The Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests span 4 million acres of wild and varied terrain in north-central Idaho, including rugged canyons, cedar forests, rushing rivers, and high peaks. The U.S. Forest Service has been updating its management plan for the Nez Perce-Clearwater, which will determine how this vast, diverse area is used for the next 15 years. The agency released its draft revised forest plan and environmental impact statement for the forest in late December.
The Forest Service is considering several management scenarios but none would adequately conserve the wild backcountry that is vital to wildlife and a major draw for hikers, hunters, and backpackers, who come from near and far to enjoy the forest. The Forest Service has yet to choose a management direction from among the alternatives it considered, so there is still time to ensure that your voice is heard before the final forest plan is completed.
Although the entire forest holds ecological and recreational value, these three areas, in particular, merit protection in the final plan as “recommended wilderness areas”:
The forest plan now in place recognizes this area’s wild qualities and recommends the Great Burn area for future designation by Congress as wilderness. Unfortunately, this recommendation—and the protections that come along with it—is at risk of being reduced or even eliminated in the new forest plan. Reduced protections, which could include opening the Great Burn to snowmobiling and other forms of recreation, would threaten the area’s high-quality habitat and migration corridors that support mountain goats, wolverine, lynx, and an elk herd that is known for its trophy bulls. The adjacent Lolo National Forest recognized the Great Burn’s incredible wildness and important wildlife values and included the Montana portion of the Great Burn as recommended wilderness in its forest plan.
The 200,000-acre Meadow Creek area contains the most diverse collection of salmon, trout, bull trout, and steelhead species of any watershed in the northern Rocky Mountains, and is home to moose and migratory sandhill crane. By recommending both the East and West Meadow Creek areas for wilderness designation in its final plan, the Forest Service would not only protect Meadow Creek’s unique fishery and abundant wildlife, but would also conserve more of the lands that link the Selway-Bitterroot and Frank Church-River of No Return wildernesses, helping to further enhance and protect the largest wilderness complex in the lower 48 states.
The Mallard-Larkins area serves as habitat for a variety of wildlife and is popular among people seeking primitive recreation—reasons that the current forest plan recommends this area for future wilderness designation. The Mallard-Larkin’s remote backcountry attracts hikers, hunters, backpackers, and fishermen, and is home to one of the region’s largest populations of mountain goats . The Forest Service should retain the wilderness recommendation for this area in its final plan.
Public comments on the draft revised forest plan and environmental impact statement for the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests are being accepted until April 20. This is your opportunity to weigh in on how the Forest Service should manage this remarkable area for years to come.
John Seebach is a director with Pew’s U.S. public lands and rivers conservation project.