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HomeMy Public PortalAboutWilderness AreasU. S. Forest Service Ogden, Utah WILDERNESS INTERMOUNTAIN REGION Wilderness and Primitive Areas within the Intermountain Region are administered under provisions of the Wilderness Act of 1964 and regulations of the Secretary of Agriculture. These six areas, are large expanses of scenic mountainous land set aside for the preservation of primitive conditions of environment, habitation, and transportation. They include a total of 2,711,462 acres, or 7.14 percent of the 30,798,675 acres of National Forest land within the Region. All these areas are high- elevation watersheds where heavy snowpacks are primary sources of streamflow. Big and small game are generally plentiful, and some of the finest hunting and fishing are found amid awe - inspiring scenery of the wilderness environment. Grazing domestic livestock is authorized on parts of some areas. WILDERNESS AREAS - INTERMOUNTAIN REGION CALIFORNIA HOOVER WILDERNESS - Toiyabe and Inyo National Forests, 421800 acres, established 1931. IDAHO IDAHO PRIMITIVE AREA - Boise, Challis, Salmon, and Payette National For - ests, 1,224,576 acres, established 1931. SAWTOOTH PRIMITIVE AREA - Boise, Challis, and Sawtooth National Forests, 200,942 acres, established 1937• NEVADA A region of rugged canyons and jagged mountain peaks, 13 of which approach 13,000 feet. Superb scenery enhanced by mountain lakes, cascading streams, and meadows carpeted in the spring with colorful wild flowers. :abundant wildlife, fishing, and remnants of 5 glaciers add to interest. A large wilderness, rugged, scenic, and mountainous, with towering peaks and deep canyons, the area embraces the Middle Fork of Salmon River, noted for float boating and fishing. Excep- tionally fine hunting with large herds of deer and elk. Big horn sheep a com- mon sight along the river. An exceptionally scenic area featuring the tooth -like Sawtooth Mountains with numerous deep gorges, glacial basins, with over 170 Alpine lakes. Fishing good to excellent. Area is noted for wildlife including deer, elk, mountain goats, bear, mountain lions, and a variety of small game. JARBIDGE WILDERNESS - Humboldt National Rugged mountainous terrain with 8 peaks Forest, 64,667 acres, established over 10,000 feet. Deer plentiful, 1958. small game and birds numerous and good fishing in streams and one lake. One of the most scenic and remote spots in Nevada. UTAH HIGH UINTAS PRIMITIVE AREA - Ashley and Wasatch National Forests, 240,717 acres, established 1931. The High Uinta Mountains, ranging from 8,000 to 13,449 feet, are the highest in Utah and the only major east -west range in the United States. A wild, picturesque region, rich in scenic, geological, and biological interest, the area is noted for its small lake fishing in over 250 lakes. WYOMING BRIDGER WILDERNESS - Bridger National Forest, 383,300 acres, established 1931. TETON WILDERNESS - Teton National Forest, 563,460 acres, established 1934• Located in the Wind River Range with• elevations from 9,500 to 13,785 feet on Gannett Peak, the highest in Wyo- ming, the area is characterized by massive granite outcrops. Hundreds of lakes and picturesque streams provide excellent fishing. Noted for mountain climbing and live glaciers. A region of high plateaus, large val- leys and mountain meadows that can be easily traversed. Of special interest is Two Ocean Pass, where Two Ocean Creek divides and sends one stream to the Pacific and one to the Atlantic. Noted for elk hunting and fishing- - summer range for Jackson Hole elk herd. The following regulations have been adopted to preserve and enhance the wilderness environment: 1. Travel must be by foot or horseback - -no motorized vehicles, including trail scooters, duffel carriers, or motor boats. 2. The landing of airplanes, including helicopters, is limited to established landing strips within the Idaho Primitive Area. 3. The Forest Service will not authorize the building of cabins, lodges, resorts, stores, summer homes, or organization camps; the cutting and removal of timber; nor the construction of roads except in connection with a recognized statutory right of ingress to private property. Please help preserve your national forest wilderness by being especially careful with fire and by burning, flattening, and burying or packing out tin cans. You are urged to contact the local forest ranger before em- barking on a wilderness trip. IDAHO PR /M /T /VE AREA PAY�TTE N.F. SALMON AL N )N. F. (� M�CALI- I % SA4V O CHALLIS PR /M /T /V Y'v ' TETON TETON > AREA HALLIS N.F,,, N. WILDERNESS 1 S T. BOISE N.F ANTHONY + TARG E N.F. , JACKSON BoisE SAWTOOTH N.F ';'. BRIDGER _.` W /LDERNESS �OCATELLO BRIDGE /R TWIN FALLS • CARIBOU SAWTOOTH N.F N.F. -� 'y �? LOGAN • j •KEMMERER HUMBOLDT ✓ARB/DGE CACHE N.F HIGH U TAS N.F W /LDERNESS OGDEN PR /M /T /V AREA i ELKO • ' SALT LAKE CITY • HLEY WASATCH,- , N.F ' VERNAL PROVO • i �j IE `T A ID -Al. UINTA N.F. ttJ 'T A *RENO HUMBOLDT N. F \ TOIYABEN.F HOOVER \ •PR' CE MANTI - LASA L RICHFIELD • N.F WILDERNESS i CEDAR CITY • FISHLAKE N.F (O C�) I MANTI- LASAL N.FI DIXIE N.F - - '- Tr `TOIYABE N.F ' UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE I FOREST SERVICE oo� �•I MTERHOUNTEN REM& MEDNI 22 NATIONAL FORESTS REGIONAL OFFICE • SUPERVISOR'S OFFICE WILDERNESS & PRIMITIVE AREAS 1965 to tread where man can be only a visitor If you want to get away from it all, don't go into the wilderness unless you really mean it. Wilderness is truly at the end of the world, at least the civiliz- ed world. But for those who seek it out, the wilderness ex- perience can reveal a new perspective on what they left hehind -- Much of the forested area in Idaho's Heartland, for all prac- tical purposes, could be called wilderness. There are no roads leading into much of the forest, and human activity is limited. The official wilderness areas are in much the same condition, but the big difference is that an act of Congress specifies that those lands stay in their pristine condition, forever free of the threat of logging and the building of roads or other struc- tures. The largest and most spec- tacular wilderness in Idaho's Heartland is the Frank Church - River of No Return Wilderness. At 2.3 million acres, it is the largest designated wilderness area in the nation outside Alaska. The area is named after Frank Church, the late U.S. Senator from Idaho who fought for the area's designation and battled for preservation of other natural areas as well. The River of No Return is the legendary nfoo for the trig Salmon River, which r through the wilderness along with its major tributar Regulations governed by U.S. Forest Service ensures rights of visitors into wilderness to have an experic free of the infiueace of m said Jim Arp, recreation p ner for the Payette Natic I- orest. "The people we try to courage to use the wilderr are those people who reauh certain amount of solitud Arp said. No autos can enter the a since there are few roads, law also prohibits ot . motorized vehicles, such motorcycles and all -terr vehicles. In fact, no engines at all allowed, including chain sa to preserve the ages -old qu broken only by the rush of ... wind or the call of a bird, Arp said. All of these restrictions may give the impression there is little that can be done in the wilderness, but that is wrong, Arp said. Anyone with a backpack or horse is free to roam the area at will to fish, hunt, camp and generally take in the fact that they are out of reach and out of touch. For those who would rather Horseback trips are easy on the feet. not try to tackle the wilderness on their own, professional out- fitters and guides are available to lead you into the farthest reaches of the back country. Those not experienced with riding on horseback have little to fear from trained outfitters, said Jim Thrash, a guide for Wildhorse Trail Rides and an outfitter for Salmon Meadows Lodge. "If you can sit in a chair and keep your balance, you can do it," he said. One who knows the special lure of the wilderness is Andy Finn, recreation and lands branch chief for the Payette Na- tional Forest who was raised in Idaho's Heartland. Finn has gone on backpack- ing trips throughout the west, but the Frank Church wilderness remains his favorite. "It's a unique experience, and you can guarantee that it'll be there," he said. A wilderness adventure need not be expensive, and the adventurers need not be wealthy to get full enjoyment from a visit, Finn said. "If you can buy a backback and a sleeping bag, there's not much else you need," he said. Strap on a backpack, leave society behind (Note: The author is a McCall resident and frequent visitor to the back country.) BY MIKE MEDBERRY When crowds and traffic lose their appeal, when any neighbor, however far away, seems too close and the city all too tight, when a day at work lasts like all of November, and a double sawbuck spends like a dime, when fresh bread tastes stale and the very air seems to conspire against happiness, count it high time to retreat into the backcountry. Strap some supplies on your back and hightail it for the mountains. There is refreshing scenery in the mountains of Central Idaho, excellent fishing in many lakes and streams, abundant wildlife, and solitude to match the needs of even the most hardened loner. Whether you choose to spend half a day or half a season in the woods, there is ample terrain to ex- plore. A day hike to one of many lakes off the Lick Creek or Brundage /Hazard Lake roads offers the casual walker a chance to see a wide variety of wildflowers and birds, to pick mushrooms or huckleberries, and perhaps a chance to sight otter, beaver, deer, bear or elk. Not to mention the picnicking and romantic possibilities of a meadow or creek -side glade. Taking day hikes is also a good way to scout the coun- tryside in preparation for later overnight trips and to assess your physical condition for the longer treks. Even on short hikes, however, be sure to pack a hearty lunch and a set of binoculars, as well as warm clothes, a good map, a com- pass, matches and water. Weekend or longer backpack trips allow hikers to get a better feel for the country and a longer lasting escape from the pave- ment and powerboats. Natural- ly, long trips require more careful planning than do short hikes. On weekdays, stop at a forest service office in Council, New Meadows, Riggins, McCall or Cascade for general informa- tion and maps of the area you're interested in. Backpackers also ought to pick up more specific topographic Mike Medberry Sports, May Hardware, Medley Sports, or Hometown Sports, or in Cascade at Wilderness Sports. These sporting goods stores, open both weekdays and weekends, stock backpacking equipment and accessories and have some rental equipment. For the novice backpacker, it is wise to pick up one of the popular books on the sport, such as Backpacking, one step at a time by Harvy Manning, or Robert S. Wood's Pleasure Packing. �'aqP "12 oy .3 Pgrs Long trips can stir the deepest feelings of freedom and adven -, ture, but for the unprepared, they may also awaken deep feel- ings of regret. For instance, there is a local story told about two horsemen who went elk hunting a few years ago in the mountains near Council. They ended up shooting their own horses, gutting them, and sleep - ing in the warm body cavities to survive an unexpected cold snap. The men survived alright, being only a couple miles from the road, but if they had used as much horse sense as ammuni- tion they could've saved their animals, avoided an absurd ordeal, and been spared the in- evitable comments about their choice of sleeping bags. It is essential to have the right equipment: warm clothes, sleep- ing gear, a good tent, plenty of food, map and compass, mat- ches, mosquito repellent and a reliable cook stove. Don't forget that in the mountains it can hail or snow any day of the year. Rain storms are common, and nighttime temperatures may dip well below freezing. If you're an angler or photographer, be sure to bring your gear. One note:, of caution: with the threat of `the disease giardia in recent years, it is a goad . idea to boil all drinking and cooking water taken from streams. Although temperatures over 150 degrees F. will kill giar- dia, it is best to boil the water for two minutes or more to be on the safe side. Finally, be sure to plan on packing out everything you pack into the wilds. SUQ,E, I SAP ! WANTED To SEE WiLVeRNt-SS, sur I pimIr KNOW 7Hem WOULUNLr BE ANY CAKE m)ArAlNss � 1-1, IT U ICL proposes wilderness Goal of plan is to preserve land, sane jobs BY JAMES L. KINCAID The Star-News The Idaho Conservation League last week announced a proposed plan which would designate as wilderness about 6.5 million acres of roadless area of national forest in Idaho, in- cluding several hundred thousand acres in west central Idaho. "We wanted to make sure conser- vationist's views are on the table," Mike Medberry of the ICL in Ketchum said. "If we are going to have debate, we ought to have ev- erybody's opinions in the open. Rep. Larry LaRocco, D- Idaho, began working on proposed legisla- tion in December to attempt to re- solve the future of jobs and recre- ation on 9.3 million acres of road- less land in Idaho. LaRocco is a member of the House Interior and Insular Affairs Committee. He plans to have wilderness legislation introduced in the House by the end of March. "Instead of an ideological debate, it should be focused on specific is- sues," Medberry said. "LaRocco's bill will be the next step, but it is pot cast in stone." The ICL proposal would result in no net loss of jobs and would pro- tect habitat for huntable and non - game fish and wildlife, according to ICL's plan. The U.S. Forest Service must protect areas that provide essential habitat for fish, game and rare, threatened and endangered species, according to the proposal. Old growth forests must be maintained, along with long rota- tion times for any logged areas, ac- cording to the plan. Clear cutting and harvest of even -age timber muse be stopped, along with road buildin in roadless areas and logging o sensitive soils or on highly erosiv slopes. A natural fire policy and timbe management practices must be im plemented to maintain diversity c the landscape, according to the plan Here is a list of proposed wilder ness areas in this area included i the ICL's proposal: • Addition to existing Hell Canyon /Seven Devils Wildernes Area: 9,300 acres. • Rapid River: 53,000 acres. • French Creek/Patrick Butte 141,000 acres. • Salmon River Breaks: 43,300 acres. • Snowbank Mountain: 30,000 acres. • Secesh: 265,000 acres. • Needles: 171,800 acres. • Caton Lake: 102,800 acres. The Payette National Forestal- ready includes a large portion of the Secesh and Needles pfoposals in the Payette's Forest Plana Six large timber ales are now proposed in the French Creek area, which Medberry ca ed "the most threatened roadless area in the West." "The French Cree area would re- quire a lot of road through lodge pole pines to get to the valuable trees," Medberry said That won't make much money or much sense." The six proposed sales in the French Creek area would total about 40 million board feet of timber, said Gary Eckert, forester on the Payette National Forest. Two proposed sales in the South Fork Salmon River area would total about eight million HELL'S CANYON MWERNES5 tia 4 board feet. A third proposed helicopter sale has been postponed indefinitely, he said. Of the current 9.3 million acres of roadless area in Idaho, there are about four million acres of protected wilderness. The group's proposal would increase protected wilderness to about 10.5 million acres. The conservationist's plan would create jobs in forest rehabilitation for displaced workers. Retraining opportunities would be provided for workers along with expanded eco- nomic assistance for education. "We are serious about working with local people on the creation of jobs," Medberry said. "We are try- ing to recognize real change in places like McCall. While some jobs would be lost, others would be gained. We have learned that con- servation without compassion does not work." The plan would support loans to small businesses in rural areas and increased federal payments to coun- ties in lieu of taxes. The tax incentives for businesses would encourage investment in m- w dustries other than timber, such as (tourism. GOSPEL HUMP MWMESS McCall 1 Hell's Canyon Addition 4 Rapid River 3 Salmon River Breaks 4 French Creek/ Patrick Butte S Secesh 6 Needles 7 Caton Lake 8 Snowbank Mountain FRANK CHURCH RNR MWERNESS a uV Star -News graphic by Tomi Grote ICL's proposed additions shown in red People on both sides agree: Wilderness legislation needs work BY SHARI HAMBLETON The Star -News New Idaho wilderness legislation proposed by Rep. Larry LaRocco, D- Idaho, has come under fire from both the timber industry and conservation- ists as not meeting their concerns. LaRocco's newest bill is an amended version of the bill he pro- posed in March 1993 addressing the wilderness debate, which has raged throughout Idaho for almost a decade and a half. Although the rest of the congres- sional delegation has been attempting to work through the wilderness issue and conceive legislation to address it, LaRocco has forged on with his own proposed solution. "It's time to move ahead," he said in a release outlining his newest leg- islation. "It's time to pass a bill." Changes from the original bill pro- posed for Payette National Forest include: • Removing the proposed addition to the Frank Church - River of No Return Wilderness. • Extending the Patrick Butte Wil- derness proposal north to the Payette National Forest boundary, adding 6,000 acres. • Extending the French Creek Wil- derness proposal north to include the French Creek break lands adding about 5,000 acres. • Removing the French Creek Spe- cial Management Area included in the previous bill. • Removing the four -wheel drive trail along the South Fork of the Salmon River which bisects the Se- cesh proposed wilderness. "The impacts (of LaRocco's bill) are reasonably the same (as his previ- ous bill)," Payette Forest Supervisor Dave Alexander said. Alexandersaid forest management activities in the forest management plan, the forest's blueprint for overall operations, calls for logging in the French Creek/Patrick Butte Roadless; area. That is an area conservationists> are attempting to save for potential wilderness designation. Once roads are constructed through a roadless area, potential wilderness designation is lost, Idaho Conserva- tion League spokesman David Simmonds said. Five of the six timber sales pro- posed for that area are only affected slightly by URocco's bill, Simmonds said. But Alexander said the forest is not on an accelerated schedule to com- plete the sales. Regardless of whether players in the wilderness debate agree the LaRocco's bill, they echo in unison the concern that Idaho is one of the last states in the nation to develop legislation to deal with it's wilderness areas. And all want to see it material- ize. "If there's no bill, there's no reso- lution and we just keep fighting it out acre by acre," Simmonds said. The problem lies in what the tim- ber industry and conservationists will support or fight against as legislative proposals surface. Simmonds said LaRocco's new bill gives the "biggest piece of the pie" to the timber industry. "We tried to work with him the best we could but he chose to listen mostly to (timber) industry," he said. Although he said the ICL hasn't decided yet whether or not to support the bill, LaRocco's attempt to deal with the issue is significant. -3 Feb 17. !991. "At least he has the guts to stick with it and do what he said he was going to do in the election," he said. "We're disappointed to see LaRocco's bill chop in half the proposed wilder- ness and surround it by timber sales." "It's no problem for the timber industry, but it's a big problem for us," he said. Not so, according to timber indus- try consultant Cliff Lee of McCall, who represents timber companies such as Evergreen Forest Products, Boise Cascade and Croman Company. "I think that if you talk about wil- derness you have to take a look at the present situation," Lee said. "With 800,000 acres (of wilderness) on the Payette, LaRocco's proposing to add another 303,000 more acres more. That's 50 percent of the Payette Na- tional Forest." Lee said the forest plan only calls for 212,000 total acres of wilderness. "He's (LaRocco) proposing an addi- tional 100,000 more than that." While the forest industry is not opposed to additional wilderness, Lee said, "we are opposed to taking good timber producing land out of produc- tion without some kind of guarantee that the remaining lands can be man- aged without the threat of appeal and legal manipulation." "The only `hard release' language that would work would be a guarantee that every timber sale you propose won't go up for immediate appeal," Lee said. That may be an unrealistic dream, "That's a nice idea for industry," Simmonds said. "But I don't think even they expect it to happen." i X1-2` g Controvers y still follows 3o- year -old Wilderness Act By Carl Weiser Gannett News Service WASHINGTON — It's easy to wax poetic in the desolate beau- ty of South Dakota's Badlands, the swampy stillness of Florida's Everglades, or any of America's awesome wilderness. But it wasn't poetry that saved the wilderness. It was politicians. It was politicians who, 30 years ago, passed a law de- scribed as "visionary" and "rev- olutionary": the Wilderness Act of 1964. Signed Sept. 3 by Lyndon Johnson, it set aside lands — for the first time anywhere in the world — to be true wilderness, free of houses, roads and motors. Free, in other words, of man. Wilderness, reads the unusu- ally eloquent law, is "where the earth and the community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain." In the three decades since the law was signed, federal wilder- ness lands have grown from 9 million to nearly 100 million acres — 4 percent of the United States. But so has resentment, embod- ied in the property rights and "wise use" movements. What do the next 30 years hold? Environmentalists want to double the size of the wilderness system. Property rights groups want to shrink it. Wilderness, protected for its se- renity, has instead become a bat- tlefield. The Wilderness Act was born in the wilderness — at a campfire in the Adirondack Mountains in Northern New York. Howard Zahniser, executive di- rector of the Wilderness Society and the undisputed father of the Wilderness Act, loved the Adi- rondacks. "He got his inspiration (for the law) from the Adirondack Park and its wilderness areas," said Da- vid Gibson, executive director of the Association for the Protection of the Adirondacks. One night in 1946, he was camp- ing with his friend, Paul Schaefer, in a remote corner of the wil- derness. Schaefer mentioned that parts of Adirondack Park were protect- ed by a part of the New York state constitution that declared them "forever wild," free from logging, roads and homes. "He was fascinated by that," Schaefer recalled. "He said we need something like that on a national scale." So he wrote a law. Zahniser dedicated the rest of his life to getting the law passed. He rewrote it 66 times. The bill was actually introduced in 1957, but it took seven years to get it passed. Congressmen tried the usual ways to stop it — killer, amendments, back -room deals softer versions. But in the end Congress overwhelmingly ap proved a strong version. One week after testifying at th final congressional hearing on the bill in 1964, exhausted but confi- dent, Zahniser died. "He actually devoted his life to it," Schaefer said. "He gave his life for it." In the 30 years since Lyndon Johnson signed the law, the amount of wilderness protected by the law has grown tenfold. When Congress passes the Cali- fornia Desert Protection Act, wil' derness will break the 100 million acre barrier. (The bill is now in conference committee.) "The Wilderness Act is truly an American success story," said G Jon Roush, president of the Wash ington -based Wilderness Society, which labeled the law "visionary.' "For 30 years, the Wilderness Act has sheltered the beauty grace and solitude of this nation's wilderness from the storm of de velopment. We would be a far poorer nation had we no such protection," he said. The Sierra Club, which called, the law "nothing short of revolu- tionary," said it is the most effec- tive environmental legislation ever passed. Naming a place a national park brings in the recre- ational vehicles; wildlife refuges draw snowmobilers. "But congressionally designated wilderness areas are diverse and inviolate," wrote the Sierra Club's conservation director Bruce Ham- ilton. "No roads, no logging, no drill rigs, no speedboats." And that, say property rights advocates, is exactly the problem. "They've strangled small com- munities, put thousands of people out of work and economically harmed hundreds of rural commu- nities across the country," said Charles S. Cushman, executive di- rector of the American Land l Rights Association in Battle `I Ground, Wash. In Idaho Idaho has about 4 million acres of designated wil- derness. The Frank Church -River of No Return Wilderness Area is the largest, with 2.3 million acres. There are five other ar- eas: Gospel Hump, Craters of the Moon, Selway- Bitterroot, Sawtooth and Hells Canyon. Rep. Larry LaRocco, D -Ida- ho, earlier this year pushed a bill through a congressional subcommittee that would have set aside another 1.36 million acres of wilderness in the western and northern parts of the state. LaRocco last month withdrew the bill, saying it needed more work. "Wilderness is good," he said. "But it's like aspirin. A couple of them are good for you. A hundred of them are going to put you in the hospital." For off -road enthusiasts, federal wilderness means one big No Tres- passing sign. "We would oppose any wilder- ness designation that would cost our members access to areas they are presently using. And it seems like every wilderness proposal that I'm aware of does that," said Clark Collins, executive director of the Blue Ribbon Coalition, a Pocatello group that represents motorized recreation interests. Collins is pushing a new, com- promise designation, called Back Country Recreation Areas. They would share most of the same rules as federally protected wilder- ness areas — but would allow all- terrain vehicles, off road trucks, motorcycles and mountain bikes. "I think there's a faction in this country that would buy into this proposal," he said. No one believes the Wilderness Act itself will be changed. The fight is over how much land will ultimately come under the law. The Sierra Club talks about "going after the next 80 million acres." The Wilderness Society sees another 100 million acres in the next 30 years. The property rights people see red. "When is enough going to be enough ?" asked Cushman. The forces fighting wilderness are making headway. Bills to set aside thousands of acres in Idaho and Montana for -have been lan- guishing for years in Congress. Unfazed, the Wilderness Society has targeted areas in the Pacific Northwest, Great Smoky Moun- tains, southeastern Oregon and the Arctic National Wildlife Ref- uge. Environmentalists say they won't be stopped by property rights advocates and their claims. Protecting the wilderness Since the passage of the 88.8 90.7 Wilderness Act in 1964, Congress 80.4 had designated almost 100 million 80.1 acres as wilderness. Today, 4 percent of the United States is federal wilderness – almost all of it in the western states and Alaska. r Millions of acres 14.8 19.3 9.1 10.3 11.4 r 1968 1972 1976 1978 '} 1993 1 s 14 1 ^ . Wilderness Societv 2 i� Wilderness, Beyond the road's end, the only noises are birds and the wind All of these restrictions may give the impression there is little that can be done in the wilderness, but that is wrong, r Arp said. Anyone with a backpack or horse is free to roam the area at will to fish, hunt, camp and generally take in the fact that they are out of reach and out of touch. For those who would rather not try to tackle the wilderness on their own, professional out- fitters and guides are available to lead you into the farthest reaches of the back country. There are some exceptions to the rules on wilderness mostly due to uses in existance before the wilderness was set aside. For example, airplanes are allowed to fly into some airstrips, and mining is still permitted, although no new claims may be filed. One who knows the special lure of the wilderness is Andy Finn, recreation and lands branch chief for the Payette Na- tional Forest who was raised in the Idaho's Heartland area. Finn has gone on backpack- ing trips throughout the west, but the Frank Church wilderness remains his favorite. "It's a unique experience, and you can guarantee that it'll be there," he said. A wilderness adventure need not be expensive, and the adventurers need not be wealthy to get full enjoyment from a visit, Finn said. "If you can buy a backback and a sleenine bag. there's not A backpack can take you places where no car can come close New Meadows and McCall Some of the most spectacular country in the state is located near these two communities. The areas allow opportunities for brief trips as well as week- long hikes. Two areas in the Payette Na- tional Forest stand out. They are the Hazard Lake -Lava Ridge area northwest of New Meadows and the divide bet- ween the North Fork of the Payette River and the South Fork of the Salmon River east of McCall. The Hazard Lake area can be reached by the road to Hazard Lake or by roads branching off from U.S. 95 between New Meadows and Riggins. This area is a country of lava rock, contrasting with the dominant granitic construction of the rest of the country, and of high lakes, most of which can leaven freeze -dried menus with trout. It is not a land of great distances. Many of the lakes are easily reached in day hikes. Like most of the back country, however, it can provide hard, long work if you look for it. The South Fork divide area can be reached from Warren Wagon Road out of McCall, from Lick Creek Road that turns northwest from McCall; or from the South Fork road. This area, too, offers everything from day to week- long loop trails. It also contains an abundance of high lakes. The trails are often steep and the views are abrupt and carved from granite. Here, as elsewhere, there are opportunities for cross - country travel beyond the guidance of maintained trails. LaRocco wilderness proposal to be introduced in Congress today Legislation that would add more than 1.2 million acres of land in Idaho's First Congressional District will be intro- duced in Congress today. The bill, part of what Rep. Larry LaRocco, D- Idaho, hopes will grow into an "all -Idaho bill," will also release nearly 2.5 million acres to the national forests in the district, and recommend 557,970 acres be put into a Special Man- agement Area category. In a telephone conference call Tuesday, LaRocco said his introduction of the bill merely starts a process that could result in a resolution to the wilderness issue in Idaho finding its way to President Clinton's desk early next year. The bill is the outgrowth of a series of eight town meet- ings he held around the state, along with hundreds of other comments and letters he's received that would add "I think this is a very sound proposal, very defensible, and also a beginning of the legislative process," he said. On the Payette National Forest, the LaRocco bill would see an additional 294,520 acres of wilderness designated, with 48,000 classified as Special Management Areas. On the Boise forest, an additional 291,210 acres of wilderness would be designated, along with 264,490 acres classified as SMAs. "The best advice I got was to go area -by -area on a site specific basis," he said. In fact, he said it was only Monday when he realized what the total acreages in- volved were. In the First District, there was about 4.6 million acres of inventoried roadless areas considered. "I don't think it'll be universally ap- plauded or universally condemned," he said of the proposal. And he said that tackling the wilderness issue is not without political risk for him. "I decided to stick my neck out." To achieve an all -Idaho bill will involve other members of the Idaho delegation and he said he's working closely with Idaho Sen. Larry Craig on the matter. And while they don't necessarily concur on what form that final bill will take, they agree on the process that's leading up to it. LaRocco said he's also working Rep. Mike Crapo, R- Idaho, who is working on the Second District component of the proposal. The freshman Congressman is putting to- gether his staff and is working on the pro- posal for that district, LaRocco said. He defined the special management ar- eas as having "congressional intent" tied to it. If an area is recognized for having high value resources of some sort, management activities such as logging may be permitted, but there will be "reasonable, verifiable con- straints" set for the area. The other areas not proposed for wilder- ness or SMA designation will be released to the management plans of the respective forests, and their use will be determined by those plans, he said. That doesn't necessari- ly preclude additional wilderness proposals being made through the forest planning pro- cesses done every 10 years. He also said that any time, any Congressman can introduce bill to remove a particular area from the ilderness system. But one thing he heard time and again wring his town meetings were questions )out whether the various forests could be usted to adhere to their respective forest He emphasized that the introduction of t ie legislation is just the beginning of anoth- process. "This is the beginning of the legislative rocess, there'll be hearings, we'll have t ore input," he said. "You can't have the hearings unless you have the bill." "This is an on- going, open process, but for it to even get started, there has to be a ll." And that leaves much room for further compromise on just what shape the bill takes i its final form. "We're now at a crisis point," he said. " eople are getting to the point where they ant government to work for them and not against them." In dealing with "Big `W' " wilderness, hp said issues become very emotional, and if will be easy for some to take political shots at him. "But I think I've done a good job of making this a balanced approach," he said. Specific areas proposed for wilderness on the Payette Forest are: • Patrick Butte, 42,200 acres. • French Creek, 28,800 acres. • Needles, 95,800 acres. • Secesh, 116,200 acres. • Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness addition, 27,520. On the Boise Forest, wilderness propos als are: • Red Mountain, 88,000 acres. • Hanson Lake, 14,200 acres. • Ten Mile/Black Warrior, 78,800 acres. • Needles, 3,970 acres. • Peace Rock, 106,240 acres. Proposed SMAs on the Payette Forest include: • Rapid River, 37,760 acres. • French Creek, 10,240 acres. Proposed SMAs on the Boise Forest in clude: • Breadwinner, 40,829 acres. • Lime Creek, 28,800 acres. • Snowbank, 21,760 acres. • Johnson Creek, 174,100 acres. Win•- rosin. °r G��;H 9/ House panel backs LaRocco's bill to establish more wilderness in Idaho By Carol Bradley Gannett News Service WASHINGTON — A House panel approved a bill Thurs- day by Rep. Larry LaRocco, D- Idaho, to designate 1.36 mil- lion acres of roadless forests as wilderness in western and northern Idaho. LaRocco said he expects his proposal, approved by the Nat- ural Resources subcommittee on national parks, to go before the full Natural Resources Committee next Wednesday. A full House vote is expected af- ter the July recess. Sens. Larry Craig and Dirk Kempthorne, both R- Idaho, say they weren't ready to draft a wilderness measure, and ab- sent their support, LaRocco's proposal has little chance of becoming law. Regardless, LaRocco said Thursday's vote marks an im- portant milestone in the tor- areas. As evidence, LaRocco produced a June 13 memo from Fprest Service Chief Jack -Ward Thomas notifying re- gional foresters that unless forest plans are amended to remove roadless areas from the timber base, "You should proceed in an orderly fashion to enter more such areas and manage them according to the applicable forest plan." The version of LaRocco's bill passed by the House panel would earmark 90,000 more acres than he proposed earlier this year. LaRocco's bill encompasses only the five national forests in his congressional district, which covers the half of the state that runs west and north of Boise. Idaho environmentalists in Washington to lobby for great- er protection protested lan- guage in LaRocco's bill that would carve up drainage areas. LaRocco gives up Idaho Demo says on wilds bill it won't go through this session By Statesman staff and wire services There will be no wilderness bill for Idaho this year. Rep. Larry LaRocco, D- Idaho, announced Monday that he was shelving the wilderness bill for western and northern Idaho that he has been working on for the past 18 months because of per- sistent opposition and the onset of the political campaign season. "It's a wise move, given the small degree of polarization that still exists, and I don't think can be overcome in a short period of time," LaRocco said. "I don't think it's anybody's fault in particular," he said. "I don't think the political climate is right now. I think I knew that when I start- ed the pro- cess and wanted to complete it by Memorial Day. Once you get into Larry LaRocco the summer months and closer to November ... the people who like to kill things become active." Environmentalists accused LaRocco of sacrificing Idaho's wilderness areas in order to play politics on the issue. "I thought LaRocco was show- ing leadership in a really tough issue, but it appears he's duck- ing for cover just like the rest of the Idaho congressional delega- tion," said John McCarthy, con- servation director for the Idaho Conservation League. "It appears to me that he's caved to pressure from the tim- ber industry to cut more trees rather than preserve biological diversity, ecologlal integrity and recreational opportunities." LaRocco, howe er, said he was turning his ull attention toward getting t e administra- tion — either by its own author- ity or by congressional directive to launch projects to clear overly dense stands of timber that are making n tional forests in Idaho and th oughout the West tinderboxes. Not only would such projects dramatically redu a the poten- tial for wildfire, he said, but they also would ut additional timber on the in rket to keep mills operating. Idaho timber industry officials applauded LaRocco's move, call- ing it good news #or Idaho tim- ber workers. fff "Everyone who cares about ecosystem management and changes in forestry should wel- come an expedited move to com- bat the disease, insect infesta- tion and potential wildfires that threaten our national forests in Idaho," said Joe Hinson, execu- tive vice presiden� of the Inter- mountain Forest Industry Asso- ciation. "Wilderness legislation al- ways creates a highly polarized scenario with little prospect for win -win outcomes." LaRocco said he believed some progress had been made toward a. resolution of the long - running ver the future of 9 million acres of Idaho back - country still un er wilderness review. And he promised to revi- talize his proposal in the next Congress. The bill, covering areas in the 1st Congressional District, would have added 1.36 million acres to the 4 million acres of wilderness in the state. In addi- tion, 319,000 acres would have been set aside as special man- agement areas, and about 3 mil- lion acres would have been re- leased for use under national forest long -range management plans. Contributing to LaRocco's de- cision was the apparent demise of wilderness legislation for Montana, which passed the House but appeared likely to re- main bottled up in the Senate. He acknowledged that even if his bill cleared the House, as predicted, Republican Sens. Larry Craig and Dirk Kempth- orne of Idaho had no intention of letting it get anywhere in the Senate. "There was no question about the inaction in the Senate," LaRocco said. "They weren't ready to deal with it there, be- cause we didn't have an all - Idaho bill." The congressman shrugged off the suggestion that he was drop- ping the bill because he was feeling the heat of anti- wilder- ness Republican Helen Chenoweth, the natural re- source consultant who is chal- lenging his bid for a third term. "Frankly, I think the people who work in the woods and work in the mills and work in the industry recognize that some compromise is inevitable," LaR- occo said. "I've done the best job that I could. I've kept my prom- ise to work on this issue." X14/9, miner turns into an amusing Hunt for a g ride One of the best things about Idaho is its mountains. They're beautiful, and you meet some world -class characters there. Buckskin Bill, Dugout Dick, Wheelbarrow Annie ... the nooks and canyons of the high country have been home to a fascinating array of rugged in- dividualists. Finding them and learning about _their lives is one of my favorite things about this state. To that I can add, without contradiction, that mountains are one of my least favorite things about Idaho. Edgy The trouble with looking for interesting characters in the mountains is that you have to go to their mountain lairs to find them. We're talking people who live in places that would make a mountain goat edgy. For someone who is, shall we say, uncomfortable in high places, the trip up can be the most interesting part of all. While working on the min- ing story that appears on the front page of today's paper, I happened to hear about an in- teresting character who lived on a mining claim. Naturally, it was on the top of some god- forsaken mountain. "How do you get there ?" I asked. "Ask Bob," I was told. "You'll never get there on Your own." Bob turned out to be a char- acter himself, an 83- year -old miner who still mucked ore and breezed up the sides of cliffs in a luxury car. His hard hat appeared to have been made in an ore crusher. "Better ride with me," he said, disdainfully eyeing my Volkswagen. "You'll never make it in that thing." We drove from Bob's place to a wide spot in a dirt road, See Woodward /M Tim Woodward �, _ . _. . where he stol ped and turned the car around. "Miss a turn ?" I asked. "Nope. Road's up there. We gotta get a r nnin' start." The "road' was twin ruts an- gling up a ountainside. I con- sidered jum ing out of the car, but by then Bob was into his running start. We hit the slope at a good 20 mph and began to climb. I thought the spot where the road vanished was the moun- taintop, but it was just the first switchback. Bob glided through the first few turns, then stomped on the brakes. "At 83, it's a serious business to pay your rent," he said. "You're absolutely right," I replied, peering down at empty air. (The last thing you want on a road like that is to offend the driver wi h a petty dis- agreement.) "I still go spit, anyhow." "I can see that, Bob. No argu- ment here." We sailed through more switchbacks. It was amazing how effortlessly Bob guided the car through the turns, as if we were in a parking lot instead of, clinging to a goat trail. I was trying not to look down when he stopped again. "I've had a million dollars sev- eral times in my life," he announced. "Really? That's great." "I'm better off without it," he said. "All it did was get me into trouble." "You're right, Bob. Money is the root of all evil." This stop was really up there. You could see the valley spread out below, hear the rocks slip- ping under the tires. A series of pounding heart- beats later, we stopped for a discourse on the ugliest woman Bob had ever seen. "It was an odd thing," he said as we lurched to a standstill, causing a small avalanche of free- falling pebbles. "The longer I knew her, the more beautiful she was." Then we were at the top. The man who lived there was interesting, but not half as inter- esting as the trip up. I don't remember much about the trip down. My eyes were tightly closed. THE INDIANS AND THE MINERS By Sheila D. Reddy Frank Church -River of No Return Wilderness U. S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service Regions 1 and 4 Heritage Program August 1996 By the early 18601s, the first flush of miners surged into Idaho. They pushed past the Indians in a rush to pan for gold in streams, the same streams and rivers where Indian tribes had fished and trapped for thousands of years. Mining claims sprung up on winter village sites. Miners burned lodge poles for fire- wood and pitched tents over ancestral burial grounds. After the discovery of gold north of the Salmon River in 1860, the rush was unstoppable. In 1862, gold was discovered in Warren and the Boise Basin (Idaho City). Sven Liljeblad (1957) describes the impact on the Tukudika, or Sheepeater band of Northern Shoshone living in Idaho's central mountain country during the period that followed: "Shortly thereafter, gold as also found on the Yankee Fork of the Salmon River, the principal spawning ground of the Columbia River salmon and a center of tukudeka winter camps. In 1866, prospectors from Montana found coarse gold on Pan- ther Creek, west of Salmon City, at a place called Leesburg. A few months later, Leesburg had a population of three thou- sand. Unfortunately for the tukudeka, this place was situat- ed in proximity to several of their largest winter villages ...Within a year, there were 7,000 miners in Leesburg ba- sin...In 1870, Leesburg had more than one hundred stores, saloons, hotels and work shops. Area newspapers published a continual series of angry and indignant articles as bands of Indians traveling through the country attempted to travel to summer trading grounds near Coun- cil, Boise, Camas Prai3ie and Bear Valley in southern Idaho. On these grassy meadows the tribes tried to meet as they had each summer for centuries for trading-fairs. Newly settled farmers and ranchers fumed and threatened, not understanding when thousands of Indians collected in "their" pastures, eating "their" grass. Throughout the 18601s, the Idaho Statesman had little good to say about Idaho's Indians, other than.a few grudging comments they published about the Sheepeaters: "It is doubtful if there are a dozen peaceable Indians ex- cept the tribe of Sheepeaters who occupy a not very large scope of country on the headwaters of the Salmon. They stay at home and make their own living by fishing and hunting. They have thus far treated whites passing through their country with kindness and cordiality and are as thoroughly hostile as the whites are towards the small thieving rene- gade bands that occasionally go up that way from this vicin- ity" (March 21, 1866 issue). Liljeblad continues the story of the Tukudika: "Salmon City and Challis were established as trading centers to supply miners. Business in both places was soon con- trolled by ... Colonel George L.Shoup, the first Governor of the State of Idaho. He won his military honors in the Sand Creek Massacre, Colorado in 1864... "...the Indians, terrified by all this noise and at the destruction of their fishing waters, could do nothing but move farther away into their forests, trailed closely by hardy white men who searched for gold in every creek." Southern Idaho's Indians, however, would no longer be allowed to roam freely through the country they had lived in for centu- ries. On June 14, 1867, President Andrew Johnson, issued an exe- cutive order setting apart the Fort Hall Indian Reservation, or- dering the bands of Northern Shoshone and Bannock to be- removed there. The Sheepeater band, however, remained in the quiet shad- ows of the Wilderness until 1879, when, during Idaho's last Indi- an war, the Sheepeater Campaign,' the military forced them from their mountain home. YOUR ROLE IN PROTECTIM SITES Wilderness Archaeologists are currently working to preserve, protect and understand the prehistory of the ancient peoples who lived in the Frank Church -River of No Return Wilderness. As this prehistory is discovered and understood, they will share it with the public through educational monographs and other publications. You can help in this effort by leaving artifacts where they lie, and informing Forest Service Wilderness managers of your discov- ery. Take pride in our American heritage. Take nothing but photographs. THE COMING OF THE HORSE By Sheila D. Reddy Frank Church -River of No Return wilderness U. S. Department of Agriculture, Forest service Regions l and 4 Heritage Program August 1996 The moccasin tracks of "the wa king" Indians have been hidden by the wind, but the memory of Idaho's early peoples should not be forgotten. Following Indian roads and trails that crisscrossed the Snake River Plain and wound north and south into the moun- tains, "the walking" Indians moved through the seasons. Within that ancient circle they traveled great distances, carrying lit- tle. In the spring, bands left winter camps located along the Snake and Salmon Rivers and their tributaries to dig camas bulbs and other roots in wet meadows. After quantities of camas had been collected and roasted the bulbs were shaped into cakes and dried in the sun. Leaving the camas harvest, small family bands moved over the land to hunt and gather, hoping to find plenty so the excess could also be dried, cached. As leaves began to fall, stored goods were collected and taken to supply winter villages. Some cache sites held not only food, but. locally specific medicine /basketry plants, or leather pouches 'of chipping stone for making arrowheads, scrapers and knives. Locations of these caches, hunting camps, gathering sites, and stone quarries were retained in tribal memory, for it was a life without writing.. Tribal strength and knowledge lay in remembering and recounting. From ancient times dogs had been used by "the walking people" to transport goods: meat from a kill, provisions, furs, leather, or extra moccasins on the trail. But a dog could carry a pack of 50 pounds or less and only for a few hours, limiting their use. By the mid- 1500's Spanish explorers arrived in the Rio.Grande Valley and Texas Panhandle with the first horses. But, as writer Francis.Haines points out, early Spanish :mil itary expeditions did not travel with even one mare in their reamdas. It would be late 1600 before the tribes had horse herds of their own; only after tho Spanish established ranches in New Mexico and the Pueblo Revolt (1680) did various Indian tribes secure breeding stock. According to Haines, the Comanche were among the first to be- come mounted hunters and warriors on the Southern Plains. The Northern' Shoshone traded often with- their Comanche relatives and not long after the Comanche had.the horse, the Shoshone were rid- ing north toward the Snake River on mounts of their own. Horses, often referred to as .big' dogs" by -early Indians, transformed the newly mounted peopl 's lifeway. Small bands could move easily. By joining together for safety, large groups began traveling east into the "grass Plains" to hunt buffalo. An excellent food resource, the male buffalo stands as much as seven feet high at the shoulders and weighs as much as 2,000 pounds; buffalo cows average five feet at the shoulder and weigh from 700 to 900 pounds. With a horse trained to run with the buffalo, a skilled hunter could bring down several animals. Buffalo also supplied robes for warmth, hides for lodges, and skins for clothing; horn, bone, aiid hooves for utensils; sinew for sewing and bow strings; hair for padding; fat and tallow. But, the most important resource was meat that could be dried and stored. Dried meat, pounded then ed with melted fat-and poured into hide containers made pemmican The high calorie, nutritious food could be carried, eaten on horseback, or stored for times when snow covered the earth and bitter winds closed the land. The first buffalo hunting bands traveling east encountered unfamiliar tribes on the Great Plains. At trading fairs western- ers were exposed to different foods, clothing styles, religions, medical plants, horse gear, weapons, decorative items, and, etc. Returning to the Plains the next season their pack horses were loaded with dried salmon, camas, askets, skins, bows, and ob- sidian for bartering. They later returned to the Snake River country with meat and an array of goods and ideas that would alter the traditions and lives of ."the walking people," forever. Following the Plains Indians the Northern Shoshone, Bannock and Nez Perce tribes were quick to adopt leather lodge covers that could be carried by a pack horse from camp to camp and set .up quickly in any location. Clothing of the tribes soon became more tailored following eastern styles. The first white traders with goods like iron kettles, steel needles, knives, guns and ammunition were encountered at east 'rn trading fairs and later at trading posts. With sufficient meat carried b the horse to winter camps people became healthier and more children lived to adulthood. Tribal populations had started-to increase when waves of European diseases slipped like dark mists through camps and villages. Smallpox often wiped out whole bands, leaving tribes decimated. Indian populations had no resist ce to foreign germs. In 1781 and again in the 1830's, smallpox epidemics swept across the Americas. Smallpox was not the only illness that threatened Indi- an populations; mumps, measles,. cholera, diphtheria -- killing sicknesses for which healers had no medicine or cure. The horse had carried the Ameri an Indian across an ocean of grass into great change leaving behind some of the ways of the ancient tribes who had walked acro s the land for thousands of years. On the horse, the future exp nded ideas, but it also held mysteries to be wary of. In transition the old ways might be for- gotten, but the circle of the seasons lies deep within a people and the land. Today in our search for the future we need to rec- ognize the moccasin prints of a past hidden in the dust by the wind. It is a past to be recognized, remembered, to learn again. YOUR ROLE IN PROTECTING ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES Wilderness Archaeologists are currently working to preserve, protect and understand the prehistory of the ancient peoples who lived in the Frank Church -River of No Return Wilderness. As this prehistory is discovered and understood, they will share it with the public through educational monographs and other publications. You can help in this effort by leaving artifacts where they lie, and informing Forest Service Wilderness managers of your discov- ery. Take pride in our American heritage. Take nothing but photographs.