Skyline Drive Snowmobiling Areas Listed as
 "Inventoried Wilderness"

 

By  Glen Zumwalt, snowmobiler and public land access advocate

 

Deadline for commenting on 26 inventoried roadless areas on the Wasatch Plateau and the San Pitch Mountains for possible Wilderness Areas has been extended to Aug. 31 by the Manti-LaSal National Forest, which manages the areas.
 

Of the areas being considered, 24 are along both sides of the Skyline Drive, and include many open play areas and canyons popular with recreational riders as well as hill climbers.

 

Inventory of all roadless areas is part of the revision of the Manti-LaSal National Forest Plan, which had its last revision in 1986.  Original deadline for commenting on the inventoried roadless areas was July 15, but that deadline was extended to Aug. 20 when Forest planners decided to include areas which had existing mineral leases and motorized trails.
 

The Sanpete Access Committee (of which I am a member) has recommended that none of the 26 inventoried roadless areas shown on the Forest’s Manti Division map be considered for wilderness.

The Manti-LaSal National Forest has been used for well over a century as a resource to sustain the population of nearby residents.  Uses include mining, timbering, grazing, motorized recreation, utility corridors, hunting and fishing, irrigation and culinary water development, camping and electronic transmission sites.  Presence of these activities is readily apparent throughout the Forest’s Manti division, which includes the Uinta Forest on the San Pitch Mountains managed by the Sanpete Ranger District. 

Motorized trails, including the Arapeen ATV Trail System and snowmobile trails along the Skyline Drive are predominant on the Manti-LaSal and would be eliminated or severely restricted by Wilderness designation.

Please consider writing a letter recommending these inventoried wilderness areas NOT be considered for wilderness!

 

An area recommended as suitable for wilderness must meet the tests of:

• Capability - the degree to which the area contains the basic characteristics that make it suitable for wilderness designation.
• Availability – the values of the wilderness resource should offset the value of resources that formal wilderness designation would forego.
• Need - clear evidence of current or future public need for additional designated wilderness in the general area under consideration.

 

Additional information, maps and evaluation forms are available on the Manti-LaSal National Forest website: www.fs.fed.us/r4/mantilasal/projects/.  Or contact the Forest headquarters in Price:  Manti-LaSal National Forest, 599 W. Price River Dr., Price, UT 84501.  (435) 636-3500.  Comments may be emailed to:  comments-intermtn-mantilasal@fs.fed.us