Wilderness Watch recently intercepted a letter from the Idaho Outfitters and Guides Association (IOGA) to U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz requesting permission to use chainsaws in Wilderness in Idaho for trail maintenance. In response, Wilderness Watch reached out to the Salmon-Challis National Forest, but we were effectively stonewalled. While Forest Supervisor Heather Degeest admitted that the agency had been in communications with outfitters and was âconducting analysis,â she refused to elaborate on the type of analysis, whether there would be public involvement, or any further details about the agencyâs communications with the IOGA. Meanwhile, Wilderness Watch members continued to reach out with tips that led us to believe that this effort was not limited to Idaho but had national implications.
Sure enough, documents we obtained through the Freedom of Information Act indicate that the Forest Service wasnât being forthright and that Supervisor Degeest and her colleagues knew significantly more about the proposal than what we were led to believe. The Idaho proposal is part of a nationwide effort to let outfitters run chainsaws through Wilderness and the Wilderness Act. According to internal emails, the agency is bringing in an outside contractor to âhelp address the chainsaws in wilderness issue at the national scale.â But this is a very simple issue: chainsaws are not allowed except under extremely limited circumstances. There is no need to waste tax dollars on outside consultationâthe Wilderness Act lays it out for us.
Chainsaws are the antithesis of wildness. The development of the chainsaw coincided with the evolution of the wilderness idea during the first half of the 20th century, in a race of forest preservation against industrial consumption. For a small amount of land in the United States, Wilderness won. Now certain groups who prefer the smell of gasoline and engine grease to pine sap and fresh soil, would like to haul these machines into the Wilderness. This isnât a matter of convenience (lugging gas cans and chainsaws into the backcountry is far less efficient than using a crosscut); itâs a matter of domination.
Unfortunately, this is only the latest in a growing trend of wilderness-degrading efforts on the part of many in the commercial outfitting industry in the West. This constituency, once an ally of Wilderness, has become one of its most dangerous threats. Whether itâs demanding killing more wolves and bears to artificially inflate elk and deer numbers, promoting more aircraft use, insisting on large developed campsites and overbuilt pack trails and now running chainsaws in Wilderness, many outfitters now only see economic and recreation value in Wilderness rather than the value of untrammeled wildness.
It is hard to separate this issue from the recent, relentless attacks on public participation and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)âthe law requiring public oversight in agency decision making. It is not a coincidence that this attack on Wilderness was proposed as the current administration was carrying out unprecedented assaults on public lands protections. Unfortunately, agencies like the Forest Service have proven, yet again, that without legal guardrails, they will not conduct their work with transparency and accountability. The outfitters argue that chainsaws are now necessary, because the Forest Service is failing in their obligation to maintain trails. This problem was self-created by the agencyâs leadership and the current administration.
For decades, the Forest Service has cut packstrings and wilderness rangers, before the current administration drove the final nails in the coffin. Now, the only solution being offered is more chainsaws in Wilderness. It is important that we put pressure on the agencies to become more transparent and honest with the public who fund their coffers. If the Forest Service is considering an act so brazen as allowing widespread chainsaw use in Wilderness, the public has the right to know about it. We recommend you reach out to their offices and let them know you do not approve of chainsaws chewing through Wilderness.
TopâAccording to internal U.S. Forest Service emails that Wilderness Watch obtained via the Freedom of Information Act, the agency is bringing in an outside contractor to âhelp address the chainsaws in wilderness issue at the national scale.â Currently, chainsaws are not allowed in Wilderness except under extremely limited circumstances. Photo by Forest Service.
BottomâChainsaws are currently not allowed in Wilderness except under extremely limited circumstances. Here trail crew members use a non-motorized cross-cut saw to clear trails in the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness the âWilderness way.â Photo by Josh Page.
386 Comments
STAHP!!!!
I am totally opposed to using chainsaws in the wilderness. Are you purposely trying to destroy our forests? This land needs to be preserved
Please ensure wilderness for our children’s generation and generations to come. This is not just about us. Please open your mind and hearts to humans and animals to come.
WILDERNESS NEEDS TO STAY WILDđĄ
Say goodbye to anything relating to saving forests or, the Forestry Dept., with this Egotistical Buffoon of a so-called US president! He will do anything necessary to make his Fossil Fuel Pals Wealthier–and, himself! This inhuman has absolutely NO Conscience. He cares nothing about Killing anything & Anyone who stands in his way–or, disagrees with his stupidity!!
I do not approve of chainsaws chewing through Wilderness.
Using chainsaws in ridiculous in the wilderness. Don’t you understand what wilderness means? People want to go out in the wilderness but don’t want to be bothered by what’s out there in the wilderness. They want comfort, to destroy the habitat, kill the animals and who knows what else. They should just stay away and find something else to do. I’m sure it’s about the money. It always is.
Do your job Forest Service and actually protect our forests FROM being cut down.
Please prove you have a soul. Think about your children and grandchildren.
Chainsaw wilderness: what a noisy, ridiculous, destructive idea!
Thank you for reconsidering this bad idea.
No chainsaws in the Wilderness!
I have hand cut 100’s of deadfall trees in the Wilderness. It makes you think, strategize each cut, and appreciate everyone who came before contributing to previous efforts.
Wilderness is suppose to be forever, not until it’s inconvenient or some bigger political animal (congress, the president ..) takes it away.
If we allow chainsaws into Wilderness on a national scale, that will be the end of our precious wilderness. Limited use I understand but we and our wildlife need a place to have peace, beauty and quiet away from this very noisy world of ours.
Chainsaws in the wilderness is an impossibly bad combination. The ultimate outcome will be no wilderness, a terrible loss for our country and all its inhabitants, human, nonhuman , and plants. The only reason I can imagine somebody wants to propose this is that somebody can make more money off the plan temporarily. Please take the long view and protect our wilderness from chainsaws.
Thank you for reconsidering this bad idea.
Leave your chain saws in the shed. And do your job by protecting our forests.
I love wilderness. I have an EGO battery-powered saw. It is so quiet.
People will not defend what they cannot experience/see/access. Chronic underfunding by Congress has left our wilderness trails in dreadful shape. If using electric saws (only, would be my request) frees crews to clear more miles in a day, or address erosion, landslides or other trail problems quicker, I can live with this policy.
Yes, I have volunteered for wilderness trail projects, and the joys of the âmisery whipâare greatly overrated!
I am much more concerned about the damage caused by the use of ebikes or emotorbikes (!!!) in wilderness.
Guess I am less about purity and more about practicality.
Letâs put more effort into getting our public land managers budgets that make good stewardship possible!
Leave our forests alone. No one likes this plan except the people who will make money off of it.
This is a ridiculous proposal. Why are chainsaws needed in wilderness areas? The answer is obvious and there is no equivocation possible…to cut trees down. We need MORE trees, not less, especially now that this administration wants more and more oil drilled, which means more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Please rethink this proposal. It is unnecessary and will harm future generations of this country and the world.
I am a veteran of YACC and logging crews in my native NH. Only helicopters seem to penetrate further into wilderness than chainsaws. Chainsaws have their place and should not be outright banned, but HEAVILY curtailed.
Thank you for letting the public know about this. I wasn’t aware of proposals to use chainsaws in wilderness areas. It has become clear to me that the government no longer works for the American people or for the protection of public lands. We are in an era of “Greed is good!” and it distresses me greatly.
And thank you for your diligent work to get to the truth of what’s going on behind the scenes.
Thankyou so much for your blog about chainsaws in wilderness areas. Very surprisingly, this is one topic I disagree with you on. I backpack alot in Wind Rivers, Wyoming. And have seen first hand what is happening to our forests: extreme pine beetle infestations, and huge blowdowns so that it is unbelievably hard to walk or move anywhere. Not to mention, forest is so unhealthy and everything is dead. In this case, it would be almost impossible for trail crews to handle the amt of work needed to keep trails open and manageable with a hand saw. With some oversight and regulation, I think its reasonable that sometimes a chain saw is going to be needed.
No chainsaws…
Forest stewardship can and should be a top priority if this country that has the power and agreement to be stewards of our natural resources, starting with protecting our forests! đ
I am a disabled Vietnam Veteran and upon returning home I spent most of the next 20 + years in the wilderness. It was the only place I felt comfortable and could “find myself ” if America loses the wilderness it will lose its soul