Current work in wildlife, rivers, public lands, and climate

Missoula, MT—The nature and extent of the impact that over-snow vehicles have on natural resources and wildlife —and disruption to non-motorized recreation —has historically been hotly contested. A series of recently published studies in the Journal of Conservation Planning investigate these impacts and provide Best Management Practices to assist land managers tasked with balancing motorized use, other uses, and protecting natural resources. The four articles review existing research on impacts and conflicts associated with over-snow vehicles as well as existing management practices used to minimize these impacts. The articles focus on minimizing snowmobile impacts to wildlife, impacts to water quality, soils, and vegetation, and recreation use conflict as well a general introduction to the issue.

“With more and more people recreating in the backcountry each winter, and the disproportionate impact that motorized recreation has on non-motorized recreation and the environment, it has become increasingly necessary for the Forest Service to overhaul its approach to managing snowmobiles on our National Forests,” said Hilary Eisen, Recreation Planning and Policy Manager at Winter Wildlands Alliance. “These articles identify real, on-the-ground actions that the Forest Service can start taking now to directly address winter travel management.”

“Despite widespread use of snowmobiles on National Forest lands, the Forest Service has largely ignored resulting damage to the surrounding environment,” said Marla Nelson, Rewilding Attorney at WildEarth Guardians. “With published, peer-reviewed articles, it can no longer ignore the very real disruptions snowmobiling has on winter wildlife such as imperiled North American wolverine, Canada lynx, and bighorn sheep. We hope to see the agency begin to chart a new path for managing snowmobiles on our forests.”

The studies support calls by the conservation community for the Forest Service to do more to proactively manage winter motorized recreation on National Forest lands by providing specific management recommendations to directly address resource, wildlife, and conflict concerns.

Winter Wildlands Alliance is a national advocacy organization representing the interests of human-powered winter recreationists across the U.S. by promoting and preserving winter wildlands and a quality human-powered experience on public lands.

WildEarth Guardians is a nonprofit environmental organization dedicated to protecting and restoring the wildlife, wild places, wild rivers, and health of the American West.