The Trump administration may soon allow commercial outfitters to use chainsaws in a unit of the National Wilderness Preservation System despite uncertainty whether that activity is allowed by federal law and without providing the public an opportunity weigh in.
According to a May 13 letter from Wilderness Watch to U.S. Forest Service officials, the agency has approved a request by a private outfitter to use chainsaws to clear trails in the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness of downed logs.
“We absolutely do not believe this authorization is legal under the Wilderness Act or the National Environmental Policy Act,” said Dana Johnson, policy director at Wilderness Watch. “Because the Wilderness Act prohibits both motorized use and commercial enterprise (with narrow, specific exceptions), the authorization poses really significant impacts to wilderness character, and the precedential threat of this decision is likewise incredibly significant for the entire National Wilderness Preservation System and warrants a high level of public scrutiny.”
The Idaho Outfitters and Guides Association asked the Forest Service for permission to use chainsaws to clear the felled timber, which is often important habitat for smaller animals, according to a May 14 report by the Idaho Statesman.
The Wilderness Act provides for extensive protection of lands protected by that statute. Those preserves
“shall be administered for the use and enjoyment of the American people in such manner as will leave them unimpaired for future use and enjoyment as wilderness, and so as to provide for the protection of these areas, the preservation of their wilderness character, and for the gathering and dissemination of information regarding their use and enjoyment as wilderness.”
Courts have interpreted this language as being a general bar to profit-seeking activities. As the Supreme Court noted in a 2004 ruling, “Congress made the judgment that some lands should be set aside as wilderness at the expense of commercial and recreational uses.”
The statute also broadly prohibits machines in the preserves, subject to a limited exemption that allows it only if “necessary to meet minimum requirements for the administration of the area . . . (including measures required in emergencies involving the health and safety of persons within the area).” And the 1980 law that established the Frank Church - River of No Return Wilderness seems to give the Forest Service some discretion:
“In administering the River of No Return Wilderness, the Secretary shall, to the maximum extent practicable, consistent with the management plan required by this section, clear obstructions from all of the national forest trails within or adjacent to the wilderness on at least an annual basis.”
Wilderness Watch argued in its May 13 letter that the agency must complete an environmental impact study and allow enough time for a court to review its decision regarding chainsaws. “These types of decisions in Wilderness generally require a full Environmental Impact Statement with the utmost public scrutiny and transparent agency analysis,” Johnson wrote in the letter. “We are also highly concerned the Forest Service may have authorized immediate implementation leaving no time for meaningful judicial review before the Wilderness is overrun with chainsaws.” Johnson cited an array of federal court rulings that make the latter point.
Johnson explained in an email message that authorizing chain saws in the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness would set a dangerous precedent. “The authorization poses significant impacts to wilderness character, and the precedential threat of this decision is likewise incredibly significant for the entire National Wilderness Preservation System and warrants a high level of public scrutiny,” she said.
Johnson also pointed out that mechanized cutting tools are not necessary to clear trails. “Crosscut saws are still available,” she said. “In many back-country instances they are as efficient as chainsaws, and the agency has decades and decades of experience clearing trails in Wilderness with crosscuts, even during years of high blow down.”
Dozens of environmental advocacy organizations asked Forest Service chief Thomas M. Schultz Jr., in a separate letter sent April 28 to reject chainsaw use in the Idaho wilderness area. They pointed to the proposal as the most recent in a series of agency decisions that have deprioritized preservation of wilderness characteristics.
“Over the last decade or two, the agency has been systematically abandoning and defunding its wilderness program and increasingly outsourcing wilderness administration to volunteers and third parties,” the groups wrote. “The wilderness program losses over the last couple of years are simply the final nail. The result has been a catastrophic loss in trained, experienced wilderness leadership staff at the national and regional levels, significant loss of experienced wilderness rangers, and the gutting of seasonal wilderness crews. The solution to this problem is to recommit to Forest Service wilderness programs and wilderness-compatible stewardship rather than resorting to chainsaws and other prohibited activities that degrade wilderness character.”
The Forest Service has made no official statement about the planned chainsaw use authorization. Nor did it respond to Natural Resources Today’s request for comment or confirmation.
At nearly 2.4 million acres in size, the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness is the largest contiguous component of the NWPS that is not in Alaska. The canyon formed by the Salmon River is the centerpiece of the preserve, which overlays six national forests and some BLM land. Beaver, bighorn sheep, black bears, cougars, coyotes, elk, fox, gray wolves, moose, and wolverines are found there.