mudfanatic
1/2 ton status
Subject: SKID MARKS #30
SKID MARKS
ISSUE #30 December 15, 2000
Skid Marks, Wildlands Center for Preventing Roads' (usually) biweekly
e-mail newsletter, reports on activist efforts to challenge roads and
motorized recreation nationwide. Skid Marks shares instructive and
precedent-setting successes and failures in the campaign to halt motorized
abuse of wildland ecosystems.
For Skid Marks inquiries between December 14 and January 15, please contact
Marnie at Wildlands CPR's Missoula office (mailto:[email protected],
406 543-9551).
---
CONTENTS:
1. STRATEGY FOR OFF ROAD VEHICLES ON BLM LANDS ISSUED
2. GROUPS FILE LAWSUIT TO OVERTURN SNOWMOBILE BAN IN YELLOWSTONE
3. ARCTIC CAT ANNOUNCES CLEANER, QUIETER FOUR-STROKE SNOWMOBILE
4. GAO REPORT SHOWS SNOWMOBILES AND PERSONAL WATERCRAFT IMPROPERLY MANAGED
ON PUBLIC LANDS
5. NEW YORK TOWN CONSIDERS LAW TO RESTRICT SNOWMOBILES AND ORVS
6. ENVIRONMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS WITHDRAW FROM ORV WORK GROUPS
7. ROAD PROPOSED THROUGH GREAT SMOKEY MOUNTAINS NP
8. MUD RALLY DAMAGES IDAHO CREEK
---
STRATEGY FOR OFF ROAD VEHICLES ON BLM LANDS ISSUED
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released a draft national
management strategy intended to promote environmentally sound off highway
vehicle (OHV) use on BLM managed public lands. The draft strategy is now
available for a 30 day public comment period that runs until January 3,
2001. Though the draft management strategy for ORVs does not
itself limit vehicle use on BLM land, it lays the groundwork for field
managers to do so if they believe it is necessary to protect wildlife and
the environment. The new National Off-Highway Vehicle Strategy would
restrict vehicle use in Wilderness Study Areas to roads and trails that
existed when the study areas were first identified. Off-highway vehicle
groups had asked the BLM to recognize routes that had been created since
the areas were established, while environmental groups wanted the BLM to
close all routes inside the areas to OHVs.
The Blue Ribbon Coalition feels that the draft appears too enthusiastic
about enforcing the Endangered Species Act, either by limiting access or
closing areas. But according to the December 6 Los Angeles Times, Katie
Fite of
Committee for Idaho's High Desert said the plan "leaves ORVs as unregulated
as if nothing had happened. Rare-species habitat [in Idaho] is being torn
to shreds by ORVs under BLM's current lack of management." Others express
concern that the strategy is part of the BLM's continuing effort to
commercialize use of public lands. "The BLM and their private partners
have embarked upon a recreation management paradigm to commercialize,
privatize and motorize recreational opportunities on America's public
lands" said Scott Silver of Wild Wilderness. "Those who are prepared to
pay, will get to play." The draft strategy is posted on the BLM's website
at: http://www.blm.gov. Comments may be submitted on the website or by
sending email to the BLM at: [email protected]
---
GROUPS FILE LAWSUIT TO OVERTURN SNOWMOBILE BAN IN YELLOWSTONE
Snowmobile groups and manufacturers have sued to overturn a ban on
snowmobiles in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks that was
announced by the National Park Service last month to protect the parks'
natural beauty and wildlife. The International Snowmobile Manufacturers
Association and the Blue Ribbon Coalition filed the suit in U.S. District
Court in Wyoming, charging that NPS was "arbitrary and capricious" and in
violation of the National Environmental Policy Act. The group said
snowmobiles do not disrupt wildlife as claimed, and that the machines emit
less pollution during the winter than do the hundreds of thousands of
vehicles that pass through the park each summer.
ISMA says the Environmental Protection Agency is working on standards for
snowmobiles, without which NPS has no basis for its restrictions. NPS has
said the industry has had years to come up with quieter, cleaner machines
but has failed to do so. John Catton, a spokesman for the Greater
Yellowstone Coalition conservation group, called the lawsuit unfortunate
but not unexpected.He said the snowmobile ban is "rooted in science, law
and extensive public comment."
---
ARCTIC CAT ANNOUNCES CLEANER, QUIETER FOUR-STROKE SNOWMOBILE
Snowmobile manufacturer Arctic Cat Inc. announced a limited production run
of its new cleaner, quieter four-stroke snowmobile. The company is building
100 four-stroke snowmobiles, including 50 machines that will be available
for public use in Yellowstone National Park this season. Arctic Cat is the
first major manufacturer to deliver four-stroke engine technology in a
snowmobile. The four-stroke product runs quieter and produces lower
emissions than typical two-stroke machines. They do not
produce the blue smoke that is more typical of two-stroke engines. The
machines also use electronic fuel injection (EFI) instead of carburetion,
making the sled 65 percent more fuel efficient than a two-stroke engine.
Arctic Cat said that current four-stroke technology does not meet the
performance needs of many users, but these models are ideal for a certain
segment of snowmobilers who want a nearly exhaust-free, quieter ride at
trail speeds.
---
GAO REPORT SHOWS SNOWMOBILES AND PERSONAL WATERCRAFT IMPROPERLY MANAGED ON
PUBLIC LANDS: A report recently released by the General Accounting Office
found that the four national land management agencies have not properly
managed snowmobile and personal watercraft use on public lands. According
to the report, about 60 percent of the agencies' jurisdictions had not
collected any data on the impact of the machines, and another 20 percent
said they'd collected too little data to make decisions about where the
machines should and shouldn't be allowed. The report noted that the
agencies lack the manpower and money necessary for thorough studies, with
more than two-thirds of the managers interviewed saying they lacked people
to enforce restrictions already in place. In one example cited in the
report, the Shoshone National Forest in Wyoming has only two enforcement
officers to cover 2.2 million acres. For a copy of the report see
http://www.gao.gov"
---
NEW YORK TOWN CONSIDERS LAW TO RESTRICT SNOWMOBILES AND ORVs.
According to the November 30 Syracuse Post-Standard, the Elbridge village
board is considering a law that would regulate where and when ORVs and
snowmobiles can run in the village. The city has received many complaints
about snowmobiles and ORVs tearing up sidewalks, private lawns and parks.
Weedsport Winter Wanderers' snowmobile club members want a law that allows
them to use Elbridge streets. That provision is needed to keep them from
using village sidewalks. The proposed law reserves village sidewalks to
pedestrians. The law would restrict snowmobiles, all-terrain vehicles,
mini- bikes and similar vehicles to road shoulders and village rights-of-
way not already reserved for foot traffic.
They could only use that space to get to off-road trails, unless they're
on a route designated by the trustees. The law also would set a 10 mph
speed limit, restrict times of operation, mandate age minimums for
operators and forbid the use of vehicles on private or village property,
including parks and public lands, without permission.
---
ENVIRONMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS WITHDRAW FROM ORV WORK GROUPS
Four environmental organizations notified the U. S. Forest Service that
they are withdrawing from the working groups that the Forest Service
established to help develop policy for off-road vehicle use on the
Apalachicola, Osceola, and Ocala National Forests in Florida. In a letter
to Forest Supervisor Marsha Kearney, the organizations -- Defenders of
Wildlife, Sierra Club, Marion Audubon, and Putnam County Environmental
Council -- stated that they are taking the action because they are
"frustrated" by the process due to the lack of science-based landscape
level planning methodology, inconsistent information, participation and
decision making by Forest Service staff, and the lopsided representation,
where recreation demands by user groups are broken out by the various
types, eg., motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles, jeep clubs, mountain bikes,
without equal representation and consideration
for ecologically- minded recreationists. The four organizations intend to
review research already completed about the impacts of ORVs on
the environment and to gather new site specific data as needed. They will
provide this information to the Forest Service during the initial steps of
its environmental analysis process (beginning early next year) and will
help the Forest Service develop an ORV policy that protects
the natural resources of the national forests.
---
ROAD PROPOSED THROUGH GREAT SMOKEY MOUNTAINS NP
Residents of Swain County in western North Carolina want to see a road
built along the north shore of Fontana Lake, through Great Smokey Mountains
National Park, as a tourism boon for their county. Swain County
Commissioners contend that the federal government promised them a new road
when State Road 288 was inundated by the Tennessee Valley Authority lake in
1943. Since 1943, State Road 28 was built along the south shore of the
lake and TVA turned the north shore land
over to the National Park Service. The NPS says the road should not be
built because it would reduce the amount of wildlife and construction would
release acids and heavy metals that would pollute streams, killing aquatic
life. However, the issue escalated when U.S. Rep. Taylor, R-Brevard, and
Sen. Helms , R - NC, got $16 million inserted into the federal budget
specifically for this road, an initiative that, according to the November
2 Asheville Citizen-Times, subverts both responsible budget procedures and
North Carolina's law for equitable distribution of federal highway money.
The $ 16 million would do little except pay for the environmental impact
study. It would cost at least $ 136 million to build the road.
---
MUD RALLY DAMAGES IDAHO CREEK
An off-road vehicle mud rally did so much damage to Hayden Creek and the
land around it that protected fish could be killed in the spring runoff,
the Forest Service said. Drivers left the area pocked with rutted-out
holes, one big enough to swallow a full-size truck. Officials are trying to
determine the cost of repairing the damage and stopping topsoil from being
flushed into spawning beds, which could choke the fish to death, officials
said. The stream provides habitat to bull trout, which are protected as
threatened under the Endangered Species Act, and Westslope cutthroat trout,
which environmentalists have been pressing to be protected as well.
*********************************************
Please keep in touch with us about your roads and motorized recreation
work. Questions about Skid Marks should be directed to Marnie Criley at
[email protected] Please send e-mail action alerts to
[email protected].
TO SUBSCRIBE
If you aren't already subscribed to Skid Marks and you would like to be,
send an email to [email protected] with the following command in the body
of your email message:
subscribe skidmarks [your email address]
TO UNSUBSCRIBE
Likewise, if you would like to remove yourself from our listserve, send an
email to [email protected] with the following command in the body of your
email message:
unsubscribe skidmarks [your email address]
Skid Marks is brought to you by the friendly road-rippers at Wildlands CPR.
Thanks for your support and all of your efforts on behalf of wild places
and imperiled species.
*********************************************
Jacob Smith, ORV Policy Coordinator
Wildlands Center for Preventing Roads (Colorado office)
P.O. Box 2353
Boulder, Colorado 80306-2353
(303) 247-0998
[email protected]
Marnie Criley, Roads Policy Coordinator
Wildlands Center for Preventing Roads (main office)
PO Box 7516
Missoula, MT 59807
406/543-9551
[email protected]
http://www.wildlandscpr.org
<font color=red>get involved with land issues or lose the land</font color=red>
SKID MARKS
ISSUE #30 December 15, 2000
Skid Marks, Wildlands Center for Preventing Roads' (usually) biweekly
e-mail newsletter, reports on activist efforts to challenge roads and
motorized recreation nationwide. Skid Marks shares instructive and
precedent-setting successes and failures in the campaign to halt motorized
abuse of wildland ecosystems.
For Skid Marks inquiries between December 14 and January 15, please contact
Marnie at Wildlands CPR's Missoula office (mailto:[email protected],
406 543-9551).
---
CONTENTS:
1. STRATEGY FOR OFF ROAD VEHICLES ON BLM LANDS ISSUED
2. GROUPS FILE LAWSUIT TO OVERTURN SNOWMOBILE BAN IN YELLOWSTONE
3. ARCTIC CAT ANNOUNCES CLEANER, QUIETER FOUR-STROKE SNOWMOBILE
4. GAO REPORT SHOWS SNOWMOBILES AND PERSONAL WATERCRAFT IMPROPERLY MANAGED
ON PUBLIC LANDS
5. NEW YORK TOWN CONSIDERS LAW TO RESTRICT SNOWMOBILES AND ORVS
6. ENVIRONMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS WITHDRAW FROM ORV WORK GROUPS
7. ROAD PROPOSED THROUGH GREAT SMOKEY MOUNTAINS NP
8. MUD RALLY DAMAGES IDAHO CREEK
---
STRATEGY FOR OFF ROAD VEHICLES ON BLM LANDS ISSUED
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released a draft national
management strategy intended to promote environmentally sound off highway
vehicle (OHV) use on BLM managed public lands. The draft strategy is now
available for a 30 day public comment period that runs until January 3,
2001. Though the draft management strategy for ORVs does not
itself limit vehicle use on BLM land, it lays the groundwork for field
managers to do so if they believe it is necessary to protect wildlife and
the environment. The new National Off-Highway Vehicle Strategy would
restrict vehicle use in Wilderness Study Areas to roads and trails that
existed when the study areas were first identified. Off-highway vehicle
groups had asked the BLM to recognize routes that had been created since
the areas were established, while environmental groups wanted the BLM to
close all routes inside the areas to OHVs.
The Blue Ribbon Coalition feels that the draft appears too enthusiastic
about enforcing the Endangered Species Act, either by limiting access or
closing areas. But according to the December 6 Los Angeles Times, Katie
Fite of
Committee for Idaho's High Desert said the plan "leaves ORVs as unregulated
as if nothing had happened. Rare-species habitat [in Idaho] is being torn
to shreds by ORVs under BLM's current lack of management." Others express
concern that the strategy is part of the BLM's continuing effort to
commercialize use of public lands. "The BLM and their private partners
have embarked upon a recreation management paradigm to commercialize,
privatize and motorize recreational opportunities on America's public
lands" said Scott Silver of Wild Wilderness. "Those who are prepared to
pay, will get to play." The draft strategy is posted on the BLM's website
at: http://www.blm.gov. Comments may be submitted on the website or by
sending email to the BLM at: [email protected]
---
GROUPS FILE LAWSUIT TO OVERTURN SNOWMOBILE BAN IN YELLOWSTONE
Snowmobile groups and manufacturers have sued to overturn a ban on
snowmobiles in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks that was
announced by the National Park Service last month to protect the parks'
natural beauty and wildlife. The International Snowmobile Manufacturers
Association and the Blue Ribbon Coalition filed the suit in U.S. District
Court in Wyoming, charging that NPS was "arbitrary and capricious" and in
violation of the National Environmental Policy Act. The group said
snowmobiles do not disrupt wildlife as claimed, and that the machines emit
less pollution during the winter than do the hundreds of thousands of
vehicles that pass through the park each summer.
ISMA says the Environmental Protection Agency is working on standards for
snowmobiles, without which NPS has no basis for its restrictions. NPS has
said the industry has had years to come up with quieter, cleaner machines
but has failed to do so. John Catton, a spokesman for the Greater
Yellowstone Coalition conservation group, called the lawsuit unfortunate
but not unexpected.He said the snowmobile ban is "rooted in science, law
and extensive public comment."
---
ARCTIC CAT ANNOUNCES CLEANER, QUIETER FOUR-STROKE SNOWMOBILE
Snowmobile manufacturer Arctic Cat Inc. announced a limited production run
of its new cleaner, quieter four-stroke snowmobile. The company is building
100 four-stroke snowmobiles, including 50 machines that will be available
for public use in Yellowstone National Park this season. Arctic Cat is the
first major manufacturer to deliver four-stroke engine technology in a
snowmobile. The four-stroke product runs quieter and produces lower
emissions than typical two-stroke machines. They do not
produce the blue smoke that is more typical of two-stroke engines. The
machines also use electronic fuel injection (EFI) instead of carburetion,
making the sled 65 percent more fuel efficient than a two-stroke engine.
Arctic Cat said that current four-stroke technology does not meet the
performance needs of many users, but these models are ideal for a certain
segment of snowmobilers who want a nearly exhaust-free, quieter ride at
trail speeds.
---
GAO REPORT SHOWS SNOWMOBILES AND PERSONAL WATERCRAFT IMPROPERLY MANAGED ON
PUBLIC LANDS: A report recently released by the General Accounting Office
found that the four national land management agencies have not properly
managed snowmobile and personal watercraft use on public lands. According
to the report, about 60 percent of the agencies' jurisdictions had not
collected any data on the impact of the machines, and another 20 percent
said they'd collected too little data to make decisions about where the
machines should and shouldn't be allowed. The report noted that the
agencies lack the manpower and money necessary for thorough studies, with
more than two-thirds of the managers interviewed saying they lacked people
to enforce restrictions already in place. In one example cited in the
report, the Shoshone National Forest in Wyoming has only two enforcement
officers to cover 2.2 million acres. For a copy of the report see
http://www.gao.gov"
---
NEW YORK TOWN CONSIDERS LAW TO RESTRICT SNOWMOBILES AND ORVs.
According to the November 30 Syracuse Post-Standard, the Elbridge village
board is considering a law that would regulate where and when ORVs and
snowmobiles can run in the village. The city has received many complaints
about snowmobiles and ORVs tearing up sidewalks, private lawns and parks.
Weedsport Winter Wanderers' snowmobile club members want a law that allows
them to use Elbridge streets. That provision is needed to keep them from
using village sidewalks. The proposed law reserves village sidewalks to
pedestrians. The law would restrict snowmobiles, all-terrain vehicles,
mini- bikes and similar vehicles to road shoulders and village rights-of-
way not already reserved for foot traffic.
They could only use that space to get to off-road trails, unless they're
on a route designated by the trustees. The law also would set a 10 mph
speed limit, restrict times of operation, mandate age minimums for
operators and forbid the use of vehicles on private or village property,
including parks and public lands, without permission.
---
ENVIRONMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS WITHDRAW FROM ORV WORK GROUPS
Four environmental organizations notified the U. S. Forest Service that
they are withdrawing from the working groups that the Forest Service
established to help develop policy for off-road vehicle use on the
Apalachicola, Osceola, and Ocala National Forests in Florida. In a letter
to Forest Supervisor Marsha Kearney, the organizations -- Defenders of
Wildlife, Sierra Club, Marion Audubon, and Putnam County Environmental
Council -- stated that they are taking the action because they are
"frustrated" by the process due to the lack of science-based landscape
level planning methodology, inconsistent information, participation and
decision making by Forest Service staff, and the lopsided representation,
where recreation demands by user groups are broken out by the various
types, eg., motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles, jeep clubs, mountain bikes,
without equal representation and consideration
for ecologically- minded recreationists. The four organizations intend to
review research already completed about the impacts of ORVs on
the environment and to gather new site specific data as needed. They will
provide this information to the Forest Service during the initial steps of
its environmental analysis process (beginning early next year) and will
help the Forest Service develop an ORV policy that protects
the natural resources of the national forests.
---
ROAD PROPOSED THROUGH GREAT SMOKEY MOUNTAINS NP
Residents of Swain County in western North Carolina want to see a road
built along the north shore of Fontana Lake, through Great Smokey Mountains
National Park, as a tourism boon for their county. Swain County
Commissioners contend that the federal government promised them a new road
when State Road 288 was inundated by the Tennessee Valley Authority lake in
1943. Since 1943, State Road 28 was built along the south shore of the
lake and TVA turned the north shore land
over to the National Park Service. The NPS says the road should not be
built because it would reduce the amount of wildlife and construction would
release acids and heavy metals that would pollute streams, killing aquatic
life. However, the issue escalated when U.S. Rep. Taylor, R-Brevard, and
Sen. Helms , R - NC, got $16 million inserted into the federal budget
specifically for this road, an initiative that, according to the November
2 Asheville Citizen-Times, subverts both responsible budget procedures and
North Carolina's law for equitable distribution of federal highway money.
The $ 16 million would do little except pay for the environmental impact
study. It would cost at least $ 136 million to build the road.
---
MUD RALLY DAMAGES IDAHO CREEK
An off-road vehicle mud rally did so much damage to Hayden Creek and the
land around it that protected fish could be killed in the spring runoff,
the Forest Service said. Drivers left the area pocked with rutted-out
holes, one big enough to swallow a full-size truck. Officials are trying to
determine the cost of repairing the damage and stopping topsoil from being
flushed into spawning beds, which could choke the fish to death, officials
said. The stream provides habitat to bull trout, which are protected as
threatened under the Endangered Species Act, and Westslope cutthroat trout,
which environmentalists have been pressing to be protected as well.
*********************************************
Please keep in touch with us about your roads and motorized recreation
work. Questions about Skid Marks should be directed to Marnie Criley at
[email protected] Please send e-mail action alerts to
[email protected].
TO SUBSCRIBE
If you aren't already subscribed to Skid Marks and you would like to be,
send an email to [email protected] with the following command in the body
of your email message:
subscribe skidmarks [your email address]
TO UNSUBSCRIBE
Likewise, if you would like to remove yourself from our listserve, send an
email to [email protected] with the following command in the body of your
email message:
unsubscribe skidmarks [your email address]
Skid Marks is brought to you by the friendly road-rippers at Wildlands CPR.
Thanks for your support and all of your efforts on behalf of wild places
and imperiled species.
*********************************************
Jacob Smith, ORV Policy Coordinator
Wildlands Center for Preventing Roads (Colorado office)
P.O. Box 2353
Boulder, Colorado 80306-2353
(303) 247-0998
[email protected]
Marnie Criley, Roads Policy Coordinator
Wildlands Center for Preventing Roads (main office)
PO Box 7516
Missoula, MT 59807
406/543-9551
[email protected]
http://www.wildlandscpr.org
<font color=red>get involved with land issues or lose the land</font color=red>
