Yes, this is Nevada. Castle Lakes in the Ruby Mountains Wilderness.
From our friends at the Center for Biological Diversity. The link on “please submit your comments” goes to one of those automated letter-sending sites. It’ll take less than two minutes of your time. (But feel free to take more and customize the letter.)
The northeastern part of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest is nothing short of spectacular, with rocky peaks soaring over 11,000 feet that contain stands of white-bark pine and limber pine, pristine wet meadows, and springs. The lower elevations harbor piñon and juniper forests and diverse sagebrush meadows.
All this could change if off-road vehicles are allowed to rip up the landscape.
Your voice is needed: More than 1.1 million acres of national forest lands in northern Nevada are threatened by off-road vehicle abuse. The Jarbridge, Mountain City, and Ruby Mountain ranger districts are conducting travel management planning to decide where off-road vehicles will be allowed to roam. There are three designated Wildernesses in these districts - the Jarbridge, East Humboldt, and Ruby Mountain - and they are among the most wild and least visited in the Wilderness system. Abutting and protecting the character of these Wildernesses are dozens of Inventoried Roadless Areas, at risk of being destroyed and degraded by the decisions made in this planning effort.
Please take action now by telling the Forest Service that you are one of many who care about protecting our national forests and reducing the number of roads in the Humboldt-Toiyabe. A sample letter is below [below the fold- CC], and we urge you to add a personal story, example, or concern to your message so that the Forest Service is compelled to listen. Please submit your comments by February 20.
Sample letter:
Subject: Limit Road Additions in Inventoried Roadless Areas
I am writing to state my opposition to the Forest Service’s proposed action of adding 285 miles of new motorized roads and trails to the transportation system on the Jarbridge, Mountain City, and Ruby Mountain ranger districts. The addition of these new routes is unnecessary and would only cause unacceptable harm to wildlife species, streams and waterways, and the use of the forest for quiet recreation.
Many of the proposed additions are unauthorized user-created routes that intrude into Inventoried Roadless Areas. These renegade routes have not undergone site-specific analysis as to their environmental impacts and consequences, nor have they been professionally engineered to ensure proper drainage and minimization of resource damage.
Further, many of the proposed additions will adversely impact nesting and rearing habitats for the imperiled northern sage grouse, as well as areas identified by the Nevada Department of Wildlife as crucial habitat for bighorn sheep and elk. The additional burden of having to maintain 285 miles of new motorized routes is unnecessary, given the Forest Service’s inability to maintain the current 1,418 miles of system roads to the appropriate standard.
I applaud the proposed action’s prohibition against motorized cross-country travel off of designated roads and trails, and the restrictions for game retrieval and dispersed camping off routes. But this proposal does not go far enough to protect my public lands, wildlife habitat, or the quiet recreation opportunities that I seek on the Humboldt-Toiyabe.
Please protect the sanctity of these precious and valuable public lands from the additional impacts of more off-road vehicle use. The existing motorized routes are more than sufficient to provide for the needs of off-road vehicle users.
Thanks for posting this article.
Go Wilderness!!!
Kurt Kuznicki
Hey, Kurt, thanks for stopping by. Looked at your Nevada Outside site: good stuff. It just went in the desert blogroll.
Alla youse regular Coyote Crossers around here should go say hi to Kurt’s new hiking buddy.