Ten Lakes travel plan open for comments

The Kootenai National Forest is accepting public comments on its proposed Ten Lakes Travel Management Project, which would guide motorized recreation rules in and around the Ten Lakes Wilderness Study Area.

Comments are due May 13, with a draft environmental impact statement for the plan expected later that month. The forest hopes to release a final environmental impact statement in August.

The project area consists of the Ten Lakes Wilderness Study Area and some of the common entrance points surrounding it. The plan addresses motorized use, which includes snowmobiles, dirt bikes and four-wheelers, as well as mechanized uses such as mountain bikes.

Under the forest’s proposed plan, two winter seasons will govern motorized use within the 64,177-acre area.

Season One, from Dec. 1 through March 31, would allow snow vehicle travel on 36,700 acres of forest land, along with 51.6 miles of designated over-snow motorized routes. About 46 percent of that land falls within the wilderness study area.

Season Two would extend from April 1 through May 31, during which time over-snow travel would be reduced to 43.2 miles of over-snow routes, with no off-trail travel allowed. During this period, no motorized travel would be permitted in the Ten Lakes Wilderness Study Area.

Outside of the winter months, no motorized use would be allowed in the study area, but mechanized use would be permitted on 20.3 miles of trail, or 24 percent of the overall travel-management area. Of those trails, 8.7 miles are in the wilderness study area.

Non-mechanized uses such as hiking and horseback riding would still be allowed on all trails.

Brian Donner, the district ranger for the Kootenai’s Rexford and Fortine districts, said the forest received about 200 comments during the management plan’s scoping period, most of which provided information on historical motorized and mechanized use in the area.

While the forest initially proposed to only conduct an environmental assessment, Donner said the forest is now embarking on the more intensive process of creating a environmental impact statement.

“We determined that some of the comments received were valid in asking for an EIS,” Donner said. “We agreed there was a significant level of controversy and public interest to this particular project that an EIS was warranted.”

He noted that comments received in the earlier scoping period will still be considered as the forest crafts its draft environmental impact statement, but people with additional information are encouraged to submit it during the current comment period.

Many comments focused on mountain biking, which, while a popular non-motorized activity, was not a factor when the wilderness study area was first designated.

“The way we are going about calculating what could be available for mechanized use is open to interpretation, too,” Donner said. “We would allow some of that activity, in relation to how motorcycles were being used, but there was a lot of disagreement about that approach.”

Written comments should be mailed to: Project Leader Amanda Villwock, Eureka Ranger Station, 949 U.S. 93 N, Eureka, MT 59917.

Comments may also be emailed to: comments-northern-kootenai-fortine@fs.fed.us or faxed to (406) 296-7188.

For more information, contact Villwock at (406) 296-7145 or by email at avillwock@fs.fed.us. Maps and other scoping materials can be found online at www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=46784.