Recreation News

New Management plan for Shoshone N.F.

Shoshone plans resurface after lengthy pause
By RUFFIN PREVOST
Gazette Wyoming Bureau
CODY - Managers of the Shoshone National Forest shared the latest draft of a revised management plan Wednesday at a public meeting in Cody, one of several being held this month in communities around the forest.

The management plan for the Shoshone Forest was last updated in 1986.

The process to revise the plan - which governs every aspect of forest management, from mineral and timber operations to recreational activities to trail and road oversight - had been suspended last spring in response to a court ruling.

Nearly two years of preliminary planning, including extensive public comment, was interrupted when a federal court in California ruled in April 2007 that U.S. Forest Service planning regulations were not in compliance with the law

That issue has been resolved, and the planning process is moving forward again, said Bryan Armel, planning officer.

"Everything we've done over the last two to three years, we were able to pull forward. All the public comments, we were essentially able to pick up right where we were. We've just been through a pause," Armel said.

"The biggest theme we heard last year was that the public was having trouble seeing how their input was being used" in making revisions to draft plans, he said.

County officials had also said they were unclear on how their land management plans were being addressed by the forest plan.

Armel said Forest Service staffers created two detailed documents that specifically show how public comments and county plans are incorporated into the overall plan revision.

The latest draft plan will have more detailed information on plant ecosystems and what the Forest Service calls "provision of goods and services," which includes timber harvests, mineral extraction, grazing allotments and recreation activities.

An additional document covering beetle infestations will be released soon, he said.

"It's kind of a big deal and it's definitely changing the landscape," Armel said of the bug epidemics. "This will look at how we got to this point and make some projections on where things are likely to go."

Grizzly bears and gray wolves have also been recategorized from threatened or endangered species to "species of concern," he said.

Armel estimated the annual cost of plan revision efforts at roughly $400,000.

The total annual budget for the Shoshone Forest is about $13 million, said Supervisor Becky Aus.

Armel said he hopes to release a revised draft plan for a 90-day public comment period around the end of August.

The Forest Service is not soliciting comments on the current draft, he said, adding that staff members are always available to hear and discuss specific concerns.

He said that public meetings on the revised draft plan could be scheduled as soon as January, with a final decision anticipated by September 2009.

Contact Ruffin Prevost at

rprevost@billingsgazette.com or 307-527-7250.

Contact Ruffin Prevost at

Bob

bobcoe@pahaska.com

White-tailed prairie dog - Endangered?

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has begun accepting public comment on whether the white-tailed prairie dog, a squirrel-like rodent found in four states including Wyoming, should be protected under the Endangered Species Act.

The agency is reconsidering its denial of that protection and will accept comment until July 7, according to a notice published Tuesday in the Federal Register.

Last year, the agency announced it was reconsidering its decision after an investigation found a former Interior Department administrator had inappropriately influenced the denial. The Interior Department oversees the Fish and Wildlife Service.

When the agency did not specify a timeline for reconsideration, conservation groups sued. In settling the lawsuit in February, the agency agreed to begin a status review this spring and make a decision by mid-2010.

The white-tailed prairie dog's range includes the western two-thirds of Wyoming, a small slice of Montana, and parts of Colorado and Utah. Wyoming accounts for 75 percent of the range, and wildlife officials estimate the state's population to be in the hundreds of thousands.

But across all of the animal's range, populations have declined by 92 percent, conservation groups say. "White-tailed prairie dogs are so important to other imperiled Western wildlife," said Josh Pollock of the Center for Native Ecosystems. "The least the (Fish and Wildlife) Service can do is provide a fair assessment of the prairie dog's status based on the data it collects over the next two years."

The white-tailed prairie dog, weighing 1 to 3 pounds, is a food source for various species, including the endangered black-footed ferret.

There are four other kinds of prairie dogs.

The federal government classifies the Mexican prairie dog as endangered and the Utahprairie dog as threatened. The Gunnison's prairie dog is a candidate for listing under the Endangered Species Act. Activists are challenging the 2004 removal of the black-tailed prairie dog found in eastern Wyoming

from a candidate list.

Last month, the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission agreed to allow Montana to trap up to 100 white-tailed prairie dogs and relocate them to open country south of Billings, Mont., where they would supplement an existing prairie dog colony.

Biologists say the prairie dogs occupy hundreds of thousands of acres in Wyoming. In Montana, the animals reside on about 250 acres in Carbon County.

USFS Mt. Lemmon Entry Fee Questioned

From the Arizona Republic on May 6, 2006:

A lawsuit has been filed against the U.S. Forest Service that claims the fee charged to drive up Mt. Lemmon Highway is a violation of civil rights and federal law.

Four Tucsonans, all active in the Arizona No Fee Coalition, filed the lawsuit against the federal government Monday, said Mary Ellen Barilotti, the group's Oregon lawyer.

The coalition has long opposed the $5 Mt. Lemmon fees and was suing on behalf of themselves and for thousands of others who have paid the fee since 1996, Barilotti said.

"We don't believe the law authorizes the fee," said Barilotti, who defended Christine M. Wallace during her two-year court battle over not paying the Mt. Lemmon fee. Wallace, a member of the coalition, was charged in 2005 and convicted and fined $100 in September.

The USFS has a numaber of pass programs around the country (e.g. the Red Rocks pass in the Sedona area) which are required for parking and use of certain USFS lands.  However, the Mt. Lemmon fee looks to the user more like an entry fee (of the type allowed to the National Park Service but not the USFS) than most of these other pass programs.  It has certainly been a source of confusion for our customers at Rose Canyon Lake, since they are not required to pay the fee but that is not always made very clear to them at the USFS fee booth. 

Zebra Muscles

As boating season begins, government recreation authorities are implementing new procedures to protect western lakes form spread of the zebra muscle.  At our marinas in the Curecanti National Recreation Area on Blue Mesa Lake in Colorado, the Park Service has invested in wash and decontamination stations at both Elk Creek and Lake Fork.  Here is the page explaining what it takes to ensure one's boat is muscle-free.

Forest Service Study on drilling under fire

Study on drilling under fire

By The Associated Press

CHEYENNE - The U.S. Forest Service has allowed an energy company too much influence over proposed oil and gas leasing in a scenic mountain range in western Wyoming, Gov. Dave Freudenthal said.

In a letter dated Monday to the Forest Service's regional forester, Freudenthal said the agency has allowed Stanley Energy Inc. of Denver to "guide and fund" planning and studies on whether leasing should be authorized in the Wyoming Range, a popular hunting and recreation area within the Bridger-Teton National Forest.

Saying the matter raised concern about "good governance," Freudenthal asked that the Forest Service stop the environmental study and either start over or take another approach.

Officials with the Forest Service and Stanley Energy did not immediately return phone messages Tuesday seeking comment.

Freudenthal said Stanley was paying for an environmental study of leases that Stanley and other companies were seeking to bid on and was given authority to help select a consultant for the study.

Freudenthal also noted that he had heard that the federal agency recently rescinded an arrangement allowing Stanley and its attorneys to participate in bimonthly meetings and phone calls on the Wyoming Range leases.

"This gesture implicitly acknowledges the Stanley's participation to date has been suspect," the governor wrote. "... Stanley and its attorneys may have gone below decks, but this still looks like a ship built with their timber."

The Forest Service is conducting an environmental study on whether to allow oil and gas leasing on 44,720 acres in and around the Wyoming Range. The agency had earlier identified the acreage for leasing but was forced to study how oil and gas drilling might impact the environment after conservation groups protested.

Freudenthal, some local residents and other elected officials say the range should be off limits to energy development because of its significant recreational and scenic value. Oil and gas companies maintain that they can drill on the outer edges of the mountain range with minimal disturbance.

Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., has introduced a bill in Congress that would prevent oil and gas drilling on 1.2 million acres of land in the Wyoming Range.

The Bush administration estimates that the area covered by the bill contains 8.8 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 331 million barrels of oil.

Shoshone Forest urged to OK commercial guides

Forest urged to OK commercial guides

Shoshone officials say study needed to prevent overuse

By RUFFIN PREVOST
Gazette Wyoming Bureau

CODY - Nearby national forests allow commercial guides for specific recreational activities like rock climbing and mountain biking, but managers on the Shoshone National Forest say further study is needed before new permits can be issued there.

Proponents say that if Cody is to maintain a sustainable tourism industry, it must offer professional guides for the kinds of outdoor recreation that are growing in popularity nationwide, and the Shoshone must change with the times.

The process of issuing new recreation permits is complex, costly and time-consuming, said Terry Root, Wapiti district ranger. But, he added, the next few years could see new permits created for ice climbing and other activities.

"As these activities are becoming more prevalent, and if we can resolve issues such as climbing in wilderness areas, I actually believe - there's no doubt in my mind - that in the next year or two, three at the most, there will probably be an ice-climbing permit issued," Root said.

One key to issuing any new permits will be conducting a capacity study next year to determine how much space there is in each part of the forest to support existing and additional uses of all kinds, he said.

Ice climber Kenny Gasch said the South Fork Valley offers some of the best ice in the country, and he has often heard from Root and previous district rangers that the Forest Service might soon permit guided ice climbs.

"But nothing ever happens," Gasch said.

"Other forests are finding the time, the money and the manpower to get this stuff done. They're finding the resources to work with other outfitters. So why is it such a problem here and not other places? Is it poor management?" Gasch said.

"It's the same old song and dance," said Rick Roach, owner of Absaroka Bicycles.

Roach said he has been working since 2001 to get the Forest Service to permit guided mountain biking tours on existing two-track roads in the Shoshone, "and it's a mystery to me why they can't get this process moving."

"They've said they need to do a needs analysis, then it was budget issues, then it was capacity issues. It's always an elusive reason," he said.

Roach said he was shocked earlier this month when a representative from the Bighorn National Forest walked into his Cody bike shop and handed him a prospectus, asking him to apply to provide guided bike tours there.

"They're courting me to come to them and provide a service there, and we can't do it here? I don't get it. There is something rotten in the Shoshone," Roach said.

Call for proposals

Laura Johnson, recreation specialist for the Medicine Wheel-Paintrock District of the Bighorn National Forest, said the prospectus was part of a call for proposals issued earlier this month following the recent completion of a capacity study.

"That analysis looks at the area, the existing outfitting and guiding use, public use, the landscape and usable acres," Johnson said, adding that the process began in 2004.

The study showed that the Bighorn has "plenty of outfitters and guides providing hunting services, especially with the limited (game tag) draw," but did not have outfitters meeting current and projected needs for ice climbing, mountain biking and other activities, Johnson said.

Loren Poppert, who has worked as a recreation specialist for the Bighorn but now works in the same position for the Shoshone, said a Shoshone capacity study may reach similar conclusions.

"From what I've seen so far on the Shoshone, I think we're at or over capacity for some of those historical uses like hunting outfitters and some of those types of things," he said.

"When we look at it in our area, we may find out we have capacity maybe to do some guided trips on our highways for educational or geological tours or historic tours," Poppert said.

"But even if we had a capacity study done, from the small needs assessment we did pertaining to ice climbing, I'm not sure there's a public need out there," he said.

Poppert and Root both said their preliminary survey showed virtually no requests from the public for guided ice climbing.

Gasch, who operates a Cody hostel for climbers and other outdoor enthusiasts, said he has forwarded to Root several written inquiries from visitors seeking climbing guides.

He also questioned the method of the Forest Service survey, which queried visitor center workers, but not those who specialize in the highly technical sport.

Both Root and Poppert said they did not attend Cody's weeklong Waterfall Ice Festival in February, and Root acknowledged that it "could possibly" be a good venue to help judge public need for guided ice tours.

But calling for proposals was no guarantee that permits would be issued, or that any particular company would get one, Root said.

Under a process known as cost recovery, applicants would be required to pay in advance for much of the required administrative and environmental reviews, Root said, adding that, for ice climbing, that tab could be several thousand dollars.

Gasch and Roach both said they had offered several times in writing to pay for needs assessments and capacity studies, and were aware they might not be awarded any permits that may be issued.

"I understand all that, but I've still pushed over the years for them to issue the permit - to anyone," Roach said.

Human-powered recreation

Brian Sybert, Cody representative for the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, said that he had thought a mountain -biking permit might be issued two years ago.

"As long as the resource is protected and maintained and the activity doesn't have an adverse effect on wildlife," the GYC supports human-powered recreation in the forest, Sybert said.

Root said an earlier effort by previous district ranger Dave Myers to write a categorical exclusion allowing for a mountain-biking permit was scuttled when two guest lodges also sought bike-guiding permits, triggering a full environmental review.

Such a review would have required a capacity study, which meant that "we aren't even going to discuss it" until the study is complete, Root said.

More than two years later, the north zone of the Shoshone Forest has not issued activity-specific guiding permits for rock climbing, mountain biking, ice climbing or kayaking, and only one permit is issued for whitewater rafting, according to Poppert.

The Bighorn is seeking proposals for those activities, and they are specifically permitted on other forests nearby, such as the Bridger-Teton.

That forest has seven guide permits for mountain biking, four for rock climbing and two for kayak schools, according to figures provided by spokeswoman Mary Cernicek.

But commercial guides can bring too many people, which can ruin the reason people are drawn to the forest, said Dylan Etscorn, a Cody ice climber.

"Ice climbing is the kind of sport that really doesn't need those kinds of things to propel it. I kind of like to see things nice and quiet, not overrun," he said.

Issuing new permits for specific activities is likely to upset existing permitees, Root said.

"That's one of the big controversies that comes up. If you have a permit on forest system land, they're of value, and the more permits that you offer, generally the less valuable the permits are," he said.

Root said his phone would "ring off the hook" with protest calls from existing permit holders if new activities were permitted.

"We want some clarification, and we want it explored further before they go off and issue new permits," said Lee Livingston, president of the Cody Country Outfitters & Guides Association.

Livingston said he didn't speak for the association - a group with many permit holders who lead hunting and pack trips - but that several members share similar views.

Though Forest Service recreation permits can't be sold, only transferred, the practical reality is that outfitting businesses are sold contingent on the permit transferring to the new owner, and the permit is what makes the business valuable, Livingston said.

Big business

Outfitting businesses are largely valued on the number of user days their permits allow and often sell in the Cody area for $500,000, he said, adding that businesses permitted for fewer days can still fetch $200,000.

Another concern was the possibility of "issuing permits to educational and religious organizations doing the exact same thing outfitters are, like providing summer pack trips on wilderness," he said.

With a limited number of user days to go around, such new permits could mean an eventual reduction in days allocated to existing permitees, Livingston said.

"But in general, I don't have a problem with it as long as it's not encroaching on or affecting existing permits," he said of new permits for specific activities.

Gasch said an activity like ice climbing is unlikely to overlap with most existing uses.

Jackson Hole Mountain Guides, the company Gasch works for, has operated without conflict in the Custer National Forest and even in Dubois, in the south zone of the Shoshone Forest, he said.

He said the company has guided ice climbers out of Dubois since 1999, and it makes no sense that the north zone of the same forest won't permit a similar use.

Poppert said that Jackson Hole Mountain Guides' south zone permit was for winter mountaineering, which is different from ice climbing.

"If you look at the Dubois area, they don't have the frozen waterfalls," Poppert said, adding that a winter mountaineering permit allows for "crossing horizontal ice fields" and "scrambling across boulders," but not vertical ice climbing.

Contact Ruffin Prevost at rprevost@billingsgazette.com or 307-527-7250.

Published on Wednesday, April 23, 2008.
Last modified on 4/23/2008 at 12:50 am

A Cold Winter!

It has been a really cold winter around much of the west.  First the first time in 30 years, our marina on Blue Mesa Reservoir in the Curecanti National Recreation Area (in Colorado) is still frozen solid in nearly two feet of ice as of April 16.