County calls for compromise on Scotchman wilderness proposal
by Brent Shrum, Kootenai Valley Record
April 16, 2009
The Lincoln County commissioners won’t support wilderness designation for the Scotchman Peaks area unless concessions are made to ensure access to popular snowmobiling spots.
Meeting last week with representatives of the Troy and Libby snowmobile clubs, Commissioner John Konzen said he’s against any change in the status of the 88,000-acre roadless area unless some compromise is reached that is acceptable to both snowmobilers and wilderness advocates.
"My position is that if we’re unable to come up with something, we’re not going there," he said.
The two sides need to continue working together to find a solution, Konzen said.
"I was at a meeting where they came within a whisker of having that accomplished," he said.
Commissioner Marianne Roose said she wants to see snowmobiling access protected through a proposal that respects both sides.
"Until that is there, I’m not going to support it," she said.
"Ditto," said Commissioner Tony Berget.
Members of the Friends of the Scotchman Peaks met with the commissioners in late February to seek their support for wilderness designation. During last week’s meeting, the snowmobilers countered what they said was misleading information given to the commissioners by the Friends of Scotchman Peaks and printed in recent letters to the editor from wilderness advocates.
It’s not true that only "extreme" riders take their machines into contested Savage Basin, said Troy Snowmobile Club president Jerry Wandler. It’s also not true that the area is closed to snowmobiles, he said. While portions of the Scotchman Peaks area that lie on the Kootenai National Forest are closed to motorized vehicles, portions on the Idaho Panhandle National Forest, including Savage Basin, are open and easily accessible, Wandler said.
Most of the proposed wilderness area is too steep and inaccessible for snowmobiling, Wandler said. The snowmobilers’ primary interest lies in the northwestern segment that includes Savage Basin. Wandler estimated that 30 or more riders use the area on a typical weekend day during the winter.
Many of those riders arrive in vehicles bearing out-of-state plates, said Troy snowmobiler Stan Kargol.
"It’s winter tourism," he said.
The wide open, high altitude riding spots in the Scotchman Peaks area are becoming more precious to snowmobilers as old clear cuts grow in and disappear, Kargol said. But those spots are also roadless and targeted for wilderness, added Donna O’Neil, president of the Lincoln County Sno-Kats snowmobile club.
"So that kind of puts us in a bad spot," she said. "We all need the same piece."
Kargol said he opposes "closing more of the forest to really a select few."
"What they want is a private goat hunting domain," he said.
Mountain goats are central to the disagreement between snowmobilers and wilderness proponents. Those in favor of wilderness designation argue that the presence of the machines in the winter puts undue stress on the animals when they are most vulnerable. Snowmobilers doubt the presence of the goats in the area at the time of year when they’re riding. When snow is heavy, any goats that live in the Savage Basin area either move across the ridge to a steep, wind-blown west face that’s inaccessible to snowmobiles or move to lower elevations, Wandler said.
Konzen said many believe the goat issue to be "a ploy by the conservation community to look for a reason that they can keep people out of there."
Wandler said the snowmobilers would agree to wilderness designation for the southern part of Scotchman Peaks if the northern section is left open to their machines. "If all else fails," he said, a "primitive" designation for the entire area, which would allow winter motorized recreation, would be acceptable.
"It would protect the wilderness qualities but allow for some motorized access in the winter," he said.
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Editor’s Note: See the April 14, 2009 edition of the Kootenai Valley Record for the printed version of this story. The Kootenai Valley Record publishes once a week, now on Tuesday, in Libby, Montana. They are a locally owned community newspaper, located at 403 Mineral Avenue in Libby. For in-county and out-of-county subscription information, call 406-293-2424, or e-mail kvrecord@gmail.com.
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