November 13, 2001

P R E S S   R E L E A S E

For more information -
George Nickas, Wilderness Watch (406) 542-2048
Bob Dale, FSEEE (541) 484-2692
Pete Frost, Western Environmental Law Center (541) 485- 2471
Julia Olson, Wild Earth Advocates (415) 786-4825

On November 1, a federal judge in the Northern District of California ordered a 20 percent reduction in recreational use by commercial pack stations within portions of California's High Sierra that the U.S. Forest Service has identified as problem areas where "current use is affecting resource quality." The federal injunction applies to the Ansel Adams and John Muir Wildernesses of the Inyo and Sierra National Forests. Both wildernesses are extremely popular for hiking, backpacking, fishing, horse packing and other recreational uses. Their popularity has required that the Forest Service apply certain limits on use, such as "trailhead quotas" that specify the maximum number of persons per day that may enter the wildernesses at each portal or trailhead. In recent years, the agency has come under increasing fire for its failure to apply those limits equitably to all users.

The federal injunction came as a result of an earlier June 5 ruling by the same judge, Elizabeth LaPorte, that the Forest Service had violated the National Environmental Policy Act by issuing special use permits to commercial pack outfits without first completing an analysis of the environmental impacts.

"We are pleased that the court has ordered remedies to address the damage resulting from the Forest Service's failure to properly regulate commercial uses," stated George Nickas, executive director of Wilderness Watch. "For many years, Forest Service wilderness rangers and resource specialists have pointed out the environmental problems associated with excessive commercial packstock use in these areas. But the agency has been unwilling to scale back that use to more appropriate levels."

LaPorte also ordered the Forest Service to evaluate, for the first time, the cumulative environmental impacts associated with the many pack stations operating in the two wildernesses. The agency will have until 2005 to consider numbers of stock animals used by commercial outfits, limits on group size, trail suitability for various types of use, and other factors that the Forest Service has not previously evaluated in an open process with full public participation.

"The requirement to conduct the cumulative effects analysis is highly significant," said Peter Browning, president of High Sierra Hikers Association. "It opens the door to a number of changes in commercial uses that we have been requesting for a long time. At last, we will get a full analysis and disclosure of the impacts associated with allowing excessive numbers of stock animals in fragile alpine meadows and lake basins, and on erodible trails that were never designed or constructed to withstand heavy stock use."

In her ruling, LaPorte explained that "the pack stations [with only two exceptions] have no valid authorization to operate in the wilderness areas until compliance with NEPA is achieved." To ensure Forest Service compliance with NEPA, LaPorte also ordered the Forest Service to prepare site-specific environmental analyses prior to issuing special use permits to individual pack stations.

LaPorte's ruling found "disturbing evidence of environmental degradation from stock usage" and stated this degradation "will be compounded with each successive season." This finding led not only to the ordered reduction in commercial use by pack stations, but to an additional requirement that the Forest Service accelerate its implementation of new trailhead quotas for commercial pack stations. In the past, the Forest Service has applied trailhead quotas to use by the general public, but not to most commercial outfitters.

"This injunction is a wake-up call to the Forest Service," stated Bob Dale, field director for Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics. "In many ways, it merely serves to remind the agency of its legal obligations. Now the real work begins. We must fashion a lasting solution that recognizes the values for which these wildernesses were created while also allowing appropriate levels of recreation by the general public."

The Nov. 1 ruling came in response to a lawsuit filed by three conservation groups in April of last year. The groups-the High Sierra Hikers Association, Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics, and Wilderness Watch-cited the Forest Service's failure to protect the wildernesses from environmental damage due to the excessive commercial uses of those areas. The three conservation groups have for years expressed their concerns-voiced also by resource specialists within the agency-to Forest Service decision-makers.

The High Sierra Hikers Association, located in Berkeley, Calif., is a nonprofit organization that educates the public about issues affecting the High Sierra and works to protect wilderness values in the High Sierra for the public benefit. Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics, based in Eugene, Ore., is a nonprofit conservation and education organization that works to forge a socially responsible value system within the U.S. Forest Service through a unique partnership of citizens and agency employees. Wilderness Watch, headquartered in Missoula, Montana, is a nonprofit conservation association that provides citizen oversight to ensure the long-term preservation of America's wilderness and wild and scenic rivers.

Plaintiffs in the lawsuit have been represented by Julia Olson of Wild Earth Advocates in San Francisco, Calif., and Pete Frost of the Western Environmental Law Center in Eugene, Oregon.