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Judge halts snowmobile grooming Posted: Thursday, Dec 22, 2005 - 11:14:52 am PST By MIKE McLEAN Hagadone News Network
Groups contend caribou depend on large tracts of undisturbed habitat COEUR d'ALENE -- A federal judge in eastern Washington ordered the U.S. Forest Service on Tuesday to halt snowmobile grooming in the recovery zone for woodland caribou.The order signed by U.S. District Judge Robert Whaley comes as a preliminary injunction as part of a lawsuit brought by conservation groups to close the 450,000-acre recovery zone completely to snowmobile use. Woodland caribou is often described as the most threatened large mammal in North America.
Other plaintiffs in the lawsuit include Defenders of Wildlife, Idaho Conservation League and the Lands Council of Spokane. The last remaining woodland caribou in the lower 48 states are part of a small herd that migrates between Idaho, Washington and British Columbia. In each of the last five years, from zero to three caribou have been sighted in the U.S. portion of the official Woodland Caribou Recovery Zone. The groups contend caribou are completely dependent on large tracts of undisturbed old-growth forests and high elevation habitat. "The Forest Service should have addressed the impacts of snowmobiles on caribou a long time ago," said Mike Leahy, staff attorney with Defenders of Wildlife. "Since they did not, emergency protective measures are necessary in the absence of a long-term solution." The ruling states Forest Service agreements with local snowmobile grooming associations should have included more specific discussion with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service about potential impacts of snowmobile use on caribou, said David O'Brien, spokesman for Idaho Panhandle National Forests. The Forest Service doesn't directly groom trails. O'Brien said there's no direct science that shows Woodland caribou are affected by snowmobiles. "The whole big-game biology is that winters are difficult in this country," he said. An animal has the best chance of surviving the winter if it doesn't have to spend energy from being displaced. The ruling will stop grooming on popular trails up Pack River, in remote Priest Lake areas and in northern Boundary County, O'Brien said. Trails on state land on the east side of Priest Lake won't be affected, he said. About 25 square miles of the recovery zone are already closed to snowmobile use. Brian Hawthorne of the BlueRibbon Coalition said the ruling affects grooming on a handful of trails. The coalition is among intervenors representing recreation interests in the lawsuit. He's worried that conservation groups want to shut down a lot more motorized recreation in the forests. "You could say we dodged a bullet," he said. He said snowmobiling at Priest Lake is growing in popularity and in importance to the economy. "People come from all over and rent cabins and rent sleds," he said. He doesn't think the grooming injunction will impact immediate access or use. "Grooming is for routes between destinations," he said. Groomed trails aren't destinations in themselves. While the injunction is preliminary in a legal sense, he said he expects it to be in place throughout the lawsuit, "which could take years." POST YOUR OPINION
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Bonner County Daily Bee
P.O. Box 159 / Sandpoint, Idaho 83864 / 208-263-9534
Bonner County Daily Bee Online is updated at 10am PST.
David Benson wrote on Jan 14, 2008 7:33 AM: