Montana Wilderness Study Act controversy is about Forest Service keeping faiht and all terrain vehicles.-
Back when Montana had a congressional delegation that was friendly to protecting the environment, they had Congress pass the Montana Wilderness Study Act of 1977.
There were nine Montana study areas and over a million acres of roadless land that was wild in fact, if not by law. The Montana Wilderness Study Act provided that the Forest Service would manage these lands in a way that their wilderness qualities would remain unimpaired until Congress made a decision to designate one or more of the areas officially as "Wilderness" or release it back to general National Forest management. Two of the 9 areas were over time designated Wilderness by Congress, but then Montana's congressionals turned brown. However, but they did not and could not repeal the Montana Wilderness Study Act.
In the meantime off-road vehicle interest groups, who in general despise protection of the land as Wilderness had a plan to slowly ruin the wilderness aspects of areas, a plan the Forest Service acquiesced in.
They increasingly road their vehicles into the areas and sought to widen the foot and horse trails into ATV tracks by use and by funded widening of the pack trails into ATV tracks.
When confronted by wilderness supporters, the Forest Service said these changes by ATVs did not impair the future wilderness qualities of the lands because if Congress acted the tracks would fade before many years passed.
They ignored the fact that the tracks were growing deeper and deeper, wider, and more numerous. Moreover, ATV use of the targeted areas served to build up an anti-wilderness political constituency where one did not previously exist.
The same ploy has been used in other states on roadless areas the Forest Service claimed to be protecting, but Montana had a law, the Montana Wilderness Study Act, a legal protection roadless areas in other states lacked. Now the Forest Service in Montana is being told by a federal judge to restore and truly protect these wilderness study areas.
For those who follow wolves, most of these areas are potential wolf habitat or have actually become occupied by wolves.
Ralph Maughan May 27, 2001