A Vision for the Bighorn National Forest

by Kelly Matheson

The Bighorn National Forest (BHNF) has invited citizens from all over the country to participate in its Forest Plan Revision. Public involvement in this process is critical, as the revised Forest Plan will guide the agency's management of these wild lands and their natural resources over the course of the next 10 to 15 years.

The National Forest Management Act mandates that our forests be managed for multiple use-including a broad range of recreational and wilderness opportunities, timber harvests, oil and gas development and livestock grazing-while protecting biodiversity, wildlife habitat and healthy watersheds and fisheries.

The BHNF asked the public to provide initial (scoping) comments by January 31, 2001 identifying the issues, concerns and scope of analysis the Forest Service should consider when drafting its initial environmental impact statement. However, because scoping is an ongoing process, the public is welcome to submit comments throughout the revision process, particularly about any new information or new science that emerges along the way.

Conservationists concerned about the future of the BHNF met in December to develop a vision for the forest. Among the issues that WOC and other conservation groups asked Forest Service officials to consider are the impacts of:

• overgrazing on water quality, wildlife and native plants
• below-cost timber sales
• extractive industries and motorized uses on biodiversity
• increased recreational usage on back-country travelers' experience and wildlife
• increased use of ORVs and snowmobiles on other back-country travelers, wildlife, air and water quality and soils

Forest Service officials also asked the public for input on protecting unique areas. The BHNF is home to several rivers that are eligible for designation as Wild and Scenic Rivers, including the Little Bighorn and Tongue. With support from the public, the additional protections gained from such designations could soon become a reality.

Other areas, including Medicine Mountain, the mountain upon which the Medicine Wheel sits, also deserve increased safeguards. The Medicine Wheel and Medicine Mountain are and have been important sites for ceremonial and traditional uses by many regional tribes. Researchers have found approximately 50 historic and prehistoric sites, including tipi rings, Paleolithic scattering areas, buried archeological sites and a system of relict prehistoric Indian trails within a 23,000-acre study area on the mountain. Public support for increased protection of this mountain could assure the preservation of historic and cultural resources for generations to come.