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HomeMy WebLinkAboutsnow lands;~~~ ~• Butte County Board of Supervisors 25 County Center Drive Oroville, CA 95965 Dear-Board of Supervisors: Aromoting opportunities for quality, human-powered winter recreation and protecting winter wildlands January 21, 2011 ~~~ 4~3Ut~~~RS oROVr~LE, cgLr~oRNIA Snowlands Network wishes to alert you to a lawsuit which we have recently filed, together with other petitioners, challenging the State of California's recent approval of its over snow vehicle grooming and trailhead plowing program for the next ten years. A copy of the press release announcing the lawsuit is attached. We understand-and appreciate the importance of snowmobiling to winter tourism in your community. Our objectives are to ensure that skiers and snowshoers -who can be a significant contributor to winter tourism in your community-are also afForded recreation opportunities. We believe that all activities can be accommodated if appropriate measures are taken to reduce user conflicts and protect wildlife, plants~arid -niaterquality. The State of California is blessed with extensive national forest (ands and there is plenty of room on the forest lands for snowmobilers, skiers and snowshoers to enjoy their sports. However, it is fact that skiers and snowshoers who desire a clean and quiet winter recreation experience generally stay away from areas dominated by the noise and exhaust of snowmobiles. This is similar to the snowmobile Community's desire to have groomed snowmobile trails separate from AN winter recreation. Snowlands Network believes that creation of additional motor-free areas in the national forests would allow skiers and snowshoers to have the confidence that they can achieve their recreation goals in your community. We hope this will be a win-win situation, with your community continuing to enjoy snowmobile tourism and additional skier and snowshoer tourism. We would be pleased to further discuss with you our concerns, our objectives, and how we can work together to promote the economic interests of your- and our-community. Respectfully yours, ~~~~~~ Marcus Libkind ~ - Chairman Snowlands iVetwork P.O. Box 2570, Nevada City, CA 95959 •53Q.2fi5.6424 • E-mail: contact@snowiands.org • Website: www.snowlands.org 4 ~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~~ .r~ ~~~.~~ ~~ ~. ~~';~;u~ For Immediate Release, January ~.9, 2011 Promoting opportunities for quality, human-powered winter recreation and protecting winter Wildlands Contact: Marcus Libkind, Snowlands Network, (925) 455-5816, malibkind@snowlands.org Snowmobile Plan Challenged to Protect WildlilFe, Quiet Recreation SACRAMENTO, Calif. -Snowlands Network, Winter Wildlands Alliance and the Center for Biological Diversity today filed a lawsuit challenging the California Department of Parks and Recreation's 10-year plan to fund clearing and grooming for snowmobile trails on 11 national forests each winter. The environmental review of the "Over Snow Vehicle Program," which was approved Dec. 20, did not adequately address impacts to wildlife, air or water quality, or conflicts with quiet winter recreation. "The program allows snowmobiles in areas that would otherwise remain inaccessible to these noisy and polluting activities," said Lisa Belenky, a senior attorney with the Center. "Many imperiled species are affected, including the Sierra Nevada red fox, American pika, bighorn sheep and wolverine. The state should be doing more to protect wildlife in these areas during the critical winter months." The OSV program shapes winter recreation on national forests, promoting motorized over nonmotorized recreation. Winter recreation in the snow-covered forests depends on access from plowed trailheads; more than 80 percent of the officia[winter-recreation trailheads in California national forests are dominated by motorized recreation. Backcountry skiing and snowshoeing are two of the fastest-growing winter sports in America and are both largely incompatible with snowmobile recreation. The OSV program's promotion of snowmobiling effectively removes substantial areas of the national forest from use for sports like skiing and snowshoeing. Very few areas in California are protected for clean, quiet human-powered winter recreation, and nonmotorized users are increasingly crowded into those areas to escape the air pollution and noise from snowmobiles. Yet all activities can be accommodated if appropriate measures are taken to reduce user conflicts and protect.wildlife, plants and water quality. "The experience of crossing a pristine and quiet winter landscape has to be experienced to be fully appreciated," said Marcus Libkind, Snowlands' chairman and author of guidebooks on ski touring in California. "The emergence of snowshoeing as a mainstream sport is now bringing hundreds of thousands of new quiet users onto the winter landscape. This trend should be supported by the state and its communities, among other things as a valuable contributor to the tourist economy. Skiing, snowshoeing and snowmobiling can all exist on our national forests, but the state needs to encourage clean and quiet human-powered recreation by the creation of safe areas for these winter activities." "The national forest lands are intended to be multiple-use," said Mark Menlove, executive director of Winter Wildlands Alliance. "However, multiple-use does not mean all uses in all places. indeed, it means the opposite. It means that low-impact uses such as skiing and snowshoeing are protected and insulated from higher-impact uses such as snowmobiling. This concept of multiple-use is well P.O. Box 257Q, Nevada City, CA 95959.530.265.6424 • E-mail; contact@snowlands.org • Website: wwwsnowlands.org