that will call for improved
technology, but many are unsure if snowmobile manufac-
turers can be made to comply. Emissions are expected to
improve when cleaner technologies are developed.
— see more updates on next page —
9
 Victories
California’s Algodones Dunes Will Remain Protected
A federal court has ruled against an attempt by the Bureau of
Land Management (BLM) to rescind protection of the Algodones
Sand Dunes in southern California’s Sonoran Desert. The area is
home to several threatened and endangered species, including
Peirson’s milk vetch, desert tortoise, and flat-tailed horned lizard.

In 2000, 50,000 acres of the 180,000-acre dune area were set aside
and designated off-limits to off-road vehicle use. This reprieve has
allowed endangered wildlife to begin to recover. The BLM, however,
recently released a new plan for the dunes that would allow off-road
vehicles in protected areas. The Center for Biological Diversity and
other groups sued the agency.

The court ruled that BLM’s proposed management plan vio-

lated federal statutes including the Endangered Species Act and the
National Environmental Policy Act. For now, these dune areas will
continue to be free of motorized use.
Gallatin National Forest May
Decommission Old Logging Roads
The Gallatin National Forest in Montana is proposing to decom-
mission 47 miles of old logging roads and a 1.2 mile stretch of an
unauthorized off-road vehicle route in the Bangtail Mountains, north-
east of Bozeman.
Many of these roads cut through land formerly owned by Big
Sky Lumber. Forest officials have known for years that the roads are
causing severe erosion, and that siltation in nearby streams is above
allowable levels. Westslope cutthroat trout inhabit the area. The
Forest Service now has the money for the project, and expects to get
started in the summer of 2006. Environmentalists and motorized use
advocates seem to agree that the project is a good one.
An ATV rider ignores an “area closed to motorized vehicles”
sign. Photo courtesy of the Center for Biological Diversity.
Proposed Off-Road Use Along
Alaska’s Dalton Highway
Struck Down
A bill that would have opened the land along
Alaska’s Dalton Highway (see RIPorter 11.1) to off-road
vehicle use died in the Alaska Legislature May 2nd.
The bill, sponsored by Rep. Ralph Seekins (R-Fair-
banks), would have allowed off-road vehicles and
snowmachines in the area. It generated firm opposi-
tion from a broad swath of Alaska interests, including
the Northern Alaska Environmental Center, the North
Slope Borough and the Alaska Trucking Association.
There was concern that motorized use in the area
would have negative effects on wildlife, and could cre-
ate dangerous conditions for truckers using the road.

Similar proposals have been submitted in Alaska

several times before, without success. The proposal’s
Plan To Reopen Florida Forest To Off- sponsor vowed to resurrect the bill next year.

Road Vehicles Rejected

A plan submitted by Florida’s Southwest Division of Forestry to
allow off-road vehicle use in Southern Golden Gate Estates has been
rejected by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The 55,000-acre Es-
tates area is part of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan,
intended to mitigate some of the damage inflicted to the Everglades
for decades. The plan is overseen by the Army Corps of Engineers.

The Corps rejected the proposed re-opening of at least 12 miles

of trails to off-road recreation. Other proposals such as a shooting
range and cattle grazing were similarly rejected. The plan also gener-
Off-road vehicle scars on a vegetated sand dune,
ated criticism from the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The sensitive
Santa Fe National Forest. Photo by Chris Kassar,
area has been closed to off-road vehicle use for some time, but was Center for Biological Diversity.
previously a haven for off-road vehicle users and gun enthusiasts.

10 The Road-RIPorter, Summer Solstice 2006

 Alert
Burns’ Bill Threatens Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness
Legislation would allow more than
100 miles of road building, unlimited
motorized use.
Senator Conrad Burns (R-MT) has introduced
legislation (S.2633) that would allow dam owners in
Montana’s Bitterroot Valley to build roads and use
unlimited amounts of motorized equipment to access
and maintain 16 dams in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilder-
ness. The bill would allow roads to be built where
trails now exist in ten canyons, most of which are
entry points into the 1.3 million-acre Wilderness.

Burns’ bill would:

• Grant unrestricted rights-of-way (ROW) up
to 120 feet wide where trails now exist, and up to 500
feet from the high-water mark around the dams and
lakes. The bill allows dam owners to sell the ROW to
anyone, which could lead to resort home develop-
ment. A dam at the edge of Canyon Lake in the Selway-Bitterroot
• Exempt activities on the dams, lakes and Wilderness. Photo courtesy of Wilderness Watch.
rights-of-way from the Wilderness Act, National Envi-
ronmental Policy Act, National Dam Safety Program
Act, or any federal law to protect fish and wildlife or
maintain water quality. The bill would strike a blow to the Wilderness Act and could set
• Allow unlimited motorized travel along the the stage for road-building in other areas of the National Wilderness
rights-of-way and unlimited use of motorized equip- Preservation System. Furthermore, the bill is entirely unnecessary.
ment at the dams. The Wilderness Act recognizes valid rights of water users to main-
• Strip Forest Service jurisdiction from the tain dams in the Wilderness while preventing degradation of wilder-
lands and give it to the state. The dam owners would ness character. The Forest Service should assist water users in
not be liable for any claim or damage resulting from finding wilderness-compatible, non-motorized ways to maintain the
their operation of the dams, except where one could dams…as it has been done for the past 100 years.
prove negligence of the owner.

Contact Information
Take Action Now!
Senator ____________
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
• Write or call Senator Burns and tell (202) 224-3121 (Capitol Switchboard)
him what you think of his dam bill. Urge him to www.senate.gov
encourage the Forest Service and water users to
seek wilderness compatible, non-motorized solu- Representative ______________
tions. U.S. House of Representatives
• Write or call your own senators and Washington, DC 20515
congresspersons and make them aware of your (202) 224-3121 (Capitol Switchboard)
concerns. www.house.gov

For more information contact Wilderness Watch.

Visit their website at www.wildernesswatch.org.

The Road-RIPorter, Summer Solstice 2006 11

Wildlands CPR Announces
A Road Runs Through It
By Bethanie Walder

I
t was almost exactly ten years ago
(August 1996) when the Wildlands
CPR board realized that we couldn’t
just focus exclusively on providing
activists with legal, scientific and tech-
nical information about roads and off-
road vehicles. We discussed how criti-
cal it is for people to understand WHY
roads have ecological and economic
costs, WHY we have too many roads
and not enough roadless lands; WHY
wildlands should be restored through
road removal; and WHY off-road vehicle
recreation is damaging. After all, if
people don’t understand why some-
thing is a problem, they are unlikely to
do anything about it.

That fall we launched an essay

section in our newsletter to start to
build real understanding about the
problems with roads and off-road
vehicles, and the opportunities for real
wildland restoration. Our first essay
was written by one of our advisory
board members, Howie Wolke. In his
essay, “Aliens Unlock Secrets of the
Road,” Howie theorized that if aliens
were observing the United States, “they
might easily conclude that roads – from
superhighways to bumpy dirt tracks
– have a deep religious significance to
our society. Why else would humans
crisscross the entire landscape with
them?” Later in his essay, he concludes
that our religious-like zeal to build
roads is driven by our desire to control
nature, “We fear what we can’t control, “Wilderness: A Reminder” is a wood engraving by Claire Emery.
and we can’t control nature without A Road Runs Through It: Reviving Wild Places is illustrated with
roads and their trappings.” Howie’s es- Emery’s stunning wood engravings. Emery is an artist and natural-
say was terrific, and it set the stage for ist who focuses on conveying the beauties and mysteries of nature
the next ten years of incredible essays through art and education. She has illustrated publications for
about the problems with roads and clients including W.W Norton, Montana Audubon, U.S. Forest
off-road vehicles, and the values and Service, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, California State Parks,
importance of watershed restoration,
Mountain Press, and Orion magazine. Visit her website at http://
roadless wildlands and more.
emeryart.com.

12 The Road-RIPorter, Summer Solstice 2006

 Several years ago, we started an ef-
fort to compile some of the best essays
into a collection that we could make
more widely available than our news-
letter. Last year we found a publisher,
Johnson Books, and the collection is
being published this summer. Entitled
A Road Runs Through It, it contains 28
essays from an amazing array of writ-
ers. Some of the essays are reprints
from our newsletters over the past ten
years. Some are reprints from other
books, and quite a few were written
just for this collection. Tom Petersen,
Wildlands CPR’s Development Direc-
tor, took on the task of shaping this
collection of essays into a meaningful,
coordinated book about roads, off-road
vehicles and watershed restoration.
For the past several issues of The Road
RIPorter we’ve been printing abridged
versions of these new essays, including
pieces by Phil Condon, Janisse Ray and
Dave Havlick. We’ve printed them to
tickle your interest, and we hope you’ll
pick up a copy of the book to read the
essays in their entirety. In addition
to those authors, the book contains a
foreward by Annie Proulx and essays by
Peter Matthieson, Barry Lopez, Edward
Abbey, Derrick Jensen, Stephanie Mills,
Mary Sojourner, Katie Alvord and many
more fine authors.

Several of these authors will host

readings in their home towns once the
book is published this summer. It’s our
hope that A Road Runs Through It will
help expand the debate around roads,
off-road vehicles and restoration. It
presents an opportunity for readers
to carefully consider the impacts our
actions have. As Howie said so many
years ago, “As society matures beyond
its lingering frontier mentality, perhaps
we’ll loosen our white-knuckled grip on
nature. Maybe we’ll realize that more
roads (and dams, clearcuts, strip malls,
human protoplasm…) make our world
poorer, not richer. … Perhaps we’ll
begin to restore a balance, a life affirm-
ing partnership with the world from
whence we came. A much wilder world
than the one in which we now live.”
And Howie’s right. Ten years ago
the National Park Service was the only
agency routinely restoring wildlands by
removing unneeded, ecologically-dam-
aging roads. In the time since, we’ve
seen the Forest Service state that they
should remove up to 186,000 miles of
roads from national forest lands, and
we’ve seen them invest in some of that
To Purchase A Road Runs Through It:
Call Johnson Books toll-free: 1.800.258.5830
Mention Wildlands CPR and get a 15% discount ($15 instead of $17.50)
The book is also available on Amazon.com. While it may be less ex-
pensive there, Wildlands CPR doesn’t make as much per book. So give
Johnson Books a call to help support Wildlands CPR. Thank you!
much needed work. We’ve seen the done to address road and off-road vehi-
Park Service expand some of its road cle problems, we won’t be satisfied until
removal programs, and we’ve seen a larger and broader number of people
all three land management agencies understand WHY off-road vehicles and
consider new approaches to off-road roads are a problem. As Aldo Leopold
vehicle management (albeit significant once said, “recreational development is
flaws remain). Granted, funding for a job not of building roads into lovely
forest restoration is currently tied up country, but of building receptivity into
in nationwide debates over fire and the still unlovely human mind.” A Road
logging, limiting investment in road Runs Through It attempts to build that
removal, but we’re working on that. receptivity, with thoughtful, provoca-
tive and creative literary essays. We
While it might be easy for a re- hope you enjoy reading it as much as
source organization like Wildlands CPR we’ve enjoyed putting it together.
to focus our efforts on WHAT can be

The Road-RIPorter, Summer Solstice 2006 13

 The Citizen Spotlight shares the stories of some of the
awesome activists and organizations we work with,
both as a tribute to them and as a way of highlighting
successful strategies and lessons learned. Please
e-mail your nomination for the Citizen Spotlight to
cathy@wildlandscpr.org.

Citizen Spotlight on Glen Jensen

By Cathy Adams

I
n 1994 Glen Jensen bought 270 acres of land bordering Arkansas’ Ozark So fight it he did. First Glen prepared
National Forest. By 2003 he and his wife had saved up enough to build comments on the proposed trail. He learned
their dream home, planning to spend the rest of their lives enjoying the that motorized vehicle use would be un-
sights, sounds and solitude of nature. Then in June of 2005 Glen received a let- restricted, the Forest Service had funding
ter informing him that the Forest Service was proposing to designate 74 miles only for trail construction (not upkeep),
of trail in his backyard as off-road vehicle (ORV) routes; directly impacting a there would be no dedicated law enforce-
quality of life he spent more than a decade trying to build. ment, no published regulations for the area
and no dedicated management resources.
Glen’s time spent hunting, fishing and observing wildlife near his home “There’s only one Forest Service law enforce-
allows him to witness bear, deer, mountain lion and turkeys in their natural ment officer responsible for 450,000 acres
habitat. One of his favorite things to do is to listen to nature sounds, but Glen in three counties, he said ‘there’s no way he
says the noise and disturbance created by off-road vehicles cause the wildlife can police the activity.’” When Glen asked
to disappear. “From my experience, deer in the woods become completely about enforcement he was told the ATV clubs
nocturnal, the bear will move out and turkeys will nest elsewhere…I’ve seen would police themselves.
turkeys abandon nests due to off-road vehicle disturbance.”
Concerned about this and other issues,
Currently, some hunters and hikers use the 74 miles of trail, but the Glen commented that the proposed trail
trails are at least 30 years old, overgrown and have been mostly reclaimed along the north boundary of his property
by the forest. With all the downed trees and limited access, off-road vehicles would also disturb wildlife. He expressed
go somewhere else. But if the Buckhorn OHV Trail goes through the For- his concerns over the county road use and
est Service would clean up the old trails, create three miles of new trail and maintenance, trash dumping and littering,
construct three new trailheads — one of which would be 1.5 miles from the the project’s funding, maintenance and noise,
Jensen’s home. With the three county roads around his home creating a tri- dust and water quality impacts.
angle of access points, there would be a constant stream of off-road vehicles
near his property. “We live here because of the solitude and quiet. If the For- A few months later Glen received a Deci-
est Service puts an off-road vehicle track here it destroys our way of living. So sion Notice from the Forest Service with a
the only choice is to fight it or leave…and I don’t want to leave.” Finding of No Significant Impact. However,
they did consider the section of proposed
trail that ran along Glen’s northern property
boundary, and moved it farther north. While
Glen appreciated that, it was the only con-
cern they addressed, so he decided to file an
appeal and found an environmental law firm
to assist him.

While Glen waited for his appeal to be

processed, he researched more of the proj-
ect. He contacted organizations and individu-
als who commented on the original proposal.
He contacted his state senator, state repre-
sentative and Governor, and he called U.S.
Senators Mark Pryor (D) and Blanche Lincoln
(D). Sen. Pryor sent someone out to walk-
through Glen’s property and asked him to
put on paper what kind of proposal he would
accept should the project go through. Glen
decided he would like to see the trailhead
Glen after a successful hunt. proposed 1.5 miles from his home removed.

14 The Road-RIPorter, Summer Solstice 2006

Senators Lincoln and Pryor both wrote
letters to the Forest Service relaying Glen’s
concerns.
Near the end of January 2006 Glen
received a letter stating that his appeal was
accepted and that he should receive a reply
within three months. One week later he got
another letter saying that the Forest Service
had decided to go forward with the project.
Glen called the Regional Office: “You told
me this would take until March. I thought
someone would come out to look at it…re-
view maps…and a few days later I receive
this letter? That shows me you didn’t review
my appeal.”
Undeterred, Glen researched further
and came across another project proposed
for the same area: The Pine Mountain Dam.
The dam would provide area residents a
year round supply of water to combat past
shortages. Glen compared maps and found
that the Buckhorn OHV Trail would cross the
river upstream of the proposed dam, which
he thought could potentially have an impact
on the water quality of Lee Creek, the source
downstream residents were planning to use
as their drinking supply.
Off-road impacts to soils, water and solitude are
among Glen’s concerns. Photo by Glen Jensen.
The Road-RIPorter, Summer Solstice 2006
Off-road access points often become a conduit for the illegal dumping of garbage
and debris. Photo by Glen Jensen.
This discovery gave Glen the new angle he needed. He found that Sen.
Lincoln got $100,000 appropriated for the dam and found that the Army Corps
of Engineers had put up $350,000. Glen called State Representative Beverly
Pyle (R) and asked her to send a letter about his findings. Glen also wrote to
Michael Sanders, the supervisor of the Ozark-St. Francis National Forest. In
short order, Glen received a response from the Forest Service saying they
were pulling the Buckhorn OHV Trail project until further analysis could be
completed.
Glen was thrilled to get the news. Although the success was only tempo-
rary, Glen figured he had two to five years until the Forest Service could com-
plete another EA, and it bought him time to gain support from the community.
Glen’s advice: don’t give up. He participated in the comment period,
wrote an appeal, and did extensive research. He submitted a Freedom of
Information Act request to release the names of those who commented on the
proposal and to see the sources of project funding. He found out that only 39
people commented on the proposal, and he called them to try to collaborate.
Glen credits the non-profit environmental law firm, Wildlaw, for valuable as-
sistance, in particular, their publications that offered advice on Forest Service
regulations and how to prepare for litigation. Glen also recommends getting
on the Forest Service mailing list for projects in your area. “Don’t get taken by
surprise,” he says.
Glen’s inspiration comes from going out into the woods and listening to
nature’s sounds. “I go back and forth on the off-road vehicle trail and I some-
times think it won’t be that bad. But then I sit in the woods listening to the
birds and the squirrels…hear hens clucking on a nest behind me…and then I
hear a four wheeler four miles down the road…and that’s just one.”
Glen isn’t sure what the future holds for the Buckhorn OHV Trail. “If the
project goes through I will submit comments, file an appeal and go to federal
court if I have to. If it ends, well, then that’s it.” As of now Glen’s passion has
forced him to use his personal money to fight his cause, “Right now I’m trying
to sell 121 acres to fund this fight and I’m taking money out of my 401k to do
this.” But Glen believes it’s all worth it, “If they put the off-road vehicle trail
in I can’t hunt. I can’t hear the gobble of turkeys over the noise of off-road
vehicles. It will take away my freedom to pursue what I consider to be one of
the most important activities in my life.”
— Cathy Adams is the Wildlands CPR Program and Membership Associate.
15
Transportation
Program Update
Wildlands CPR’s Transportation Program is
pleased to announce that we have awarded stra-
tegic mini-grants ($3,000-$5,000) to activists in the
thick of off-road vehicle planning. On-the-ground
fieldwork is expensive and difficult to fund, but
critical considering that desk-bound land managers
are often unaware of the devastating impacts that
unmanaged off-road vehicle use has wrought on
their watch.

Wildlands CPR was uniquely positioned to

dispense aid to groups working to restore na-
tive ecosystems and recreational balance on our
national forests, thanks to support from the 444S
Foundation.
Early this spring, Wildlands CPR asked lo-
cal conservation groups to submit proposals for
funding to advance both proactive and defensive
efforts to implement the new Forest Service off-road
vehicle rule. The response was overwhelming.
We received 22 proposals requesting about four
times the funding we had to give. All the proposals
were excellent, and it was truly a heart-wrenching
process to decide who would make the final cut. In
the end, we chose to fund those groups that dem-
onstrated the closest adherence to our three goals:
projects that will address immediate threats and
opportunities related to the implementation of the
new Forest Service ORV rule in western national for-
ests; projects that will advance a proactive litigation
strategy to uphold the Executive Orders as forests
begin to implement the rule; and projects that could
test a proactive zoning approach to route designa-
tion as part of the implementation of the new Forest
Service rule.
Wildlands CPR staff at a recent planning retreat. From left to right: Jason Kiely,
Marnie Criley, Tim Peterson, Bethanie Walder, Adam Switalski, Cathy Adams,
Tom Petersen. Wildlands CPR photo.
Ecosystem Management Decision Support
Workshop
Adam helped organize a Forest Service Regional Training
Academy workshop on using Ecosystem Management Decision
Support (EMDS) in transportation planning. EMDS is a GIS-based
system that has been used as a transparent tool to prioritize
road removal and designate off-road vehicle routes. Fraser
Shilling (UC Davis), Brian Muller (CU Denver), and Paul Burgess
(Redlands U) led the workshop along with Mark Jensen (FS Re-
gion 1 Analyst). The workshop was attended by about 25 people
from the Forest Service, Washington Department of Natural
Resources, Bureau of Land Management, University of Montana,
Environmental Protection Agency, and private consultants.

We awarded mini-grants to Washington-based Information requests

Conservation Northwest, The Three Forests Coali-
tion (Utah) and Great Old Broads for Wilderness,
Los Padres Forest Watch in south central California
and The Upper Gila Watershed Alliance in New Mex-
ico. In addition, we funded an independent project
to investigate the dubious legality of the notorious
Paiute ATV system in central Utah. Please join with
us in wishing these groups a safe and productive
field season!
Adam continues to provide citizens, activists, scientists, and
managers with scientific information on roads, road removal, and
off-road vehicles. Recent information requests came from the
University of Uyo (Nigeria); Colorado Environmental Coalition;
Utah State University; The Nature Conservancy; the Heritage For-
est Campaign; the Nez Perce Tribe; National Parks Conservation
Association; Five Valleys Land Trust; The Wilderness Society; and
concerned citizens in the U.S. and Chile.

16 The Road-RIPorter, Summer Solstice 2006

 NTWC Update
The Natural Trails & Waters Coalition has organized four workshops on “advocacy through authentic
collaboration” this quarter. The workshop prepares participants to (1) assess a forest’s goals and methods
for using authentic collaboration, (2) help design the process, and (3) effectively engage in that process,
condition their involvement, or choose not to participate at all. A balance of conservationists, off-roaders,
other recreationists, and agency staff have been invited to the workshops.

The Coalition secured a matching grant from the National Forest Foundation to organize these work-
shops once the Forest Service and BLM announced their intention to employ “collaboration” for many of
the scores of travel planning and off-road vehicle route designation processes that are expected to take
place in the coming years. We have partnered with grassroots conservation organizations who have hosted
the workshops and expert trainers from the University of Virginia’s Institute for Environmental Negotiation.
Wildlands CPR has also supported these workshops through issue expertise and representing the Coalition
at one workshop.

The first of these workshops were hosted by the Center for Biological Diversity and held in Flagstaff,
AZ (March 18) and in Albuquerque, NM (April 1). The California Wilderness Coalition hosted a workshop on
May 11 to in Sacramento. Friends of the Routt Backcountry, a member of the Backcountry Snowsports Alli-
ance, hosted the Steamboat Springs workshop on May 13.

Nearly 100 people have attended the workshops so far, including two dozen Forest Service staff, dozens
of off-road vehicle users, quiet recreationists, and conservationists. One outcome from the New Mexico
workshop, for example, is that the 13 conservation/quiet recreation groups who attended have now formed
a statewide coalition to address off-road vehicle issues. The Center for Biological Diversity is coordinating
this new effort, with help from the Natural Trails and Waters Coalition.

Wildlands CPR staff will represent the Coalition at the next workshop, to be held on July 15 in Salt Lake
City. The Coalition will arrange for up to three more collaboration workshops in the coming months.

Restoration Program Update

The Restoration Program has been in high gear this
spring on the local, regional and national levels. Locally,
Marnie devoted time to the Governor’s Restoration Forum in
Billings, Montana June 8-9. Montana’s Gov. Brian Schweitzer
is very interested in pursuing a restoration economy, and
Marnie worked with members of his staff to help coordinate
this Forum. One key theme of the event was investing in
restoration work in Montana. Wildlands CPR intern Breeann
Johnson finalized a paper that addresses this issue, and Mar-
nie presented the paper at the Restoration Forum. More than
300 people attended the extremely successful event.
Regionally, Marnie continues her involvement with the
Hells Canyon Collaborative. The Collaborative finalized a
charter and is now focusing its attention on roads analysis
and transportation planning. Wildlands CPR will bring Fraser
Shilling to the next collaborative meeting on June 20 (Fraser
has utilized the Ecosystem Management Decision Support
System (EMDS) to conduct roads analysis on the Tahoe
National Forest). It is possible the Forest Service, with as-
sistance from the Collaborative, will utilize EMDS to conduct
transportation planning and roads analysis within the Hells
Canyon National Recreation Area. Marnie also led a success-
ful roads workshop for the Northeast Washington Forestry
Coalition, which is in the process of writing a collaborative
roads policy for the Colville National Forest.
Nationally, Marnie and the National Forest Restoration
Collaborative are planning a trip to Washington DC in late
July to meet with public land agency personnel about col-
laborative restoration efforts related to roads, weeds and fish.
This trio will focus on successful collaborative efforts that go
beyond just logging and fire issues.
Citizen Science on the Clearwater National
Forest
Adam continues to support citizen science monitoring
on the Clearwater National Forest, working with Len Broberg
(University of Montana Environmental Studies Director) and
Anna Holden (UM graduate student and Volunteer Coordina-
tor). Adam helped Anna develop outreach materials, increase
recruiting, and prepare for teaching at Kamiah High School.
Anna’s abstract was accepted for an oral presentation at the
Society for Conservation Biology’s (SCB) annual meeting in
San Jose, CA this summer. She will present methods for orga-
nizing citizen science volunteers, as well as some preliminary
monitoring results. Adam is helping her key out tracks and
analyze data for the presentation. For more information or
to get involved, contact Anna at: clearwaterroads@wildlands
cpr.org.

The Road-RIPorter, Summer Solstice 2006 17


Using GIS to Build Citizen Alternatives for
Travel Planning
By Tim D. Peterson
Editor’s Note: This policy primer is abbreviated from a
more detailed guide on citizen alternatives, available
on our website at www.wildlandscpr.org.
B
ecause travel planning has significant environ-
mental consequences, it constitutes a major
federal action subject to the National Environ-
mental Policy Act (NEPA). This means that citizens
have the opportunity to submit alternatives for
consideration in a draft environmental assessment
(EA) or draft environmental impact statement (EIS).
Many travel planning processes produce a range of
alternatives that favor motorized recreation at the
expense of solitude, natural quiet, and resource and
wildlife habitat. Depending on the political climate,
agency employees themselves may even advocate
expanding motorized route networks.
Often, a token “conservation alternative” will
be alarmingly similar to the agency’s proposed
action. In this scenario, a true conservation alterna-
tive formulated by citizens is indispensable. It is
critical to get involved early, determine what the
agency’s alternatives will look like, and plan your
own alternative based on true conservation values.
It is also critical to meet with the Forest Service
early to understand their format and timelines to
make sure they will accept and analyse your alterna-
tive. Knowing conditions on the ground, as well
as thoughtful data gathering and GIS analysis, are
key to building a successful conservation-oriented
alternative.
Deep ruts from an illegal, user-created route on
the Wasatch-Cache NF, UT. Photo courtesy of the
Sierra Club, Ogden Chapter.
18
The Policy Primer is a column
designed to highlight the ins & outs of a
specific road or off-road vehicle policy. If
you have a policy you’d like us to investi-
gate, let us know!
There are a number of ways to complete the GIS portion of build-
ing an alternative, and rather than producing a specific set of instruc-
tions, this primer offers an overview of the technical process below. An
important note: it is advantageous to utilize a GIS technician who is
familiar with the issues related to travel planning, and who knows the
lands they will be mapping.
There are essentially three major phases to building an alternative
for transportation planning: data gathering and analysis, construct-
ing and analyzing an alternative, and advocating for your alternative.
Additionally, if certain routes are well-known for inciting user conflict
or damaging resources, provide specific information on why the routes
should be closed to motorized use as early in the process as pos-
sible. This will help to take the worst offenders “off the table.” Include
photographs and a 1:24,000 quad map displaying their location, and
GPS coordinates if practical. This information is the most effective in
eliminating “bad actors” from consideration for designation.
Data Gathering & Analysis Overview
Step 1: Determine criteria for areas where off-road vehicles do not
belong, including, but not limited to:
•Designated, recommended or citizen-proposed wilderness or
roadless areas
•Riparian zones (streams and wetlands should be granted a 150-
foot buffer from each edge)
•Critical habitat for threatened, endangered and sensitive species
(animal and plant species)
•Critical summer and winter range and fawning areas for big game
species
•Areas covered by highly erodible and otherwise fragile soils
•Intersections with trails, areas, and watersheds traditionally used
by hikers, skiers, horseback riders, mountain bikers, hunters, or other
quiet recreationists and sportsmen
•Areas containing archaeological sites, cultural artifacts, and
historic sites
•Selected sensitive vegetation types such as wet meadows, mesic
meadows and alpine tundra
•Municipal Watersheds
Consider establishing a list of specific criteria such as these for
submission to the agency prior to construction of your alternative.
Step 2: Obtain all of the available GIS data relevant to travel plan-
ning from Forest Service planners, agency GIS staff, your state’s wildlife
division, and USGS.
The Road-RIPorter, Summer Solstice 2006
 Forest Service data may be posted on the forest’s website. A re-
cent ruling by the 9th Circuit re-affirms that GIS data qualifies for a FOIA
fee waiver. Some forests have their own GIS websites, and a call or visit
to the relevant agency GIS technician should produce a list of cover-
ages maintained by the agency. Be aware of what datasets are called,
and request them by name. For example, most forest’s coverages of
timber sales are called “activities,” not “timber sales.” Some forests
may have edited or expanded available coverages based on input from
agency specialists.

You will need data on geography and administrative designations,

roads, topography, forest cover, wildlife and wildlife habitat, sensitive
species, soils, vegetation types, and much more. Please contact Wild-
lands CPR for a complete list.
Step 3: Layer the datasets and criteria to identify those routes that
appear to meet and those that violate established criteria.
Protection from off-road vehicles has allowed vegetation
to recover in the Furnace Creek area of the Mojave Desert.
However, it is now under threat of motorized use once again.
Photo by Daniel Patterson.

Step 4: Take maps to meetings with engineering staff and “olo-

gists” from the Forest and District levels to ask them to identify the
Step 3: Carefully examine critical summer and
routes and areas they are concerned about due to problems with user
winter range for game species, and code seasonal
conflict, erosion, spread of invasive weeds, wet stream crossings, etc.
closures for routes in conflict. Again, this may be
impractical for some arterials and collectors.
Ensure that the Forest Service is using appropriate datasets in
their planning. Contact Wildlands CPR for a complete list of datasets
Step 4: Review your designations route-by-
that should be used.
route, using your preset screens and any photos or
additional relevant information. Make sure all route
Step 5: Based on GIS analysis and hot spots identified by Forest
segments are coded correctly, as small mistakes
Service staff, prioritize and target ground-truthing fieldwork to get ad-
now can lead to big headaches later in the process.
ditional information, such as:
•The level at which inventoried roads are maintained: be they for
Step 5: Rejoin cut route segments so the total
passenger vehicles, high clearance trucks, off-road vehicles, or be they
number of segments matches the agency’s data.
closed, or revegetated (some or all of this info may be available in GIS
form and may not need to be monitored for confirmation)
Step 6: Assess the maximum possible “distance
•Condition of riparian zones that contain routes
from roads” in your alternative, the “conservation
•Existence of inventoried or uninventoried routes
alternative” and the preferred alternative. Calculate
•Condition of routes on steep or unstable slopes
1/2 mile, 1 mile, 2 miles, 3 miles, 4+ miles from roads
•Known or suspected hot spots of cross-country travel
in GIS, (there are a number of ways to accomplish
this.) Construct tables and maps displaying this in-
Step 6: Use existing protocol and forms to document route condi-
formation. The results are often shocking, and have
tions (such as those provided by Wildlands CPR, http://www.wildland-
impact with the public and agency personnel. (For
scpr.org/resourcelibrary/misc/Monitoring.htm, or Great Old Broads for
example, even with many route closures, most areas
Wilderness, http://www.goginer.org).
of the forest are still likely to be within two miles of
a road).
Building a Conservation Alternative In GIS
When constructing an alternative in GIS, be sure to code your
Advocating For Your Conservation
designations in the same terminology as the Forest Service. Obtain the Alternative
list of classifications that the agency is using. Terms such as “obliter-
ate,” “open yearlong – no restrictions,” “seasonal closure,” and “NM Step 1: Submit your alternative to the FS in a
Trail” may be used. If your terms match, the Forest Service will be able timely manner. Urge them to fully analyze it in the
to analyze your alternative more easily. Using different designations DEIS. If you have followed the steps above to assure
than the Forest Service can lead to an apples/oranges comparison. consistency, there should be little argument that
analysis isn’t feasible.
Step 1: Run pre-selected screens on the agency’s roads data based
on the criteria you defined in phase 1. The result will produce a new Step 2: Build a grassroots campaign to garner
roads coverage that will be flagged for conflict with one or more of support for your alternative. Generate media, letters
the established criteria. These conflicting routes are the first draft of to the editor, and meetings with the Forest Service
routes that will be closed to motorized use in your alternative. from community leaders and activists.

Step 2: Examine the screened roads data carefully, re-coding as —Tim Peterson is the Wildlands CPR Transportation
“open” those routes that are arterials or collectors that conflict with Policy Coordinator.
the screens. (For example, an interstate highway may be flagged many
times, but cannot be closed by this process.)

The Road-RIPorter, Summer Solstice 2006 19

The Deep Blue Breath of Wildness
By Phil Condon
Editor’s Note: The following is an abbreviated version of the full essay in-
cluded in A Road Runs Through It (See Depaving the Way on pages 12-13).
A
bout two years ago I stumbled across a worldwide
writing contest on the Internet. Sponsored by Brit-
ish Shell Oil, it offered a prize of twenty thousand
pounds, and the question under consideration was “Do we
still need nature?” I tried to write a line or two or five, dispir-
ited by the question and distrustful of its context. I wanted
to believe the question was only intended to provoke, but I
didn’t enter the contest. I don’t know anyone who did.
That contest theme still comes back to me now and
again, especially when I talk with someone who strikes me as
if he might take the question seriously. Yet given who’s out
there cutting on all the cutting edges, those who seem to pull
the rest of us along like so many field hands picking up the
gleanings, maybe to all of us sooner or later it will have to be
a serious question.
The need for nature, the defense of wildness. Many oth-
ers have articulated both of these ideas better than I can, but
in 2005, on the racing curve of change we’re still trying to
comprehend as history, it’s likely good for each of us to take
another run at thinking them through.
South San Juan Wilderness, Colorado. Photo copyright Tim
Peterson.
20
Yet here in the dark of a July morning, midway in the
quick six hours between last and first light this time and lati-
tude in Montana, it’s difficult to feel coherent or logical, for
more than a few minutes or a few sentences at most, about
anything. Half a decade after the second coming didn’t come
and the calendar crash didn’t crash, on this mind-muddled,
bloody-handed, and soon-to-be unthermostatted planet, co-
herence feels close to impossible. The center is long loose—
at worst gone, at best invisible—and the circumference, now
surmised from sketchy evidence somewhere, I’m sure, to be
only an erratic ellipse, won’t hold either.
I slide to sleep most nights with a daylong brew of too
much information and too little wisdom, in a slosh and surfeit
of forlorn facts and faiths, trusting my dreams to the deep
blue breath of wildness. And pressed, I find my waking self
trusting truth deeper than logic and rationale, traces from
waymarks along the paths I’ve come, most often found on
foot and among trees, soil, and stone, alongside free-mov-
ing water, and beneath wide skies of all shapes and colors.
Behold, the world. And I believe our species, we humans, are
the beholden.
. . . . .
The day was too hot for bushwhacking but that’s what I
was doing. I’d just cooled off in Rattlesnake Creek right where
Bee Creek comes in. I nestled among wet stones, only my
face, chest, and toes above water, as wands of sunlight wafted
through cottonwoods. In ten minutes my jaw chattered and
my shins ached. I was so cold I started hiking Bee Creek.
About the time I ascended into a hillside ravine of perma-
nent mid-day shadow, the low arching limbs had me on hands
and knees, half in the trickle creek, half out. I smelled a mix of
dusts in the half distance—leaf dust, rock dust, grass dust—
the summer heat and wind working on the mountain world,
breaking it apart that afternoon like any other, molecule by
molecule. When I came to thickets of coarse green straws,
horsetail scouring-rushes, I stopped to sit on a boulder white-
The Road-RIPorter, Summer Solstice 2006
gray-green with lichen. It’s impossible to move
through the world without your weight falling
on other life. The question, I guess, is how to be
aware of it, how to move and carry it through
a living world. It’s so easy to throw our weight
around, but throw it around enough and that’s
all we see, the world a mirror to our own pound-
age and force: tires and fumes, the blade and the
dynamite, a bottomless concrete kiln and count-
less culverts.

As quickly as I’d chilled in the creek, I

heated up in the rough, arbored crevice of Bee
Creek. Ninety-five in the shade, I guessed, weath-
er to stay still in. I slowed my breath, listening to
the midday wind in the pines above the watery
silence. It’s a different sound in hot light than at
cool night, higher-pitched and more uniform. I
waited for nothing in particular, just glad to be Photo by Marcel Huijser.
out there alone. Except for the jets I expected,
six miles up, and except for my breath, it was
free of human sound. Learning time.

Nothing in particular came along soon

two mates or two siblings or a parent with offspring. The breeze
enough, though, in the form of a whirr that could
winked sunlight between the arms of Douglas fir and fingers of
have been more wind but wasn’t. A humming-
river birch for a long clock-gone moment, and then it all stopped;
bird whizzed by into the maze of a still-bloom-
the beaks closed up and the birds turned back, both facing me
ing syringa bush and then perched. Stunning.
again. Just as I decided that, yes, it must be feeding, the first
I’d seen them perch and tuck wings only a few
bird lifted, its wings a dynamo blur again, and hovered off to
dozen times in my life. This one seemed way
disappear in green. I wanted to feel lonely for the one remaining
too small, with its wings settled, to ever fly fast
behind, or for myself, but before I could do either, the second
or far. And then more surprise: it had settled in
one’s wings changed too. It rose, turned, and vanished.
right next to another who was already there ap-
parently. For how long I didn’t know.
Both birds seemed about the same tiny size, no clear distinc-
tion, and I wasn’t sure who was feeding whom, one regurgitating
The two sat an inch or so apart five feet
a nectary syrup or mashed insects for the other or one retriev-
from my forehead. I was sure they were black-
ing food from the other’s throat. I couldn’t tell the feeder from
chinned hummingbirds, but I couldn’t see
the fed, but maybe that’s just a line the mind draws through the
enough color to tell male from female. I tried not
fleshy fabric of wild time where every living thing, and maybe
to tremble with my breathing, but something
every dead thing, too, is both, over and over again.
told me they knew I was there and were will-
ing to sit still that close to me if I was willing to
I’m sure somebody somewhere knows, in general, what’s
do the same. What did I look like to them? Too
likely, what’s known, about what I saw, but no one really does
impossibly big for locomotion of any kind? Each
because those two very particular hearts the size of peas beating
of us lived and moved in a world scaled beyond
two hundred times a minute, those tiny moments with wings,
the other’s understanding.
showed me something one time only and then took it with them
back into their folded forest life.
Then, transcending my speculations, why I
remember all this enough to tell happened. They
No matter how I name and number, it still comes out the
turned, one to the other, their beaks in profile
same: four o’clock, Bee Creek, ninety-five degrees, forty-two
seeming as narrow as tenpenny nails and as long
hundred feet above sea level, Rattlesnake Mountains, two birds,
as the birds were tall. I took this in, made my
a thousand-odd trees, one human.
mental comparisons, just in time to see the bird
on the right open its beak wide, maybe two inch-
Wildness.
es, while the one on the left moved its closed
beak down and into the other’s. Something rare
was happening in that four o’clock heat on a
— Phil Condon teaches environmental writing and literature at
steep slope in western Montana, and I wanted
the University of Montana. Author of Clay Center and Montana
to slow it down but couldn’t. The first bird kept
Surround, he is a winner of the William Faulkner Award for
poking its long beak all the way down into the
Creative Writing.
second’s throat, and I could think, of course,
only of what I really know, which is love, and
sex, and eating, and I wondered if I was seeing

The Road-RIPorter, Summer Solstice 2006 21

 W The Ecology of
e’ve had an early heat wave here in Montana, with
May temperatures in the 90s. Our gardens are
growing, the rivers are practically over-flowing and
work, well, work is positively crazy as we prepare for summer Transportation: Managing
field seasons, travel planning on a grand scale, the Montana
Governor’s Restoration Forum, and the publication of our new Mobility for the
book, “A Road Runs Through It.” The book is the culmination
of years of work, and we’re really proud of it. A big congratula- Environment
tions to Wildlands CPR’s Development Director, Tom Petersen,
for making this happen, and especially for editing the book. We
hope you’ll decide to get a copy for yourself, and some for your This new book written by ecologists, plan-
friends, too. ners, and social scientists from around the world
reviews the impacts of transportation in an in-
Preparing for the book release has been a big project this creasingly globalized world. The book takes on a
spring, and we’d like to once again thank all of the authors who holistic view of transportation and addresses the
wrote essays for the book. We’d especially like to thank Claire impact of road, rail, ship and aircraft transport
Emery, who came in at the last minute and created six stunning in all environments. Adam Switalski, our Science
woodcut engravings to use as illustrations. We will be making Coordinator, co-authored a chapter addressing
prints of these woodcuts available for sale, both as wall hangings the impacts of motorized and non-motorized
and as notecards. If you’re interested in viewing Claire’s designs, recreation on the environment. In this chapter,
please visit our website. And thanks Claire, for all your incred- entitled “Environmental impacts of transport
ibly hard, speedy, and beautiful work on the woodcuts. related to tourism and leisure activities,” Daven-
port and Switalski synthesize the most current
Speaking of thanks, we’d like to extend a big thank you to research on the impacts of recreation ranging
the Firedoll, Cinnabar, Patagonia and National Forest Founda- from kite surfing to snowmobiling. To see an
tions for generous grants to support our work. Both the National abstract, table of contents, and to order this
Forest Foundation and the Cinnabar Foundation have awarded book go to: http://www.springer.com/west/home/
Wildlands CPR challenge grants. If you are interested in helping environment?SGWID=4-198-22-107940445-0
us meet either of these challenges, we would certainly appreci-
ate it. The Cinnabar Foundation grant ($5,000) is for support
of all of our programs, while the National Forest Foundation
($6,150) grant is for our citizen monitoring on the Clearwater
National Forest. Both grants provide a one-to-one match, so if
you send us $100, we’ll receive another $100 from the challenge
grant. If you are interested in helping us meet these grants,
please just put a note in the memo line of your check – THANKS!

Sign up for citizen monitoring on the

Clearwater National Forest!
Wildlands CPR has partnered with the University of Mon-
tana, Clearwater National Forest, and Nez Perce Tribe to moni-
tor the effects of forest restoration in the Clearwater National
Forest. With the help of citizen scientists, we will be monitoring
how fish, wildlife, and habitat recover following road decommis-
sioning. Monitoring will take place from early spring until early
autumn. Training and transportation are provided. There will
be several trips, so contact Anna Holden, volunteer coordinator,
for a schedule. For more information or to become a volunteer
this summer for Wildlands CPR, please contact Anna at 406-543- Yucca flower. Photo by Gary M. Stolz, U.S. Fish
9551 or email her at: clearwaterroads@wildlandscpr.org. and Wildlife Service.

22 The Road-RIPorter, Summer Solstice 2006

 Join Wildlands CPR Today!
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The Road-RIPorter, Summer Solstice 2006 23

 Waterfall along Surprise Canyon in California’s Mojave Desert. Photo by Daniel Patterson.

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Access is not just about getting to

a place or knowing that a place
is available. Access in its deeper
sense must include the drawn out
acts of arriving.

— Dave Havlick (from his essay

in A Road Runs Through It)

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