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Lawsuit seeks ATV ban in Wrangell-St.
Elias - Four-wheeling: Groups say vehicles are damaging permafrost,
scarring the land
(Note: Using incremental litigation, the first goal of a two-pronged
strategy is a total ban of all motorized vehicles -- except those
owned by 'management.' Everyone that recreates, whether on foot,
horseback, skis, ATVs, over-the-snow vehicles, off-road vehicles,
etc., should be paying close attention to this litigation and keep in
mind that the goal is, first, to remove all motorized access by the
public, and second, to remove all access of any kind by the public.)
July 3, 2006
By Alex DeMarban ademarban@adn.com or
907-257-4310
Anchorage Daily News
Anchorage, Alaska
To submit a Letter to the Editor: letters@adn.com
Conservation groups have filed a federal lawsuit to ban recreational ATVs from Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve.
The National Park Service didn't follow its own rules when it began allowing four-wheelers in the park in the early 1980s, charged Jim Stratton, Alaska director for National Parks Conservation Association. The noisy, knobby-tired vehicles are chewing through vegetation that protects permafrost, leaving swampy scars that make traveling difficult and unpleasant for other users such as hikers, he said. The Washington, D.C.-based group is the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit, which was filed Thursday. Co-plaintiffs are Alaska Center for the Environment and The Wilderness Society, based in Washington, D.C. Trustees for Alaska, an environmental law firm in Anchorage, filed the suit. The country's largest national park at more than 13 million acres, Wrangell-St. Elias is the only national park in the state allowing recreational ATV use, said Park Service spokesman John Quinley. The park issues about 200 recreational ATV permits a year, mostly to sport hunters in the fall, he said. Sport hunting is allowed in the preserve, but not the park. Park officials never did an environmental impact review or a finding to show that recreational ATV use is compatible with purposes of the park, such as scenic beauty, healthy wildlife and backpacking, Stratton said. The process will give the public a chance to weigh in, he said. "We think most of the trails will be closed for recreational use," he said. Quinley couldn't say what procedures the park followed to allow ATVs. Park officials are sifting through historical and administrative records to determine how the decision was made, he said Friday afternoon. The park has 60 days to respond to the suit, he said. Rod Arno, executive director of the pro-hunting Alaska Outdoor Council, learned of the lawsuit Friday. The group will take a formal stance in opposition, he said. The damage on the trails is insignificant compared with the size of the park's habitat, he said. The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Anchorage.
Copyright 2006, Anchorage Daily News.
Additional related reading:
Lawsuit
seeks ATV ban in Wrangell-St. Elias
Anchorage Daily News - By ALEX deMARBAN. Conservation groups have filed a federal lawsuit to ban recreational ATVs from Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve. The National Park Service didn't follow its own rules when it ... Groups sue to ban four-wheelers in Wrangell-Saint Elias |