Revising the rules to a community's playground
New Forest Plan Could Impact Ice Climbing Access
By Anne Schrag, 1-29-07
First pitch of Narcolepsy in Hyalite Canyon, by Josh Gage
Many of us choose to live in Bozeman for the recreation values, clean air and water, abundant wildlife and our access to them. But with the continued 5 to 7 percent sustained growth since 2000, our backyard, the Gallatin National Forest, has absorbed use levels that are now reaching the capacity of the land.
The Forest Service has never had a formalized travel management plan, only a revision or update every two to three years to a “visitor map.” Since 2002, the Forest Service has spent over $1 million in devising the Gallatin Nation Forest Travel Management Plan that will define how the forest is used for the next fifteen to twenty years.
The plan currently stands in the administrative appeals process, which closes on Feb. 1st. The following article is from the ice climbing perspective of how the Forest Management Plan is dealing with plowing Hyalite Canyon Road, one of the main winter access points for Bozeman recreationists. - Editor’s note
The newly proposed Gallatin National Forest Travel Plan has caused quite a stir in the ice climbing community. Ice climbers comprise one of the largest user groups during the winter in Hyalite Canyon, one of the many areas of focus, and a proposed plan to change winter accessibility has taken the group by storm.
The Travel Plan has had a varied history. In 2002, the Gallatin National Forest originally began working on a new travel plan to manage multiple uses of the public lands. Climbers were ecstatic about a possible victory for winter access in October 2004 when Forest Service officials released a “preferred alternative” that called for plowing to the Chisholm Campground and ungated access beyond that point. Ice climbers banded together to advance this original alternative to the travel plan.
Recently, however, Forest Service officials, in an effort believed to be beneficial to family-oriented cross-country skiing activities, have decided to plow the road to the Blackmore Campground and then gate access past the Hyalite Reservoir on January 1, beginning in the 2007-2008 season.
This will effectively shorten the season for those ice climbers who do not own or have access to snowmobiles, since access to Hyalite is generally limited later in the season by vehicle clearance due to snow-packed roads.
In fact, the season may be shortened by up to three months, depending on snow conditions. The number of climbers with access to snowmobiles, while unknown, is believed to be extremely small—less than 5% by some estimates. Even those who have snowmobile access are concerned because the newly proposed snowmobile route is considered highly advanced terrain and could be dangerous for novice riders or multiple riders on one machine.
Gating access on a specified date could additionally impact climbers during low-snowfall years when travel to popular climbing destinations by car is sometimes possible well into the months of February and March.
While the public comment period has already closed, ice climbers are attempting to negotiate with federal officials to maintain access to this important winter destination into the future. Winter recreationists are encouraged to fill out a survey about their use of the area at Southwest Montana Climbers Coalition.
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