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Motorized Recreation

Motorized recreation use has emerged as a leading and ever-increasing threat to the ecological integrity of federal lands. The public is most familiar with the dispute over snowmobile use in Yellowstone National Park, but the growing popularity and unrestricted use of off-road vehicles (ORVs) is damaging both Forest Service (FS) and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands across the Interior West. Off-road vehicle users have established a growing network of user-created trails that are fragmenting habitats, damaging riparian areas, degrading water quality, and disturbing natural landscapes. Many existing land management plans allow unrestricted off-road travel across vast expanses of the public domain. The goal of the Motorized Recreation Project is to promote responsible travel management on federal lands, protecting against the harmful effects of untrestricted motorized recreation.

Win for the Canada Lynx and Quiet Winter Recreation on Molas Pass

WRA recently won a case in the U.S. Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals that protects the endangered Canada lynx and human-powered winter recreation on Molas Pass from unmanaged snowmobile use.  The pass, located between the towns of Silverton and Durango in southwestern Colorado, is a premier destination for winter recreation, but quiet uses such as skiing and snowshoeing were being over-run by encroaching snowmobile use. 

When motorized users brought suit challenging the U.S. Forest Service’s decision to restrict snowmobile use in order to reduce user conflicts with skiers and protect lynx habitat, WRA intervened in the case.  WRA’s legal team worked on behalf of the Colorado Mountain Club, San Juan Citizens Alliance and other groups

The Canada lynx was eradicated from the Southern Rockies through trapping, poisoning, and habitat loss.  Due to successful reintroduction efforts by the Colorado Division of Wildlife, a growing breeding population of at least 80 adults has been reestablished.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has yet to designate critical habitat for the species in Colorado.  Without other habitat protection, it is necessary for groups like WRA to defend known habitat areas to improve the prospects for a thriving lynx population in its historical range.  WRA continues to advocate for the Canada lynx in the face of increasing threats from oil and gas drilling in Colorado’s forests.

Colorado State Law Enforcement Officers will enforce ORV Restrictions on Federal Lands

Setting a national precedent, Colorado Governor Bill Ritter signed into law the Division of Wildlife Cooperative Law Enforcement Bill, which grants authority to state peace officers to issue citations to Off-Road Vehicle (ORV) riders who travel off officially-designated ORV routes.  Rampant misuse of federal lands managed by the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management by ORV users can now be curbed by the increased enforcement presence. 

The addition of over 150 state peace officers will put more boots on the ground, bolstering the law enforcement efforts of federal agencies which are woefully understaffed. It is not uncommon for the U.S. Forest Service to assign only two law enforcement officials to patrol an entire national forest covering 2 million acres. 

The law was proposed by a broad coalition of organizations, including Western Resource Advocates, Colorado Wildlife Federation, Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, and even ORV groups such as Colorado Off-Highway Vehicle Coalition and the Colorado Snowmobile Association.

Protecting Colorado Forests from Motorized Vehicles

In March, WRA secured a victory to protect portions of the Routt National Forest from motorized recreation on behalf of four client groups: Colorado Mountain Club, Colorado Wild, Rocky Mountain Recreation Initiative, and The Wilderness Society. Dirt bikes and other off road vehicles can shatter the natural quiet on public lands, damage riparian areas, and displace wildlife.

WRA intervened in support of a compromise decision crafted by Forest Service professionals, which designated hundreds of miles of motorized routes but limited motorized recreation on selected trails requiring protection. Despite the number of routes designated for motorized use, the Colorado Off-Highway Vehicle Coalition challenged the agency’s decision to protect portions of two popular hiking trails. Our victory ensures protection of a breathtaking alpine stretch of the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail, and the Radial Mountain Trail, which runs through forested lands, meadows, and willow-lined streams.

As described on the GORP website, the 1,126,346 acre Routt National Forest was established by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1905. Located just west of Rocky Mountain National Park and straddling the Wyoming border, the forest is named after Colonel John N. Routt, the last territorial and first state Governor of Colorado.

Utah Attorney General Ordered to Release RS2477 Records

On Thursday, May 20th, the State Records Committee ruled that Utah has to make public various documents, sought by the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance and The Wilderness Society, under the state open records law. The documents in question pertained to 20 R.S. 2477 claims that former Governor Leavitt identified as the first claims to be processed under a Memorandum of Understanding signed last April. R.S. 2477, adopted in 1866, was a provision intended to protect investments in highway infrasturcture across the West by granting rights-of-way across unreserved public lands. R.S. 2477 states simply that "[t]he right-of-way for construction of highways over public lands, not reserved for public uses, is hereby granted." In 1976, the Federal Land Policy and Management Act repealed R.S. 2477. While the committee agreed with the Attorney General's Office that the records in question are protected under exemptions to the open-records law, they unanimously ruled that the "public interest favoring access to the records outweighs the interest favoring restriction of access." The State of Utah may appeal the ruling.

This is a big victory for the citizens of Utah and the public at large. It sends a clear message to Utah state officials that the public has a right to know where the claimed "highways" are, and whether government officials are just flushing millions of dollars down the drain in a so-far futile effort to claim dirt tracks are "constructed highways."

Western Resource Advocates' Utah Office Director, Joro Walker, represented the organizations before the State Records Committee.