Why do opponents claim there are roads in proposed wilderness areas?
In certain areas it is possible for off-road vehicles to travel cross-country. Repeated vehicle travel across sensitive soils quickly creates a visible track. There is an attempt to claim, or “grandfather” such roads under R.S. 2477, and to prevent areas from being designated as wilderness because roads detract from their natural, unaltered state. However, unmaintained roads constructed for one-time prospecting use decades ago, and never-constructed jeep trails “maintained” only by infrequent passage of tire tread, do not constitute roads within the intent of the Wilderness Act. The Utah Wilderness Coalition proposal does not consider a route used by vehicles to be a road unless it was mechanically constructed and has been regularly maintained for travel by the public. “Ways by use will disappear over time if left alone.
Related Questions
- Environmentalists claim that the Bush Administrations policies will decimate one of the last remaining wilderness areas on this continent. How do they respond to that?
- What are the current threats to the proposed wilderness areas in South Dakota?
- Why do opponents claim there are roads in proposed wilderness areas?
