The U.S. Forest Service is proposing to renew existing outfitter permits in the entire 3.4 million-acre Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest without any environmental analysis, maps indicating where many of the camps are, or disclosure of the impacts from these commercial operations. The agency proposes to use a simple “categorical exclusion” instead of doing an analysis in an environmental assessment or more detailed environmental impact statement. The proposal includes all new permits plus expansions of existing permits issued since 2017, neither of which ever went through any environmental analysis.
Ironically, last year the Forest Service proposed an environmental assessment (EA) that would have been the basis for renewing existing permits and some new outfitting proposals. The Forest Service “scoping” letter explains the agency heard from the public and scrapped the EA, yet now the agency takes a step backward by providing even less opportunity for public input with this proposed categorical exclusion.
The Anaconda Pintler Wilderness, with its high peaks, mountain goats, and recovering grizzly bear population, holds the distinction of being one of the original 54 Wilderness areas designated with the passage of the 1964 Wilderness Act. The Lee Metcalf Wilderness, home to grizzlies and adjacent to Yellowstone National Park, is named after the late Montana senator who helped pass the Wilderness Act and later legislation protecting other Wildernesses.
The Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest, Anaconda Pintler Wilderness, and Lee Metcalf Wilderness have a history of outfitting and guiding, and some outfitters have been great supporters of protecting Wilderness. But, outfitting and camps have impacts that are often glossed over or overlooked, including degraded campsites—some with inappropriate structures—and wilderness trails so heavily used by pack animals that they more resemble roads than foot or horse trails.
Now the Forest Service proposes to renew special use outfitter permits that will be in place for at least a decade without disclosing the impacts from these commercial operations.
While a map is provided with the agency’s short letter, it omits the boundaries of the Wildernesses and Wilderness Study Areas. Further, the agency’s scoping letter lacks important information, such as annual inspections, public complaints or concerns, or monitoring, to ensure the currently permitted uses are appropriate for these Wildernesses. A project of this size, involving 47 commercial permits spread across 3.4 million acres, needs to have an environmental impact statement.
Photo: Wilderness Watch
