August 2002
Final White River Forest Plan Released
June 5, 2002, at long last, the final revised management plan for the White River National Forest was released. This plan covers 2,270,000 acres of national forests land from the Continental Divide in Summit County to near Meeker in northwest Colorado, and the area from Independence Pass to McClure Pass. It includes some prime winter backcountry recreation areas in Summit and Eagle Counties, many of which are heavily used by both snowmobilers and non-motorized users. In short, the Final Plan does not seem to favor non-motorized backcountry winter recreation.
When this plan was released in August 1999, there was a great deal of controversy over the Draft Forest Plan. That occurred in part because of a draft travel management plan that was part of the larger Forest Plan. The travel management section prescribed closures of specific areas, roads, and trails to motorized use, as well as authorizing such uses elsewhere. For the final Forest Plan, the Forest Service has wisely decided to leave the details of travel management to a separate effort, which is expected to begin this year. Two travel plans are likely to be prepared, one each for winter and summer.
However, the Forest Plan still makes some important decisions concerning travel management that establish the framework for the forthcoming travel management plan (TMP). Most of this direction will not be changed in the TMP unless one or more forest plan amendments are prepared. The Forest Service will likely resist adding amendments because of the huge, expensive effort it just undertook to finish the Forest Plan. The purpose of the TMP is to fill in important details.
In the new Plan, snowmobiles are basically not restricted. They are allowed in most areas outside of designated wilderness (though some areas of the White River do not consistently get enough snow for any winter recreation). However, the standard does allow the White River to restrict these machines to designated routes.
Prescriptions
Four management prescriptions, which detail activities allowed in site-specific areas of the White River Forest (similar to zoning in a city) do allow establishment of designated routes. However, two of these prescriptions, deer and elk winter range and bighorn sheep management, are generally inappropriate for skiing, due to likely harassment of wintering animals and inconsistent (at best) snow. Another prescription, backcountry non-motorized recreation with limited winter motorized use, is only assigned to 5700 acres, and apparently allows the development of facilities to serve either Nordic or alpine skiing, and thus, despite its title, is not really a "backcountry" prescription.
That leaves prescription 5.5, "forested landscape linkages", which covers 89,000 acres, including much of the Vail Pass-Ptarmigan Pass-Camp Hale area. This prescription is designed to provide habitat for rare carnivores such as wolverine and lynx. It also allows some logging. Logging, which requires roads and generates waste (known as slash), could pose some problems for backcountry skiing. Slash piles could be dangerous to skiers early and late in the season, when they might be covered with just enough snow to disguise them, but not enough to prevent a skier from tripping over a log. Roads created for logging could be used by skiers, but could also be used for snowmobiling. Also, some roads are plowed to provide access for winter logging, which could provide greater access to remote areas that snowmobiles could otherwise not reach.
Recreation Opportunity Spectrum (ROS)
Another concept used in forest planning can be applied to reduce winter recreation conflicts: the recreational opportunity spectrum, or ROS. The ROS ranges from primitive to urban. The ROS classifications of primitive and semi-primitive non-motorized best provide for backcountry skiing. Unfortunately, almost every management prescription outside of wilderness where backcountry skiing is likely allows the ROS of semi-primitive motorized. (Many areas in wilderness are not accessible in winter because access roads are not plowed, and avalanche danger is high.) A large area of Eagle County south of Vail Ski Area is designated semi-primitive motorized, as is a considerable portion of Summit County near the Continental Divide. The latter includes the popular Webster Pass Trail.
Developed Ski Areas
The draft Forest Plan would not have allowed alpine ski areas to expand outside of their current permit boundaries (though considerable expansion could still have occurred within these boundaries). In the final Plan, two major cross country areas have been added to the ski area prescription, allowing further expansion: much of McCoy Park near Beaver Creek Ski Area, and the popular Hunki Dori Mine area, near the Keystone Ski Area. Developed ski areas obviously are no longer "backcountry" areas.
Monitoring and Evaluation
Under the National Forest Management Act, monitoring and evaluation is required to assess the implementation of forest plans. Winter recreational conflicts have been increasing rapidly in recent years. But disappointingly, no monitoring of winter recreational conflicts is required by the final plan. Plan of Action
While backcountry winter non-motorized recreation has been addressed in this plan, improvements are needed. Unfavorable parts of this plan can be appealed to the Chief of the Forest Service by early September. The BSA has not reached a decision on whether to appeal the plan at the time of printing.
In any case, it is exceedingly important that BSA members and others participate in the development of the winter travel management plan (TMP). It is here that many important decisions concerning winter backcountry recreation will be made. Remember, any restriction of snowmobiles to designated routes (other than the existing separation of users in the Vail Pass area) is unlikely until completion of the winter TMP. BSA will prepare and distribute action alerts encouraging your participation in the winter travel planning effort.
Rocky Smith is a BSA Board member who began backcountry skiing a few weeks after arriving in Colorado in January, 1975. For further information on the White River Plan, e-mail him at: Rocky@coloradowild.org.