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For the week of September 13 through 19, 2000

Lines in the snow

Proposal offers to resolve conflict between skiers and snowmobilers


"It took a long time for me to appreciate what it is skiers need to go out and have a good experience. The skiers really do have a legitimate sport. It’s a fun thing to do, and likewise for the snowmobilers."

Kim Nilsen, Winter Recreation Coalition


By GREG STAHL
Express Staff Writer

One of the Wood River Valley’s hottest recreation disputes appears on the cusp of resolution.

Winter Recreation Coalition members gathered at the Wood River Inn in Hailey on Monday night to announce that they’ve reached consensus on one of the valley’s long-standing recreation conflicts. The result, a map, will set aside motorized and non-motorized recreation areas throughout the northern Wood River Valley. Members are pictured above. Top row, left to right: Bill DeMun, Jack Haase and Chris Klick. Bottom row, left to right: Bob Werth, Kim Nilsen, Andy Munter, Owen Downard, Kathie Rivers and Jim McClatchy. John Craig and Nancy Monk are not pictured.

Sliding in just under a deadline set by Sawtooth National Forest supervisor Bill LeVere, the Winter Recreation Coalition announced Monday that it has reached consensus on the long-disputed shared use of public lands in the Wood River Valley by backcountry and cross-country skiers and snowmobilers.

The Winter Recreation Coalition began in 1995 in an effort to resolve the winter recreation conflict, and many local residents have participated since then.

"Those of us who have been involved in the process are so impressed with the current group’s passion, hard work and diligence," former member and Blaine County Recreation District executive director Mary Austin Crofts said.

If LeVere approves the coalition’s proposal, skiers and snowmobilers will have a new map and boundaries to adhere to this winter. The boundaries are designed to keep the two winter recreation groups separated when they play in the Wood River Valley’s white winter hills.

Earlier this year, LeVere set Oct. 1 as the cutoff date for the coalition to propose a solution to the conflict, which has been growing in intensity over the past two decades.

By yesterday morning, LeVere had not yet seen the proposal, which divides the northern Wood River Valley into sport-specific sections (motorized and non-motorized), but he said he’s optimistic about what the group will submit.

"I kind of issued a challenge to them that I’d much rather they worked it out themselves than have the Forest Service do it for them," he said in a Tuesday morning telephone interview. "I’ll implement as much as I can. That was my commitment, and I’ll see it through."

At a press conference Monday afternoon, winter coalition members—five skiers and five snowmobilers—discussed the boundaries they’ve set and the long, rough road to the consensus they’ve finally reached.

"It took a long time for me to appreciate what it is skiers need to go out and have a good experience," snowmobiler and coalition member Kim Nilsen said. "The skiers really do have a legitimate sport. It’s a fun thing to do, and likewise for the snowmobilers.

Nilsen said the group actually went out on an excursion last winter to partake of each others’ sports.

"We took them on a hair-raising snowmobile ride, and they took us on a knee-breaking ski," he said. "We all had a lot of fun."

Mediator Bob Werth, who has been working with the parties, added that after skiing and snowmobiling, the group convened in the Boulder Yurt and had a very positive discussion as snow accumulated outside.

"It was really a magical moment," group member Kathie Rivers said.

The group’s members also agreed that they no longer perceive the debate as an "us-versus-them" issue.

"I don’t really see that there were concessions," snowmobiler and group member Chris Klick said. "The whole thing was a give and take. This was not an adversarial relationship. We are just 10 people who got together to work on a map, who happened to be five snowmobilers and five skiers."

The result of the over 100 hours of meetings the group has held since Christmas is a map that divides the northern Wood River drainage into 12 sections. Boundaries should be easily identifiable, using ridges, rivers and roads.

Six of the areas are designated as non-motorized, and four are designated motorized. Skiers, hikers or snowshoers should "expect to encounter motorized use" in the motorized areas, though they will not be prevented from entering, according to a description of the areas compiled by the coalition.

In the Hyndman Basin section, snowmobilers will not be allowed until March 15. After March 15, the area will be open to both groups of users. In another section, which hasn’t been finalized yet, a restricted snowmobile corridor from Baker Creek over Galena Summit may be established.

The entire area surrounding Galena Lodge will be established as non-motorized, with the possible exception of the corridor over Galena summit.

One stumbling point—albeit small—the group encountered this winter was when the Boulder Yurt was burned by arsonists. Some members of the skiing community pointed fingers at snowmobilers following the incident, though no one has yet been charged with the crime.

The Winter Coalition’s next meeting following the yurt arson was a tense one, Rivers said, but then reflected optimistically: "Chaos sparks growth."

"This group decided the person who burned the yurt down is a criminal, period," Nilsen said.

In fact, mediator Werth said, the entire group plans to help rebuild the yurt this fall.

The group hasn’t finished climbing the controversial winter recreation mountain yet, however.

If LeVere approves the plan, implementation and education will become the next steps.

"To make this work, and work well, both groups need to come together and understand each others’ likes and dislikes. We all need to understand that each of us needs our space," group member Owen Downard said.

Signs would be posted and brochures printed, but the winter coalition members will count heavily on education and communication within the recreation groups.

The group will need a budget to implement the program, but amounts needed were not set forth at the press conference. It would probably be funded in conjunction with the Forest Service, the Blaine County Recreation District and by soliciting grants.

At the press conference, it was apparent that winter coalition members were gratified to have finally reached consensus on the issue.

"In the Wood River Valley, people take their fun very, very seriously,"snowmobiler Klick said.

Downard continued:

"I’m sure you’re all aware that there are spots here that are extremely contentious. Although I found a lot of this terribly frustrating, it was very gratifying."

 

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