Big Horn wilderness backers say they'll patiently press designation

By WES SMALLING
Star-Tribune staff writer

It has been almost four years since Bighorn National Forest officials recommended that Congress designate more than 33,000 acres of backcountry in the Big Horn Mountains as wilderness.

It appears there's still a long way to go for wilderness advocates to convince federal lawmakers that Wyoming should receive its first new wilderness area in the last 25 years.

But some progress has been made, said Liz Howell, executive director of the Wyoming Wilderness Association.

"We're building a movement one dance at a time," Howell said.

The Sheridan-based group is steadily gaining support for the Rock Creek campaign, she said, and the group is working hard to address the concerns of those who are opposed to the idea or who are at least hesitant to support it.

"We've met with all stakeholders that have some kind of interest in the area, and we need to meet with them a lot more. We're kind of building the groundwork," she said.

The group is bringing its campaign to Casper on Saturday with a benefit concert at Parkway Plaza to raise public awareness of its campaign to add the Rock Creek area of the Big Horns to the existing 189,039-acre Cloud Peak Wilderness Area that flanks it to the west.

A wilderness area designation bans the use of motorized vehicles and other mechanized equipment within the land's boundaries. The Wilderness Act of 1964 was enacted by Congress to provide an untrammeled backcountry experience for visitors that is "devoted to the public purposes of recreation, scenic, scientific, educational, conservation and historic use."

Opposition to designating new wilderness areas is usually based on fears the public will be shut out of the forest. But wilderness advocates and Bighorn National Forest officials agree that the Rock Creek area has little or no potential for logging and energy development. It's classified as a roadless area, so almost all motorized vehicle use is already prohibited there.

Several people have expressed concern that a wilderness designation at Rock Creek might limit access to nearby water storage facilities, hinder firefighting capabilities, cause difficulties for livestock owners who graze cattle on national forest leases, and attract too many recreational users, among other issues.

A wilderness area designation requires an act of Congress. It's difficult if not impossible to get a designation without support from the state's congressional delegation.

"We're very patient," said Howell, who plans to meet with Wyoming's federal lawmakers next week in Washington, D.C. "We're confident there are a lot of people who support protecting this area.

U.S. Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., is gathering more information on the issue.

"Senator Enzi is always hesitant to designate additional areas as wilderness because of the impact such a designation has on how that land is managed," Enzi's press secretary, Elly Pickett, wrote the Star-Tribune in an e-mail this week. "It is important to carefully consider the needs of all the stakeholders who might be affected by such a designation before pursuing such an idea. This includes private property owners, ranchers using national forest lands for grazing, and recreational users. It is also important to ensure that handicapped citizens and cyclists have access to any trails in Wyoming wilderness."

U.S. Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., recently responded to the Wyoming Wilderness Association in a letter dated Feb. 9 saying that there is "much more work left to be done on this. I will consider this designation in the context of community support and stakeholder agreement."

According to the Wyoming Wilderness Association, a wilderness designation would not limit any activities that currently take place on the land. Most off-road vehicles are already banned, except for snowmobiles during winter. Forest Service officials say the area generally does not receive enough snowfall for snowmobiling.

"It's never been a motorized area," Howell said. "There's no shutting out of anyone, because there's never been a road [except] maybe in the '30s."

According to Bernie Bornong, resource staff officer for the Bighorn National Forest, logging is not economically viable in the area because of steep terrain and spindly trees that wouldn't be worth the effort.

Bornong, who worked on the 2005 forest plan that recommended the area as wilderness, said the area's potential for oil and gas development is "extremely low to nonexistent."

With a wilderness designation, existing leases for livestock grazing could continue and, depending on how legislation is written, an exception could be made to allow livestock permittees to use motorized vehicles.

"Livestock grazing is a permitted use in wilderness areas," Bornong said. "They wouldn't be affected."

The rugged terrain of Rock Creek sweeps from 6,000 to 10,000 feet in elevation. It features scenic limestone canyons, rock spires, meadows and lodgepole pine forests. It's considered prime elk habitat and provides security cover for big game animals as they migrate from the high peaks down to important wintering grounds at the Bud Love Habitat Management Area, a Wyoming Game and Fish Department winter refuge.

The area includes portions of the Powder River and Tongue ranger districts in Johnson County and has seven public access points with more than 100 miles of trails open for hikers, hunters, anglers and horseback riders.

"It's lightly used, and it really meets a lot of the criteria we use to define that pristine backcountry experience that people look for in wilderness," Bornong said.