This is from the Backcountry Sled Patriots. They are fighting to keep our riding areas open, go here to donate: http://sledpatriots.com/
Sled Patriots need to get aligned to get involved in the Flathead NF forest plan. The first orientation meeting will be held at the supervisors office in Kalispell on Oct 10. Time has not been announced yet. Not sure on this now with the Federal shutdown.
In order for snowmobilers to have any chance for success it will take a min. of (8) snowmobilers to be committed to attend all the meetings. It is expected there will be four working groups and these really need two reps in each. This gives you the opportunity to present snowmobiler interests to the rest of the group. It is not particularly a negotiation but a presentation of views. What you will find is most other participants have no idea about snowmobiling especially in the high alpine areas, but these will be the areas the FS will want to convert to Recommended Wilderness . I found in the Clearwater collaborative that a no nonsense, non confrontational dialogue works quite well. Especially because the underlying argument you will get is “we want it closed because we don’t like motors”. When Sandra Mitchell and I first sat across from the Idaho Conservation League and Winter Wild lands Alliance folks it was pretty testy but after a couple of meetings we started to come to some agreement. When we broke for the summer they came up to me and shook my hand and said “we think we can get this worked out”. Can’t say it will happen, but the point is if you don’t show up you sure as Hell won’t get the result you want.
The other thing needed, each group will need accurate maps of the area you ride in that will be designated RWA at the git-go. You will be surprised that the Wilderness advocates and FS think you ride every square foot of some of those areas when in fact it is probably much less. We found about 15% in the Gt. Burn. A picture is worth a thousand words in this category.
Then there is the FS guidance published about Boundary adjustments that I can go into later. These are some highlights and I’m sure each Collaborative FP will have its own nuances.
I won’t kid you. Many of the meetings will bore you to tears but if you want any chance of keeping those riding areas open you need to get engaged. I’m cautiously optimistic we will get a positive outcome in the Clearwater. (Great Burn)
I will be happy to pass on what we learned in the Clearwater process and even meet with some of you. I will probably be engaged with the CNF until the first of the year.
Stan Spencer
stanspencer@montana.com
Sled Patriots need to get aligned to get involved in the Flathead NF forest plan. The first orientation meeting will be held at the supervisors office in Kalispell on Oct 10. Time has not been announced yet. Not sure on this now with the Federal shutdown.
In order for snowmobilers to have any chance for success it will take a min. of (8) snowmobilers to be committed to attend all the meetings. It is expected there will be four working groups and these really need two reps in each. This gives you the opportunity to present snowmobiler interests to the rest of the group. It is not particularly a negotiation but a presentation of views. What you will find is most other participants have no idea about snowmobiling especially in the high alpine areas, but these will be the areas the FS will want to convert to Recommended Wilderness . I found in the Clearwater collaborative that a no nonsense, non confrontational dialogue works quite well. Especially because the underlying argument you will get is “we want it closed because we don’t like motors”. When Sandra Mitchell and I first sat across from the Idaho Conservation League and Winter Wild lands Alliance folks it was pretty testy but after a couple of meetings we started to come to some agreement. When we broke for the summer they came up to me and shook my hand and said “we think we can get this worked out”. Can’t say it will happen, but the point is if you don’t show up you sure as Hell won’t get the result you want.
The other thing needed, each group will need accurate maps of the area you ride in that will be designated RWA at the git-go. You will be surprised that the Wilderness advocates and FS think you ride every square foot of some of those areas when in fact it is probably much less. We found about 15% in the Gt. Burn. A picture is worth a thousand words in this category.
Then there is the FS guidance published about Boundary adjustments that I can go into later. These are some highlights and I’m sure each Collaborative FP will have its own nuances.
I won’t kid you. Many of the meetings will bore you to tears but if you want any chance of keeping those riding areas open you need to get engaged. I’m cautiously optimistic we will get a positive outcome in the Clearwater. (Great Burn)
I will be happy to pass on what we learned in the Clearwater process and even meet with some of you. I will probably be engaged with the CNF until the first of the year.
Stan Spencer
stanspencer@montana.com
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