HELENA - U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, preparing for public meetings on his proposal to expand wilderness and logging, is releasing new maps to ease fears among off-road enthusiasts that the
plan would close prized trails. Tester said Friday his "Forest Jobs and Recreation Act" closes hardly any summer trails. His staff was putting up new maps showing the impact on trails at motorcycle, ATV andsnow-mobile shops in Butte.
The senator said in an interview that just 50 miles of roads and trails - out of more than 6,000 in the affected areas - would be closed to summer motorized use. Relatively few would be
closed to winter use, he said. "I think it shows that the forest is big enough for everyone," said Tester, who will be holding information sessions on the bill Saturday in Dillon and Monday in Bozeman. He expects thebill to move in Congress next year.
Margie Hicklin-Krsul, who owns Butte's Redline Sports and sells dirt bikes, ATVs and snowmobiles, said she thinks the maps are accurate. But the closures are hard to accept because somuch has been closed over the years, she said.
"You have to be so careful when you close things, because it is forever," she said. Hicklin-Krsul agreed the bill would close few summer trails. But proposed closures to snowmobiling would take out some very popular areas, such as the Wise River area between Butteand Dillon, she said.
"I think the summer part is fine, but I think the winter part needs to be looked at and maybe open up a few more areas," she said. "I think they would have a lot more people for it then."The measure adds more than 600,000 acres of wilderness by creating some new areas, mostly in southwestern Montana's Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest. It also adds to theexisting Bob Marshall, Mission, Anaconda-Pintler and Lee Metcalf wilderness areas.
At the same time, the bill specifies large swaths of land as open for logging. The aim is to provide a steady source of timber to the state's logging industry. The measure has caused bitter disputes in the environmental community. Some environmentalists argue it gives far too little in wilderness and allows far too much logging. "What I'm hoping is that once we get the facts out, their uneasiness will subside," Tester said. "I think everyone can win with this deal, but it is a new way of doing business."
- Matt Gouras