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An environmenally friendly view of the Wasatch-Cache National Forest plan revision By
Jim Steitz Rarely can communities collectively articulate their future landscape and quality of life as we now can through the Wasatch-Cache National Forest plan revision. The plan will guide Wasatch-Cache management and dramatically affect Wasatch Front quality of life for the next 10-20 years. Nobody doubts that Utahns love their Wasatch Mountains with unmatched passion. Our interests are numerous, varied and intense. Ours are among the nation"s most heavily used recreational national forests. It is also a crucial junction of the Rocky Mountain ecosystem, linking the Wasatch backbone, High Uintas and the greater Yellowstone ecosystem. The soils and vegetation of the Wasatch-Cache National Forest supply much of our fresh water: the Salt Lake Valley"s lifeblood. Multitudes of unique plants and animals call the forest home, and their survival is intimately linked to ours. The Bridgerland Audubon Society, Bear River Watershed Council, Utah State University's Ecological Coalition of Students, Ogden Sierra Club, Western Watershed Project and Logan Backcountry Skiers Alliance commend the Forest Service for recognizing the immense value of the national forest and the damage it has sustained from logging, grazing and motorized vehicles, and for aspiring to ecological sustainability as the plan's cornerstone. We encourage all Wasatch Front citizens to overcome our institutional, cultural and ideological differences and craft a plan that respects the magnificence of the Wasatch-Cache National Forest and its inhabitants -- human and otherwise. First, we must refrain from logging the forest. The High Uintas have been grossly overharvested. The rest of the national forest is marginally productive, sustaining a rich habitat assemblage on thin soils and sparse rainfall. Several clear-cuts haven't recovered after 30 years. Such an environment, backyard to a burgeoning human population, is not suitable for wood production. We commend the Forest Service for including a zero-cut option, and urge its adoption. Second, we need a balanced array of recreational options. Winter recreationists currently have little respite from snowmobiles. We commend the Forest Service for recognizing these conflicts, but the current proposal does not address them. Historically important cross-country ski destinations are proposed for motorized use. Boundaries are ambiguous and unenforceable, and many areas proposed for non-motorized use are correspondingly unsuitable or even unsafe. Similarly, recent dramatic rises in off-road vehicle use have caused great damage. Forest Service staff helplessly confront countless illegal "ghost" roads, vandalized gates, denuded hillsides and trashed streams. A few users commit most violations; the off-road vehicle community must educate and discipline their own, lest their access to significant the Wasatch-Cache National Forest areas be jeopardized. We commend efforts to retire illegal roads and urge the delineation of meaningfully large, contiguous, enforceable non-motorized areas. This helps responsible ORV users, our friends and neighbors, to avoid unwittingly contributing to the national forest's ruin. Third, livestock grazing must conform to the forest's ecological capacity. The few dozen jobs associated with forest grazing are important, but cannot override all other resource concerns, particularly in light of Wasatch-Cache National Forest's aridity and limited productivity. Hillsides have been stripped and soils pulverized into dust. Stream banks are trampled and bleed silt into our streams, killing fish and other aquatic life. Unfortunately, less than 15,000 acres of variation exists among the six contemplated grazing options. Because the economic benefits of grazing are meager compared to the ecological costs, a range of possibilities and the fundamental trade-offs of grazing must be pondered, including a no-grazing benchmark. Finally, certain lands deserve formal wilderness protection. An appropriate balance designates the Wasatch-Cache National Forest jewels as wilderness, allowing responsible motorized use elsewhere. The Mt. Naomi Wilderness in Logan Canyon, unique to this author's community, should encompass the north side of Highway 89, while allowing access up existing major roads. The Lakes Roadless Area in the High Uintas, the largest unprotected roadless forest in Utah, is a massive, primitive and wild place of vast coniferous forests, sparkling alpine lakes and ascending peaks. It deserves protection. These measures can facilitate a future worth living on the Wasatch Front, with ample recreation and amenities to diverse users. A thoughtful application of multiple use -- not every use in every location -- can secure the values we cherish. Ecologically meaningful debate is healthy, but petty disputes must not divide us. At a recent planning hearing in Logan, certain extremist motorized advocates compared conservation advocates to Osama bin Laden and denigrated our intentions. "Terrorists," "potheads," "socialists" and "tree-huggers" are just a few of the terms my friends have publicly encountered. We invite all citizens to join the effort; may our children forgive us if we fail.
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