With all of the discussion, where is a counter-proposal other than 'no' and clearly many disagree with the WMC proposal. If, as WMC is told is the future USFS management, more Forest areas are to be made non-motorized in winter, where do folks here propose for that to happen? Try to consider that like snowmobile riders, skiers are looking for areas that are good skiing, views, etc.
The question has been asked about where are snowmobile riders supposed to go if the WMC proposal is implemented. There has been no discussion yet in regard to the very large and significant areas of the Entiat Mountains and the Chelan Mountains. Those are huge areas with open slopes, dominated by snowmobiles. And you folks can drive there and be riding before we have walked to a Teanaway summit for a ski run the same day.
If skiing or snowshoe hiking are incompatible on the same terrain with snowmobile riding, then WMC will contend that the majority of the general Forest, and the Forest easily accessible to pedestrians, is dominated by snowmobile riding. One use, not multiple-use at all. Skiers do start early, do go far, but cannot compete with snowmobiles. Therefore we see the general Forest (and too much Wilderness!) dominated by one use- riding snowmobiles.
cc from TAY-
"The vast majority of the 400,000 acres (of public land) in Kittitas County are available to snowmobiles"- a past quote in the local paper from Todd Stiles of USFS Cle Elum. The current Tronsen Non-Motorized Area, primo skiing, appears to be about four sections or around 2500 acres (in Chelan Co, bordering Kittitas Co). What would be the total of all of the Designated and Voluntary Non-Motorized areas in Kittitas County- 10,000 or 15,000 acres?
The WMC Executive has eyeball estimated roughly that the Teanaway crest Wilderness Boundary portion of our proposal at around 20, 500 acres, and the Blewett to Mission portion at around 5800 acres.
Simply put out the Wenatchee NF map and observe all of the area to the south of the Wenatchee mountains crest open to snowmobiling, that could not covered on that map by outstretched hands, compared to the primo-skiing Wenatchee Mountains crest area at Tronsen Non-Motorized area at Blewett Pass- which on the map would be covered by a Quarter coin.
What the Wenatchee Mountains Coalition (WMC) asks for is parity. There are significant numbers of non-motorized winter recreationalists, yet the non-Wilderness portion of the Wenatchee National Forest allows a disproportionate amount of the Forest to be monopolized by one use - snowmobiles. We do not wish to prohibit snowmobiles on the Forest (some of us are also snowmobilers), but because motorized and non-motorized uses are incompatible on the same terrain, we ask for more non-motorized terrain. We invite all winter recreationalists to share their thoughts about this issue and this need with the Forest Supervisor and Forest Planning Team.
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Thank you.
... or we can just start a 'part 2'
