A Growing Motorized Threat:  The Lewis & Clark National Forest in Montana recently approved the country's first new national forest airstrip in 40 years—Russian Flat—calling backcountry airstrips "an appropriate use of National Forest System lands." There is increasing pressure for backcountry airstrip development with the Recreational Aviation Foundation currently seeking access on federal and private land in Montana, Idaho, Colorado, Utah, Maine, Michigan, and California.

Airstrips located in Wilderness are especially disruptive to wildlife and human visitors, and can see frequent use as evidenced by the 300 to 450 yearly landings at Schafer Meadow in the Great Bear Wilderness in Montana. "Having a plane come in on you kind of defeats the experience you are there to achieve," said Ray Bloxham of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance. Click here to read "Backcountry pilots push for better access" from the Great Falls Tribune.
Photo of Russian Flat by Great Falls Tribune
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The Debate Goes On:  The Hidden Gems Wilderness Campaign, which would designate 400,000 to 450,000 acres of land in Colorado as Wilderness, has received a lot of attention lately, with most of the proposal being opposed by the Roaring Fork Mountain Bike Association. This group would prefer the majority of the area be designated a National Conservation Area or National Recreation Area to preserve mountain biking access.

According to Sloan Shoemaker, Executive Director of Wilderness Workshop (one of the groups behind the proposal), "Everybody says, 'We like wilderness, just don't do it where it affects my pursuit, my adrenaline rush, my activity.' I just ask people to look at higher values than our recreational pursuits." Click here to read "Bikers wary of Colorado wilderness push" by the Vail Daily.
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New Wilderness in Montana at What Cost? Senator Jon Tester's "Forest Jobs and Restoration Act" would designate 600,000 acres of Wilderness in Montana, while mandating at least 100,000 acres of logging on the Beaverhead-Deerlodge and Kootenai National Forests over the next 10 years, and releasing more than 200,000 acres of roadless lands in the Sapphire and West Pioneers Wilderness Study Areas (WSA) and seven BLM WSAs. If all this Quid pro quo wasn't enough, the Tester bill's sloppy language and provisions could be replicated in future bills. According to George Nickas, executive director of Wilderness Watch, "You see that in Tester's bill, where he's included provisions that have shown up in other recent bills. All these bills are now becoming a race to the bottom. They never put in any provisions that strengthen wilderness protections. Each one seems to be allowing more and more nonconforming activities so that wilderness becomes less unique, less protected and less special."
Click here to read "War of words" by the Missoula Independent.
Photos of Kootenai and Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forests courtesy of US Forest Service
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Forget Everything You've Heard...  There's been a lot of attention given to the Station Fire in California—Los Angeles County's largest in modern history, which has burned more than 160,000 acres, including parts of the San Gabriel Wilderness and Pleasant View Ridge Wilderness. The High Country News GOAT blog has posted a piece by Judith Lewis that seeks to address some of the misconceptions about this fire and southern California fires in general. It concludes with a statement by Jon E. Keeley of the U.S. Geological Survey (who has studied fire in California shrubland ecosystems) about the reality of living in this place. "We have to get away from this view that we can stop these fires," Keeley says. "We can't. To me, listening to someone say you need to do something to stop these fires sounds as ridiculous as saying 'we've got stop these earthquakes.' What do we do about earthquakes? We ask how can we adapt to earthquake country. We need to treat fires like earthquakes, recognize they're inevitable, and modify how we live with them."

Additionally, a new scientific study "found no evidence that areas with conifer trees killed by drought or insects will burn at higher severity in southern California's forests compared to areas with fewer dead trees."
Photo of San Gabriel Wilderness courtesy of wilderness.net
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UPDATE: Bridge to be Removed in Pemigewasset Wilderness:  In a victory for Wilderness, Wilderness Watch received notice recently that the White Mountain National Forest in New Hampshire has decided to follow through with its plan to remove a non-conforming structure in the Pemigewasset Wilderness—a 180-foot long suspension bridge spanning the Pemigewasset River. The Decision Memo states, "As development pressures continue to increase in the Northeast, the value of a wilderness of this size, if it is managed more closely to the intent of the Wilderness Act, will increase...There would no longer be a substantial structure to remind visitors that man's work extends deep into the middle of the Pemigewasset Wilderness...This decision reflects a desire for an enhanced wilderness experience for generations to come." We applaud this decision to help re-wild the Pemi. Visit our website to read the Decision Memo and for more information on the project.
Photo courtesy of tdawg88402/webshots.com 
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Access to Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness Protected:  Thirty acres once proposed for vacation home development has been preserved for the public's benefit as an access point to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) in Minnesota. The former Chainsaw Sisters saloon site is the only public entry into BWCAW for six miles. For more information, click here to read a press release from Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness.
Photo courtesy of Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness

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Camera Data Shows Bighorns are not Using Guzzlers in the Kofa Wilderness:  Remote cameras installed to detect bighorn sheep use at two controversial man-made water developments constructed in the Kofa Wilderness in Arizona in 2007 suggest the tanks have completely failed to provide water for bighorns. The cameras, installed by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) at the McPherson and Yaqui Tanks, captured photos of mule deer, hawks, doves, vultures, coyotes and bobcats, but not a single bighorn drinking from the tanks in the two years since their construction. Click here to read the rest of our press release.
Click here to view a few images taken at the tanks.
Click here to read "Groups: Kofa Refuge bighorns aren't helped by water tanks" from the Arizona Daily Star.
US Fish & Wildlife Service photo
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Dr. Roderick Nash Speaks in Hamilton:  Roderick Nash, Ph.D., author of Wilderness and the American Mind, spoke in Hamilton, Montana on September 19, to a packed room of more than 175 people. "The Meaning of Wilderness and the Rights of Nature" was well received and appreciated by the attentive crowd, which came to the event from Missoula, Hamilton and other towns in the Bitterroot Valley. Wilderness Watch sponsored Dr. Nash's talk in honor of the 45^th Anniversary of the Wilderness Act and the 20^th Anniversary of the organization. Dr. Nash has served on Wilderness Watch's Advisory Board for many years, and Wilderness and the American Mind has been named by Outside magazine as one of the "10 Books that changed our world." Visit our website to listen to a KUFM, MT Public Radio interview. 
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Wilderness Not a Place to Bury Trash: Kathe Hayes, volunteer program director with the San Juan Mountains Association in Colorado, writes: "Several years ago, I organized a group of volunteers to help the U.S. Forest Service clean up trash left behind at hunting camps along the Pine River Trail in the Weminuche Wilderness. I was amazed at what we found. Kitchen supplies, including spices, wrapped in black plastic had been squeezed into a rock crevice for future use. We estimated the stuff had been there for several years. We also found toilet seat covers, black plastic, stoves and more. We found trash buried in most of the campsites. Burying trash does not make it go away." Click here to read the rest...
Photo courtesy of US Forest Service
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Action Alert: Plan for Prescribed Burns in Upland Island Wilderness: The U.S. Forest Service (FS) has released an environmental assessment (EA) proposing prescribed burns for 11,990 acres of the Upland Island Wilderness in Texas, with the stated purpose to "reduce hazardous fuels." The proposal is inconsistent with the Wilderness Act's requirement that Wilderness be untrammeled and "protected and managed so as to preserve its natural conditions."

The proposal includes using helicopters to drop firebombs to ignite the fires. Several ares would be burned multiple times in the first few years and more than 14 miles of 3 to 6 foot-wide fire lines would be constructed in the Upland Island Wilderness (UIW).

Please submit comments opposing this plan for prescribed burning. Some suggested talking points include:
1) Lighting-caused wildfires in UIW should be allowed to burn, and their allowance must be specifically addressed in the EA.
2) Fire lanes must be established outside of wilderness boundaries on either national forest or private lands. No internal fire lanes should be allowed in UIW.
3) If the plan is approved, only hand starting fires should be allowed. Helicopters and other motorized or mechanized equipment, which destroy wilderness character, solitude, quiet, and enjoyment of natural sounds, should be prohibited.
4) If the plan is approved, there should be no manipulation of fire to favor any type of plant, animal, or community. Nature, wilderness, and fire will decide what lives on the landscape in UIW.
5) If the plan is approved, the program must include a clearly defined list of objectives and a monitoring plan to determine the success in meeting those objectives. The objectives should seek to create conditions that allow naturally ignited fires to dictate future conditions in the UIW.

Although the official deadline for comments was September 8, comments can be submitted at any time. Send your comments to Mr. William E. Taylor, District Ranger, Angelina/Sabine National Forests, 111 Walnut Ridge Road, Zavala, Texas 75980, or by email to: comments-southern-texas-angelina@fs.fed.us, with a notation that the subject is the UIW Fire Management Initiative.
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Predator Control in the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness: In another effort at predator control, Idaho Fish and Game (IDFG) is proposing as many as 20 helicopter landings in the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness to radio collar up to 12 wolves. According to the scoping letter, "IDFG has determined the need to gather additional population data on wolves within the FCRONRW as part of their wildlife management responsibilities." Please voice your opposition to this intrusive plan, which runs counter to the spirit of the Wilderness Act. Scoping comments should be sent to Salmon-Challis National Forest, Attn: William (Bill) Wood, Forest Supervisor, 1206 South Challis Street, Salmon, Idaho 83467. Electronic comments may be e-mailed to: comments-intermtn-salmon-challis@fs.fed.us. The official deadline is October 16, but comments are accepted any time. 
Wilderness Watch file photo
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Just for fun: Recording the sounds of the West