Arizona Congressman Circulating Letter to Expand the USFS “de-facto Wilderness” Policy

Congressman Grijalva (D – AZ), Chairman of the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands, is generating increased Congressional attention to a controversial management plan currently being implemented in Region 1 of the U.S. Forest Service (Region 1 = Montana and N. Idaho). Recreationists across Montana have been fighting an attempt by Region 1 to manage all Recommended Wilderness Areas (RWAs) as de-facto Wilderness areas, banning motorized recreation and mountain bike use. Only Congress can designate Wilderness. This is logical because Wilderness is the most restrictive land management designation on the planet. It is not wise, nor legal, for any federal land management agency to establish de-facto Wilderness areas. Chairman Grijalva has written a letter in support of the Region 1 RWA policy and he is urging the Forest Service to expand it to all National Forests, nationwide. Grijalva is also circulating a “Dear Colleague” letter among members of the House of Representatives for support...read more

Grijalva is such a rabid wilderness advocate that he is actually supporting the FS's apparent gambit to bypass Congress.

The FS has the authority to ban off-highway vehicles already, it's just not a blanket policy for all RWAs.

Anyway, I thought wilderness areas were supposed to be "roadless".