WYOMING SPORTSMEN FOR FISH & WILDLIFE - Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act

Wyoming Sportsmen for Fish & Wildlife Position Statement
Opposition to Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act (H.R. 980)

Wyoming Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife (WY SFW) believes in and strongly supports the multiple use designation of our National Forests and BLM. Furthermore, we recognize and support the need to maintain healthy forests and productive range lands for public benefit. Wilderness Designation would prohibit many of the beneficial uses derived by the public by these public lands.

It is our position that wilderness designation conflicts with multiple use designation. Furthermore, H.R. 980 in particular, would have very significant and extremely negative impacts associated with this wilderness expansion.

WY SFW believes our renewable resources are vital to the survivability of several of our smaller communities. These renewable resources provide a lifestyle that so many people desire and they allow smaller towns and cities to maintain and diversify their economies.

The stated objective of this resolution is to protect important wildlife habitat and sensitive species, scenic values, connect biological corridors, remove roads, replant forest clear cuts, and include new eligible waters to the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System. WY SFW questions why this area is in need of protection and from whom are we protecting it?

While this bill is touted as adding new jobs, saving taxpayers millions of dollars, and claims that it will create a sustainable economic base for the local communities near these new wilderness lands, it fails to mention the number of jobs that will be lost, the number of families which it will displace, and the established economies which it will destroy.

WY SFW believes that H.R. 980 threatens currently established and sustained economies for the promise of a few unsustainable and short term jobs.

WY SFW and its +5200 members treasure our current wilderness areas and frequent them often. Furthermore, we highly value our public lands and use them frequently as well. Our opposition to H.R. 980 is based upon the fact that expanded wilderness designation would significantly and negatively impact several generations of traditional and historic multiple use and establish one of single use.

WY SFW believes it is senseless to destroy the established and permitted infrastructure and existing roads in an attempt to create ?wilderness'. Wyoming and its citizens have long been good stewards of these public lands. In reality, continued multiple use practices are more likely to maintain and protect these treasures for future uses than expanding wilderness designation to include them.

WY SFW believes that current multiple use management practices have allowed for increased public enjoyment and use of our public lands while balancing multiple users and their often competing interests. These multiple users have been coming for several generations to visit these scenic vistas and those vistas still exist today. Expanding wilderness designation will impose restrictions on the multiple uses which have allowed diverse economies to develop, maintain, and support local communities.

WY SFW believes protective actions on our National Forests have proven themselves to be ineffective at accomplishing the very thing they profess to do; protect our public lands. One only need look at the outcome derived from protecting our once renewable timber resources to only see them being destroyed by pine beetles. Timber industries were forced out of business by past protective actions and now the National Forest Service is stuck trying to address a problem of their own creation, forced upon them by many of these same groups which advocate for protection of these renewable resources.

Furthermore, it remains unclear how numerous issues will be addressed. Some identified issues are:

Which roads would be closed within the designated wilderness area?
What happens to the White Pine Ski Area as well as several lodges and guest ranches located and permitted by the Bridger-Teton National Forest within the boundaries of the newly expanded wilderness proposals?
What would be the fate of existing summer homes on National Forest Service lands?
What happens to elk feedgrounds and structures within the wilderness areas?
What happens with the proposal to create the new outdoor college at Half Moon Lake Resort and the Burnt Lake facilities?
What happens to the many developed campgrounds, boat ramps and trailheads accesses in the Wind River Mountains and the Wyoming Range?
What happens to access to private in-holdings within the newly expanded wilderness areas due to removal of roads on public land in the wilderness areas?

One question remains unanswered: Can wilderness be re-created? The original objective of the designation of wilderness areas was to set aside and retain the pristine evidence of natural occurence. Reclamation is not the same and never will be the same as once pristine forests.

WY SFW emphatically believes that wilderness cannot be re-created. Wyoming has sufficiently identified and protected our wild lands and wilderness areas. H.R. 980 was inappropriate and unnecessary in 1992. The fact that these areas remain intact and highly valued is a testament of the great stewards who have both treasured and provided multiple users an opportunity to develop and sustain historic traditions which perpetuate appreciation and foster increased stewardship of these areas. H.R. 980 remains inappropriate and unnecessary today.

Respectfully submitted,

Robert A. Wharff
Executive Director
WY SFW
P.O. Box 1635
Evanston, WY 82931-1635
www.wysfw.org
rwharff@wildblue.net