The Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest still plans to close the Great Burn area to snowmobiling according to the most recent Draft Record of Decision for travel management. The latest decision was published on July 5, 2016 in the Lewiston Tribune.

It is part of the legal settlement to redo the 2012 travel management plan and is currently in the objection process. Objections will be considered for 45 days from when the draft was published in the paper.

In order to participate in the Objection process, you have to have commented on this during the comment period. This gives a person “standing”. Standing is necessary to participate in the Objection process, according to Kevin Chamberlain with the Mineral County Resource Coalition.

This Draft Record of Decision would “not allow winter motorized use in Recommended Wilderness Areas, and would only allow summer motorized/mechanized travel on one trail, Fish Lake Trail 419”, according to the “Clearwater National forest Travel Planning for Recommended Wilderness” project.

This information, released on June 30, 2016, is the same decision made in January 2012. Cheryl Probert, Forest Supervisor for the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests, prepared the Draft Record of Decision. The original decision was issued by then-Forest Supervisor Rick Brazell in his Clearwater Travel Planning Record of Decision in January 2012.

The current draft only revisits those portions that pertain to motorized and mechanized travel in the Recommended Wilderness Areas.

According to the June 30 release, Probert states: “the bottom line for me is that the Forest Plan, after considerable analysis of values and public comment and discussion, did recommend four areas for Wilderness designation. Through that rigorous analysis, the Forest Service found compelling reasons that elevated these areas above all the other roadless areas on the Forest and led to the wilderness recommendation in the Forest Plan. Until such time as the Forest Plan is revised or Congress makes a decision to either designate these areas as Wilderness or clearly reject them, management of those areas needs to protect the values that resulted in them being recommended for Wilderness designation in the first instance.”

The 2005 Travel Management Rule requires National Forests to designate roads, trails, and areas that are open to motorized use. Public involvement efforts for the Clearwater National Forest Travel Planning project began in 2005 and continued through the appeal period for the January 2012 Record of Decision. From 2006 through 2010, Forest representatives met with local and state governments, the Nez Perce Tribe, and various industry and recreational groups to share information about the Forest’s travel planning efforts, and to solicit participation. The Forest received over 4,000 responses when it requested scoping comments on the proposed action in 2007.

Throughout the process, three lawsuits were eventually filed challenging the Forest Supervisor’s January 2012 decision. One of the lawsuits, filed by the Idaho State Snowmobile Association and The Blue Ribbon Coalition, was filed in August 2012. The Draft Record of Decision responds to terms of the settlement agreement for this lawsuit.

Two other lawsuits remain outstanding for this project. The Friends of the Clearwater, Alliance for the Wild Rockies, and the Sierra Club filed a complaint in December 2013. On March 11, 2015, Judge Edward J. Lodge issued a Memorandum Decision and Order for that lawsuit. This draft does not specifically address Judge Lodge’s order. Clearwater and Idaho Counties, Idaho, also filed a complaint in December 2013. The counties’ lawsuit remains pending at this time.

More information on this project can be found online at http://www.fs.fed.us/nepa/nepa_project_exp.php?project=48244.