Wilderness Tutorials: Wilderness Threats

There are millions of acres of publicly held, pristine wildlands in Montana that deserve the protection of Wilderness status. There are many wild vistas that we hope, and expect, will become freshly-minted Montana Wilderness areas in the not so distant future.

But these wildlands will never become a living shelter of our wild heritage, for us and for future generations, if their wild values are degraded and lost before they can be protected. And in too many cases across Montana today, that is just what is happening. Wild landscapes that still look much as they would have appeared to Lewis and Clark, or to the Native peoples before them, are in danger of losing their unique, timeless qualities. Wildlife populations are threatened. Erosion scars fragile mountainsides and pollutes rushing trout streams. Newly introduced weed species angle up the hillsides, displacing native plants and reducing grazing for big game. Rutted tracks that didn’t exist ten years ago, or even one year ago, gouge out streambanks and degrade alpine meadows. The very hallmark of these wild places, their solitude and their quiet, is increasingly displaced and voided by a loud, whining noise.

What are these threats that could prevent us from saving our wildlands for the future?
First and foremost is off-road motor vehicle use in the backcountry.

Montana’s wild places can’t hold out forever against the growing pressure from ORVs (Off-Road Vehicles). Erosion from motorcycles diminishes fishing for anglers. ATVs disrupt the feeding and breeding patterns of big game species—elk especially. If you want to lower elk numbers and rob hunters of hunting opportunities—bring in more motors and vehicles. ORVs scatter noxious weeds, spoiling wild scenery. “High marking” snowmobilers disturb mountain goats, bighorn sheep and wolverine during their most vulnerable season. More motors in the backcountry signal shrinking wildlife populations, abused wild landscapes, and the destruction of ancient, wild treasures that have existed for thousands of years. The loss is spiritual, as well as ecological.

Off-road vehicles affect the human experience as well. ORVs detract from the quality that draws most visitors to the backcountry: serenity and quiet. We live in a society where the roar of motors is constant. We hear the sound of engines as we travel to work, to school, to play. Wilderness is where we can escape the mechanical hum—the perfect spot to find the stillness of one’s own heart. We live in Montana for the scenery and wide-open spaces—and visitors come for the same reasons. Our quality of life, which is our state's biggest economic asset, depends upon the unspoiled beauty and wild nature of our public lands. Unregulated off-road traffic threatens Montana’s future economic opportunities, as well as the peace of the high country. To preserve our best hopes for tomorrow, we must keep our wildlands intact—we can’t allow them to be destroyed.

Montana wildlands—both existing Wilderness and those Wilderness areas in waiting—are also threatened by looming oil, gas, and mining development. Oil and gas leases still exist on some federal lands that have potential for Wilderness—inactive now, those leases might be activated in the future. The solution is to buy up and phase out these leases, and put a moratorium on new leases, as was recently done on the Rocky Mountain Front. Under an entirely antiquated, but still active 1872 mining law, hard rock miners can stake a claim on federal lands, even pristine landscapes, and potentially start up large scale mining operations, scooping out gigantic pits, punching roads through quiet forest lands, leaving massive slag heaps and waste piles behind. The answer to this is for Congress to update an outdated law that might have been useful in 19th century settlement days, but that has no relevance in the 21st century when the frontier has been tamed. Our concern must be to preserve the precious wildlands we have remaining.

Noxious weeds, spread primarily by motorized vehicles, pose a threat to all Montana wildlands, even those designated as Wilderness. These “exotics” choke out native plants and harm wildlife by diminishing grazing opportunities.

The final threat to Wilderness comes from Montana’s very attractiveness—its great, growing popularity. More people are moving here, drawn by our state’s beauty, its unique culture and landscape, the wild places we can still glimpse from our homes and downtown office spaces. That’s understandable. But increasing development and a growing population threaten the very wild areas that have attracted people to the state. As more people settle here, more will want to hike and camp and fish and hunt in our wildlands. And that’s as it should be. But we need to plan for this increasing use or we will lose the very qualities in our public lands that make them so attractive and so soothing to the soul.

The greatest threat to Montana’s wilderness lands is inaction. The greatest danger is a failure to act….by us. We all must work together to save Montana’s special wild places, wonderful scenery, and unique wildlife for future generations.

What to do and who does it
The first part of the solution—in addition to action by every one of us—is better management by our public land agencies.

Most of Montana’s wildlands are federal lands—and so are owned by every American—and are managed by the U.S. Forest Service or by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Forest Service land is divided in Montana into nine national forests, while there are seven BLM districts statewide. There are over 16 million acres of Forest Service land and over 12 million acres of BLM holdings in Montana. It’s a lot of wild, beautiful country—a lot to cherish and protect—a lot to lose.

It’s up to these public agencies to insure that our wildlands are protected for future generations. It’s their responsibility to safeguard wildlife habitat, to guarantee our hunting and fishing and camping and hiking opportunities, and to preserve the wild landscapes and incredible outdoor values that make Montana special. Their proposed actions are spelled out in Forest Management Plans, for the Forest Service, and in Resource Management Plans, for the BLM. These legal documents direct what the agencies will do on their lands and how they intend to do it.

The Forest Service and BLM need to develop better plans to control off-road vehicle use. Lands that have been designated “roadless” in official inventories must be withdrawn from motorized use to preserve their wild qualities and pristine status—that’s 5.4 million acres for the Forest Service and over 3 million acres for the BLM. That leaves over 20 million acres of public land in Montana that could be managed for ORV travel. In areas where motorized use is allowed, the agencies must be sure traditional horse and foot trails are not harmed by ATV travel; that ORV users take care not to spread weeds or to cause erosion; and that wildlife is not threatened. Some areas will be appropriate for different types of vehicle use. Motorcycles are less damaging than 4-wheel ATVs, so some areas might allow motorcycle use, but not ATVs. All of these conditions can be met while giving motorized users many and ample places to ride across the state.

Montana is also blessed with 30 Wilderness Study Areas (WSAs), many of them specifically created by Congress. The land agencies need to respect the intent of Congress and to treat all WSAs in Montana as the potential and future Wilderness areas they are, by withdrawing motorized use and protecting their wild state.

Finally the agencies need to obey the law—their own instructions from Congress—and to make sure the public obeys the law as well. Uncontrolled, illegal off-road use is the norm today in Montana's forests and public lands. The enforcement tools exist to prevent this harmful activity. The Forest Service and BLM need to use them.

The agencies also need to take strong stands against unwise energy or mining development on public lands. They need to develop more pro-active policies to fight weeds and to educate the public about the danger of weeds. The Forest Service and BLM must develop long-term strategies for preserving the natural, scenic, and wildlife values of the landscapes they manage. The intent and purpose must always be to sustain the long-term viability of these wild landscapes.

For this to happen our land agencies need to feel public pressure. They need to hear from YOU. As public agencies they are directed to listen to the people. The great majority of Montanans want to preserve our special wild places and our state’s unique history of wildlands, wildlife, and open space. Montana’s sense of freedom and individuality was born from, and depends today, on our wild places—this big, pristine, undeveloped landscape. Montanans want to preserve it and pass it on. The majority of Montanans oppose ORVs ripping and degrading their wild landscapes. They oppose unwise, destructive mining and energy development. But to be effective, we must speak up.

Finally we have to demand that our remaining roadless lands be given the protection of full Wilderness status. We need to create more designated Wilderness, to save our Last Best Places—forever. There are 9 million acres of wildlands in Montana that deserve the guarantee of Wilderness. It’s time to give new names to new Wilderness areas in every corner of Montana. Starting today.

Inaction is the greatest threat to Montana's wildlands. We must be heard. We must contact our Congressional representatives, our governor, our state legislators, our mayors and county commissioners, and yes, our public land agencies. They must hear from us; we must act NOW!