By Dave Chadwick, Montana Wildlife Federation; Kathy Hundley, Selway-Pintler Wilderness Back Country Horsemen; Hilary Eisen, Winter Wildlands Alliance; Dave Campbell, Bitterroot Trout Unlimited; Kylie Paul, Defenders of Wildlife; Kirk Thompson, Montana Wilderness Association; Chris Ryan, Retired, Regional Wilderness Program Manager, USDA Forest Service Region One
Most of us don’t have just one way we enjoy the Bitterroot. In the summer, we might hike or fish one day and bike or ride horses the next. In the winter, we might go backcountry skiing one weekend and snowshoeing the next. We might be photographing wildflowers in the spring and hunting elk in the fall.
But no matter how we choose to experience our wild backyard in the Bitterroot National Forest, there are three things that take precedence over the various ways we recreate: clean water, secure habitat and public access. It’s imperative we have a long-range plan that prioritizes and protects those values, while still providing ample opportunity for us all to enjoy the forest in ways that maintain public safety and keep conflict among user groups to a minimum.
Thanks to the pragmatism and far-sighted vision of Forest Supervisor Julie King and her staff, we now have that plan. The final Bitterroot National Forest Travel Management Plan helps ensure healthy habitat for fish and wildlife and guarantees access for all Montanans, no matter their favorite modes of transportation.
For more than a decade, hunters, anglers, conservationists, and backcountry horsemen and women have worked together to ensure the Bitterroot National Forest lives up to the legacy of Ravalli County’s favorite son – Senator Lee Metcalf. Born and raised in Stevensville, Sen. Metcalf understood the importance of protecting wildlands, wildlife and clean water. That’s why he shepherded passage of the 1964 Wilderness Act, which immediately and permanently protected the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness.
He went on to champion the 1977 Montana Wilderness Study Act, which ensured that two other special corners of the Bitterroot would remain as they were until Congress considered them for wilderness designation: the Sapphires Wilderness Study Area along our southeastern horizon and the Blue Joint Wilderness Study Area on the border with Idaho.
Under the new Travel Plan, the Forest Service will manage these two areas as required by the Montana Wilderness Study Act – that is, “to maintain their presently existing wilderness character and potential for inclusion in the National Wilderness Preservation System.” The agency will also manage wild areas adjacent to the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness to maintain their potential for wilderness designation, as required by the Bitterroot National Forest’s 1987 Forest Plan.
In addition to protecting headwaters and enhancing habitat for trout, wolverines, elk, and other key species, the Bitterroot travel plan guarantees motorized and mountain bike use on 2,246 miles of roads and trails, nearly the distance from Hamilton to New York City. It also creates vast areas where mountain bikers can enjoy quiet single-track without the sound of engines, such as the 30,000-acre Stony Mountain Roadless Area in the northern Sapphires. And it sets aside 543,000 acres – one-third of the entire Bitterroot National Forest – for snowmobiling.
The Bitterroot National Forest has crafted a vision that makes each and every Bitterrooter a winner. It protects the headwaters of our valley’s blue-ribbon trout fishery, secures summer range for our elk, and offers opportunities aplenty for us to get out and enjoy our shared backyard anytime of the year, no matter our favorite way to get around. Forest Supervisor King and her staff have crafted travel plan to match the scenery and are leaving a legacy other Forests would do well to follow.