Winter travel in Rio Grande National Forest could change – Durango Herald

Although the year In 2015, although there are mandatory rules on motor use, there is still no plan.

A management plan for winter recreation activities could come to Wolf Creek Pass and surrounding forest lands because of a lawsuit by environmentalists and advocacy groups representing the interests of backcountry recreationists.

“If we don’t limit snowmobile access, we’re going to disrupt other uses and wildlife habitat,” said John Rader, public lands program manager at the San Juan Citizens Alliance.

The San Luis Valley Ecosystem Council, SJCA, Wilderness Society, WildEarth Advocates and Rocky Mountain Wilderness joined forces in November 2021 to file a lawsuit against the US Forest Service and the Rio Grande National Forest ranger. Their complaints include inadequate protection for the endangered Uncompahgre fritillary butterfly and Canada lynx, as well as the potential for conflict between motorized and non-motorized users.

But now it seems the parties are close to an agreement.

The suit will set the crossing for the RGNF in the 2020 revised forest management plan. According to a brief filed in August, when the plaintiffs created the plan, forest managers in 2010 The 2012 law “fails to include planning elements for winter recreation” and “planning elements… for the recovery of the (Uncompahgre fritillary butterfly).” They also alleged that the USFS violated the National Environmental Protection Act by failing to “observe the desired effect” of the plan on lynx and butterflies.

The dispute is predicated on allegations that the USFS failed to follow due process requirements and fail to meet its statutory planning obligations. Although a plan is required to manage winter travel from 2015, the forest still does not have such a plan. The plaintiffs’ goal is to provide adequate protection for the two endangered species and reduce potential conflicts between users.

Operational and legal background

Much of the controversy over this issue stems from the lack of action on a 2005 regulation known as the Travel Management Regulations. Requires forest managers to determine which roads and areas are open to motorized use and to specify which areas are closed to motorized use unless otherwise specified.

In the year A 2015 lawsuit reversed a previous exemption for snowmobiles, ruling that snowmobiles are subject to the rule and requiring forests to create winter travel management plans.

In the year Under the National Forest Management Act of 1976 and the 2012 Planning Regulations as legal requirements, national forests have a legal obligation to create forest management plans every 15 years. Such plans specify the conditions under which certain types of use may occur within a national forest.

Although the 2012 planning regulation does not mandate that the travel management plan be part of the forest management plan, the former must be consistent with the latter.

That’s why, according to Greg Goodland, spokesman for the Rio Grande National Forest, the forest has chosen to put in place a plan to manage winter travel until the forest management plan is finalized.

“Early in the land management plan process, Dunn indicated that travel management planning would take place after the land management plan was amended,” Goodland said in an emailed statement. The Durango Herald. “The goal was to focus directly on revising the forest plan, which has many complexities and iterations, and then focus our efforts on the travel management plan.”

Conservation of endangered species

The lawsuit alleges that the latest revision of the RGNF’s Forest Management Plan, which was approved in 2020, failed to incorporate the latest science and consider options to protect lynx.

The endangered forest carnivore has special paws that allow it to walk easily on bare snow. Compacted snow, the result of snow bikes, among other things, allows other predators to reach the habitat of the lynx, creating new competition for food. The plaintiff’s complaint cites instances in which the USFS relied on old data regarding the intensity of snowmobile use as well as the spruce beetle’s impact on lynx habitat.

Wolf Creek Pass is a critical habitat for lynx, and the plaintiffs proposed a 22,300-acre expansion of the special management area on the pass.

“A special administrative position doesn’t mean it’s closed to access,” Rader said. “It is managed by a special recognition of lynx. The aim is to avoid habitat fragmentation.

The habitat of the Uncompahgre fritillary butterfly is limited to the plains of the San Juan Mountains and has been affected by human overharvesting, off-road use, and climate change, among other factors.

The plaintiffs allege that the forest plan violated NEPA by failing to develop a specific plan to restore the species.

Although the USFS does not comment on pending litigation, the agency denied violating federal law in its response to the lawsuit.

Avoiding user conflict

A more contentious aspect of the litigation that could result from a possible settlement is the restrictions on motorized winter recreation.

A handful of organizations have joined as intervening defendants in the case, including the Colorado Snowmobile Association and the Trail Preservation Alliance. These organizations, representing the interests of motor back country users, hope to remove further restrictions on the land.

Representatives of the Winter Wildlands Alliance, including Davey Pitcher of Wolf Creek Ski Area, and other interested parties have asked forest rangers of the Rio Grande and San Juan National Forests to restrict snowmobile access.

Agency officials said that the process would begin after the completion of the forest management plan, but Rader said that the process had been over-extended.

“They should have done this yesterday,” Rader said. “They have a legal responsibility to do this yesterday, and it’s supposed to be a proactive policy and they’re responding to the current conflicts.”

In a letter sent to forest rangers in September, Pitcher, Rader and WWWA Policy Director Hilary Eisen said, “The safety of WCSA guests is a concern because the ski area’s permit limits are consistently violated so aggressively against snowmobile users.” “

In an interview with Herald, Pitcher motor raids have occurred in the past 15 years, although last year was particularly bad; Attacks occur almost daily for several weeks.

“Our position with all of this is to work with the snowmobile community, the Forest Service and conservation groups and try to come up with solutions that work for everyone,” Pitcher said.

Those pushing for the hasty implementation of the winter travel plan say that conflicts between motorists and non-motorists are on the rise, but very low, and all parties are acting in good faith. But they say these conditions are changing.

“Technology has changed a lot in the last 10 to 15 years,” said Michael Whiting, Colorado policy manager at WWA. “That’s going to be a problem for the other 95% of forest users.”

Although neither expressed a desire to exclude motorized users, Whiting and Rader both recognize that motorized access must be balanced against impacts. The growing popularity of newer, more capable snowmobiles and wooden vehicles — vehicles that look like dirt bikes with skis on the front and a track on the back — are behind the growing influence of motorized users.

But Scott Jones, executive director of the Colorado Snowmobile Association, disagrees entirely with that characterization. Snow conditions determine where motorized vehicles can go, he said.

“I don’t see technology being the game changer that some want it to be in terms of conversation,” he said.

He, too, recognizes motorized users on ski area boundaries as a problem and, like Whiting and Rader, wants to work with forest managers to solve the problem.

However, Jones does not see such a broad restriction as necessary or warranted.

“There’s a lot of opportunities for solitude and non-motorized opportunities and things like that — everything that (Wolf Creek Pass) is in this neck of the woods in the wilderness,” he said. “Some of it is really hard to get to, but solitude is anything but public land — that’s usually private land.”

Judy Perez, strategic planner for RGNF, is not sure when the travel management plan planning process will begin, but said it is in the works. She and Rader both said there have been discussions at the state level to make winter travel restrictions consistent in transboundary zones, such as the Wolf Creek Pass, which spans the San Juan and Rio Grande National Forests.

She said the process will be driven by public input, something Whiting and Rader are working to provide by collecting user data.

“This was always the next step for us,” Perez said. “… we may have gotten there a little early because of the litigation… but it was always the next step.

Although Rader felt the plan was not a priority for the forest, he, Whiting and Pitcher were confident all parties could reach a mutually satisfactory solution.

“Hopefully, there’s a map of places you can go that’s fun and appropriate and doesn’t conflict with other users and wildlife,” Rader said. “Hopefully, it will be a valuable asset to the snowmobiling community as well.”

rschafir@durangoherald.com