Snowmobilers see red

by Staff

Reacting to a ten-fold increase in snowmobile use since the early 1990s, Lolo National Forest wants to ban snowmobiles on 140,000 roadless acres of the Bitterroot Crest straddling the Idaho-Montana border. Applauding the move is John Gatchell, director of the Montana Wilderness Association. He says supervisor Chuck Wildes is finally moving to end a longstanding policy that "snowfall is a highway to anywhere." The machines make too much noise and compact the snow. Among other effects, they roust hibernating wolverines from dens beneath the crust, Gatchell says. The area is also proposed for wilderness. Fighting the proposed ban is Alan Brown, president of the Montana Snowmobile Association. He says it would keep many people from favorite backcountry lakes accessible only by snowmobile.


The draft environmental assessment is on-line at www.fs.fed.us/r1/lolo/main. Send written comments by Sept. 30 to Supervisor Chuck Wildes at Lolo National Forest, Building 24A, Fort Missoula, Missoula, MT 59804 (406/329-3750), or send e-mail including your return postal address to Marsha Hogan at mailto:mhogan/r1\_lolo@fs.fed.edu.


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