Steve Ellis’ choice

Steve Ellis, the supervisor of the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, is slated to decide late in 2009 how severely to limit where motor vehicles (except snowmobiles) can go on the 2.4-million-acre Wallowa-Whitman starting in 2010.

Now, on about 1.3 million of those acres, they can go just about anywhere.

But four years ago then-Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth decided that such unfettered access by motor vehicles posed a threat to wildlife habitat and other resources on national forests. Bosworth ordered all forest supervisors to revamp their travel policies. His message was succinct: Wide open policies such as the Wallowa-Whitman’s will not continue.

Ellis’ decision comes down to two main matters: first, how many of the forest’s 4,261 miles of rarely maintained roads should remain open, and to which types of vehicles; and second, should any part of the Wallowa-Whitman stay open to cross-country travel via motor vehicle?

A team of Wallowa-Whitman workers has drafted several options for Ellis to consider.

We prefer Alternative 4.

It strikes the best compromise between two important goals: Protecting the resources that Bosworth cited, and limiting the effect on people who like to ride or drive motor vehicles on their public lands.

Alternative 4 would allow motor vehicles to continue traveling on roads except those that are overgrown with trees and brush. That’s reasonable — after all, if 10-foot-tall pines are growing in the middle of an old road, it’s unlikely anyone’s been driving or riding there recently.

Alternative 4 would limit motorized use on certain of those 4,261 miles of roads (ones that are blocked by a barrier that some riders can bypass) to vehicles with a wheelbase less than 50 inches. That restriction poses no substantial hardship for the public, though, because people who ride four-wheelers and motorcycles could continue using those roads. And four-wheelers and motorcycles are, in most cases, the only vehicles capable of bypassing barriers.

Alternative 4 also offers something to people who drive pickup trucks and other full-size vehicles. Roads that have no barriers now would remain open to all motor vehicles, regardless of wheelbase.

Alternative 4 would prohibit cross-country travel, but that has a lesser effect on the public than does closing roads. Also, cross-country travel is prohibited during severe fire danger.

Still, we urge Ellis to consider allowing cross-country travel in relatively small sections of the forest if such use does not seriously degrade wildlife habitat or other resources.