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If you haven’t been into the backcountry during winter to ski or snowshoe for a few years, you are in for a shock. Gone are the days when a quiet ski tour amidst the spruces and firs might elicit the call of a chickadee or gray jay as distinctive sounds, or just the wind blowing in your ears to remind you that winter is called that for a reason.
More and more, those of us who treasure the redemptive bliss of exerting ourselves quietly in the powder snow of the backcountry have had to come to terms with the “real” world of whining motors. Everywhere. Even on occasion in designated wilderness areas.
Why? Snowmobiles have gone on steroids. They are much bigger, more powerful, and able to access terrain that was out of reach to the underpowered trail-bound wimps of the past. Today’s machines can travel in deep powder and at speeds upwards of 100 miles per hour. Next to you. With your kids or dog, or both. And they occasionally travel where they don’t belong, in wilderness areas, and almost always get away with it.
The muscling-up of snowmobiles has caught federal land mangers by surprise, as the energy and effort in recreation programs of the BLM and Forest Service has been devoted to summer or “wheeled” motorized recreation, which has also boomed. The Forest Service responded to the ATV craze in 2005 with its “Travel Management Rule” which is a giant leap in the right direction. This rule reverses the “open unless closed” policy on national forests with a travel management process that designates open areas for motorized use – all other lands are closed. But most forests are not including winter in their plans.
Winter Wildlands Alliance is a Boise-based national organization whose mission is to promote and preserve winter wildlands and a quality human-powered snowsports experience on public lands. Every other year, we gather grassroots activists and public lands managers from across the western Snowbelt states to discuss, debate and learn from each other the challenges facing both the land managers and those of us seeking a little peace and quiet in the woods.
This year’s conference is being held at the American Mountaineering Center in Golden, Colo., on Oct. 24-25. The first day is devoted to training activists from WWA’s 28 grassroots groups, and will consist of "small organization survival skills" and a workshop on communications and media relations. Activists and others from other organizations and interests are welcome to attend.
The first day ends with a reception and dinner with keynote speaker Stephen Saunders, President of Rocky Mountain Climate Organization and former Interior Department official.
The second day is full of policy-related speakers and panels. Topics include:
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The evolution of NEPA and its role of involving the public in agency decision-making;
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The Forest Service’s Travel Management Rule – perspectives from the agency and from activists, along with a discussion about the agency's ability to enforce the rule;
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Snowmobiles in Yellowstone National Park;
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Natural resource impacts of motorized recreation in winter;
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Vail Pass Recreation Area as a possible model for solving user conflicts;
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Hybrid skiing – when skiers and snowmobiles unite;
Speakers include;
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Mike Harris, Director of the Environmental Law Clinic at the University of Denver;
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Tom Tidwell, Regional Forester, Region 1, U.S. Forest Service;
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Members of the Vail Pass Task Force;
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U.S. Forest recreation staff members from Colorado and Utah;
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Representatives from the Environmental Protection Agency, Region 8;
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Natural Sounds Program, National Park Service.
Steve Ryder is the Grassroots Programs Director for Winter Wildlands Alliance in Boise, Idaho. He works with 28 member groups to advocate for quiet winter recreation on public lands across the Snowbelt states. Originally from Colorado, he has skied, hiked, cycled, climbed and fished throughout the western states when not working in land conservation and public lands advocacy.
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