Back on June 29, 2018, Federal Judge Dana Christensen issued an order concerning the lawsuit filed against the Bitterroot National Forest’s adoption of its Travel Plan. The judge’s order supported the Forest Service’s decision in almost every respect. The one exception was over the decision to prohibit the use of bicycles in the Sapphire and Blue Joint Wilderness Study Areas. In that instance, the Court remanded the Travel Plan back to the U.S. Forest Service with instructions to “conduct an objection response period concerning the decision to close mountain bike trails in the Sapphire and Blue Joint WSAs; consider the objections; and either modify the FEIS and Final ROD accordingly, or show that the eligibility of the total 110 miles of mechanized use closures in WSAs is permissible…”
Some backcountry cyclists were quick to celebrate the decision and presumed that, until that process was accomplished, cycling would be allowed once again in the WSAs pending the new decision, stating in one internet post, “so as we understand the decisions, access to the trails should revert back to the pre Travel Plan era regulations for mountain bikes. Which means that we can once again ride beloved trails like Razor Back Ridge, Weasel Creek and Hole in the Wall.”
Bitterroot National Forest officials apparently agreed with that assessment and issued a press release on July 10 indicating that they believed the Court’s order did vacate the WSA mountain bike restrictions pending the outcome of the new public comment process, stating specifically that “trails in WSAs are open to mountain bikes” as a result of the order.
Not so, says Federal Judge Dana Christensen.
Intervenors in the lawsuit, including Friends of the Bitterroot, filed a motion on July 13 asking the Judge for clarification. And they got it.
In his clarification, Christensen states unequivocally, “the Court grants Defendant-Intervenors’ Motion, and clarifies that the June 29, 2018 Order intended remand of the Travel Plan without vacatur (vacating) of the Travel Plan’s restrictions on mountain bike use in WSAs.”
As it states in the Forest Service’s latest press release, “Based on the Court’s ruling, pending the outcome of the objection process, trails in Bitterroot WSAs are closed to mountain bikes.”
It goes on to state, “The forest is currently working on providing an objection response period and will have more information to share soon regarding this process. As directed by the court, the only issue to be considered during the objection period is the closure of trails in WSAs to bicycles. No other aspects of the Travel Plan will be subject to the objection response period.”
Larry Campbell, President of Friends of the Bitterroot, said that his organization looked over Christensen’s original ruling very carefully and found that nowhere in the order did the judge mention vacating any aspect of the Travel Plan while the issue of cycling in the WSAs was being reconsidered.
Campbell expressed disappointment in the Forest Service’s initial interpretation of the order as allowing cycling in the WSAs.
“All they had to do was ask the judge for some clarification,” said Campbell. “That’s what we did.” FOB entered the lawsuit as Intervenors on the side of the Forest Service and, according to Campbell, this instance shows the importance for organizations like FOB entering these lawsuits.
“I have no idea why the Forest Service would cave in rather than defend its own decision in the Travel Plan and the judge’s decisions in their favor. It shows the importance of intervening in these cases because somebody’s got to look out for the public’s interests when the agency that should drops the ball,” said Campbell.