Resolution asks to lift wilderness study area designations

A resolution passed by the state House on Wednesday would ask the U.S. Congress to release 663,000 acres of federal public land from the current designations as wilderness study areas.

Rep. Kerry White, R-Bozeman, is sponsoring House Joint Resolution 9. It addresses lands within seven wilderness study areas across the state which have been set aside by Congress as potentially eligible for inclusion in the National Wilderness Preservation System.

Wilderness study areas are designated by Congress to protect roadless areas that may meet the requirements for a wilderness designation, including a lack of roads and other permanent structures. While the Forest Service and BLM are required to restrict use in those areas to avoid compromising those characteristics, they may permit some uses that existed at the time of the designation, including snowmobile and ATV use.

Motorized access and multiple-use groups have opposed the continued designation of many of those study areas, arguing that they are managed as — and have effectively become — wilderness areas. Conservation groups typically back those designations, arguing that releasing them could result in resource damage to a shrinking base of relatively pristine public lands in the U.S.

During the chamber’s Tuesday floor debate on his bill, White argued that his proposal had been misrepresented by environmentalists, telling lawmakers that his bill only addresses those study areas that have been “in limbo,” awaiting a determination by the federal government since the Wilderness Study Act was passed in 1977.

“I’m just talking about seven wilderness areas that have been in limbo for the last 40 years that I’m asking to be released,” White said.

Other Republicans supported the measure, including Rep. Mike Cuffe, R-Eureka. Cuffe noted that the Kootenai National Forest has kept the Ten Lakes area under the designation for decades without a decision on whether the 34,000-acre area met wilderness qualifications.

“Back in 1977, I believe not anybody, or at least most people, had that expectation that in 2017 I would be standing here, talking about this wilderness area that was set aside on a five-year study,” Cuffe said.

He argued that it was part of a forest that was previously actively managed, but has since become “stagnant” as logging activities in the Kootenai have sharply declined.

The Ten Lakes Wilderness Study Area is part of a larger area currently under environmental review by forest officials, who have proposed a recreational-use plan that would include limited motorized use by over-snow and other mechanized vehicles. Currently, snowmobiles and other motorized uses are allowed throughout the area.

Other wilderness study areas in the state have tighter restrictions on recreational use. Rep. Denley Loge, R-St. Regis, said restrictions on snowmobile use on Forest Service land near his home have had negative economic impacts in his district.

“We had a snowmobile shop in our area, and that shop is closed. That’s one of the places that was taken away,” Loge said. He added, “The playground was taken away by this de-facto wilderness.”

Rep. Willis Curdy, D-Missoula, joined many of his fellow Democrats in opposing the bill. While he said he sympathized with White’s intent, he questioned the value of sending a resolution to Congress, given its track record on other land-management decisions.

Woods referred specifically to collaborative proposals including the Blackfoot-Clearwater Stewardship Project and the Rocky Mountain Front Heritage Act that have yet to receive significant attention from federal lawmakers.

“This Blackfoot-Clearwater project has been sitting on the books for some time. What has Congress done? Nothing,” Curdy said. “... We can write letters to Santa Claus all we want, but until Congress sits down and gets through the process and comes to a resolution with these issues that have been collaboratively agreed upon, it’s not going to happen.”

House Joint Resolution 9 passed the House on a 56-44 vote and now heads to the Senate.

Reporter Sam Wilson can be reached at 758-4407 or by email at swilson@dailyinterlake.com.