WWA
May 19, 2026
Sudden exception to motorized equipment ban outlined in Wilderness Act of 1964 sets dangerous precedent and willfully ignores agency funding issues.
On May 13th, 2026, the United States Forest Service (USFS) announced it would permit chainsaw use in the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness in Idaho. The sudden decision has alarmed conservation groups around the west, including WWA.
In 1964, the federal Wilderness Act banned motorized equipment and mechanical transport in Wilderness Areas in order to preserve the “untrammeled” character and solitude of these lands. Trails in Wilderness Areas have historically been cleared and maintained by agency crews using non-motorized tools including axes, hand saws, and crosscut saws, a practice that both upholds the law and is as effective and efficient as the chainsaw alternative.
Driven by requests from the Idaho Outfitters and Guides Association (IOGA), the approval for chainsaws within the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness area is in response to trails being deemed as unpassable due to dead and down timber - a backlog that directly correlates with intentional cuts to agency budgets and staffing.
“It is beyond frustrating to watch our government approve chainsaw use in this Wilderness area, fracturing the bedrock conservation law that protects it, and then rationalize their flawed decision by citing a problem that they themselves are creating by not adequately funding the crews who were once tasked with ensuring these trails were cleared and the law upheld” shares Peggie dePasquale, the National Forest Wildlands Director at WWA.
WWA is also concerned that making exceptions to the bedrock protections provided by the Wilderness Act will create precedent and momentum for similar harmful “exceptions” across the greater Wilderness Preservation System. We will follow the fallout from this recent announcement in Idaho, as we fortify our efforts to support our local Wilderness managers here on the ground in Wyoming and fight for adequate funding and staffing across public wildlands in our state.
Click here and scroll down to down to “Wilderness Trail Clearing on the Salmon-Challis National Forest," to read the full announcement and see resources released by the USFS last week.