Guest opinion

By Chris Marchion - 03/14/2008

Southwest Montana’s vast landscape of snow-capped mountain ranges, icy rivers and streams and wild backcountry landscapes are the treasures I grew up with right out my back door in Anaconda. With my father, I prowled the meadows and woods with rifle or shotgun and worked the streams, fishing rod in hand.

They are some of my most treasured memories —days where my father passed on to me Montana’s hunting and fishing traditions in the splendor of the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest — and where I passed the same priceless traditions to my children. These outdoor traditions have united Montanans for generations.

I believe in access for all. However, I have seen an unsettling change on our national forests. The Forest Service has not kept up with the growing number of visitors and their penchant for toys. Now is the time for the Forest Service to act, before we lose our freedom to enjoy the backcountry in peace and quiet.

Forty percent of all elk taken by hunters in Montana come from the hunting districts of the Beaverhead-Deerlodge. It is the source of legendary trout waters: the Big Hole, Rock Creek, and the Madison. No other national forest is larger or more important to Montana hunters and anglers.

That is why I will be commenting on the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest final forest management plan, which will guide management for the next 10 to 15 years. The agency will accept comments until March 31.

My comments will ask the Forest Service to protect the traditional values shared by most Montana hunters and preserve access to mountain areas — beyond the reach of roads and traffic — where every hunter worth his salt finds the best hunting experience.

Unfortunately, wild mountain areas on the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest are diminishing as off-road vehicle use expands. The explosive growth of off-highway vehicles that illegally cut new routes across previously unroaded landscapes continues. The Forest Service lacks resources to enforce existing regulations and the ORV users have done a dismal job of policing their own ranks.

There is room for these vehicles on the Beaverhead-Deerlodge. My concern is that if left unchecked, these growing crowds on board increasingly powerful machines will change the very face of Montana. We need to think of the future.

Hunters who have a “favorite spot” in southwest Montana should be concerned about what the agency is proposing. Many of the Fish, Wildlife & Parks’ hunting districts are restricted to brow tine bull regulations for elk, including all of the Region 2 districts. These restrictions are the result of deteriorating security cover effectiveness, and they are the last step before hunters are restricted to shorter seasons or limited permits for bull harvest — serious consequences that hunters can avoid by requiring the Forest Service to adopt strong elk security cover guidelines.

The revised plan goes in the wrong direction by illegally adding 1,500 miles of predominately user- created ORV routes to the forest road system in the Big Hole, Pioneers, Rock Creek and across the forest. These roads change the traditional character of these landscapes without regard to impacts to the landscape, habitat, or public need and acceptance.

Forest records show there are currently 4,157 miles of open forest system roads — roads legally planned by the agency with their impacts to fish and wildlife considered and the public opinion evaluated.

Elk habitat standards based on local science are discarded for weak standards in legendary elk country such as the Big Hole, Pioneers, Sapphires and Rock Creek. When elk habitat loses, elk hunter opportunities are proportionately lost.

Under this plan, habitat for mountain goat, wolverine, elk calving areas and key trout headwaters in the Pioneers and Pintlers remain vulnerable to motorized disturbance and destruction. Mountain goat populations have seen drastic declines in the past decade and their habitat requires better protection.

There is some good news. Trout fishing will benefit from excellent aquatic standards. My comments will urge Forest Supervisor Bruce Ramsey to: