If you play in the mountains of south-central Montana the Custer Gallatin National Forest wants to hear from you! The Forest Service is currently updating its decades-old management plan for the Custer Gallatin and it’s a once-in-a-generation chance for you to influence the future of places like Hyalite Canyon, the Bridger Range, and the Beartooth Mountains. The Forest Service recently published a draft plan that includes a number of different alternatives for how to manage the forest and your comments are needed! The comment period is open until June 6.

There are a couple of ways you can learn about the draft plan and how it affects you and the things you like to do on the Custer Gallatin. You can read it yourself – everything is posted here on the Forest Service’s website. Feeling pressed for time? We’ll break it down for you here and there are more details on our Custer Gallatin forest planning page.

Background

The Custer Gallatin National Forest is home to Montana’s highest peaks, a ski season that stretches from October through June (or, if you’re a die-hard, year-round), and world-class ice climbing in Hyalite Canyon. It’s also an integral part of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. The forest’s two Wilderness Areas – the Absaroka Beartooth and Lee Metcalf – and its many expansive roadless areas provide secure and connected habitat for countless wildlife, including rare species like wolverine and grizzly bears.   There are few other places in the country where world-class outdoor recreation opportunities overlap with a landscape as wild, and intact, as the Custer Gallatin.

Like most places, however, the Custer Gallatin National Forest faces challenges. Population growth and associated recreation pressures are having an impact. Climate change also poses a challenge. Average minimum and maximum monthly temperatures across the forest are predicted to rise by 12 degrees Fahrenheit by 2100. This warming means precipitation is shifting from snow to rain. Less snow and warmer temperatures are melting the forest’s glaciers and permanent snowfields into oblivion – bad news for winter recreation. These changes also spell trouble for everybody (and everything) that depends on the fresh water the Custer Gallatin’s snowpack provides and are contributing to a whole host of other issues, including insect and disease outbreaks.

In order to ensure the Custer Gallatin is prepared to face these challenges, and to bring management into the 21st century, the Forest Service is revising its forest plan. This new plan will guide how the forest is managed for the next 15-20 years. The forest plan revision is an opportunity to protect wild places, proactively address changes brought by a warming climate, and find ways to manage recreation so that everybody can continue to enjoy their national forest without negatively impacting natural resources, wildlife, or their fellow visitors.

Our Vision for the Custer Gallatin

Our goal is a final plan that protects wildlands and the wildlife they support, preserves quiet winter refuges, enhances opportunities for a variety of outdoor recreation activities, and sets the Forest Service on a path towards ecologically, socially, and economically sustainable forest management. Of the management alternatives the Forest Service has developed, we think Alternative C is a good starting place, but we have some suggestions for improving it.

First and foremost, as a member of the Gallatin Forest Partnership, we support the Gallatin Forest Partnership Agreement. The GFP Agreement strives to balance conservation, recreation, and wildlife values and is supported by a wide range of people who live, work, and recreate in and around the Gallatin and Madison Ranges. Alternative C includes many parts of the GFP Agreement but we’d like to see the full Agreement incorporated into the final plan.

Beyond the Gallatin and Madison Ranges, we, along with our Outdoor Alliance Montana partners, are endorsing the Recommended Wilderness and Backcountry Area designations in Alternative C, with two modifications. We would like to see the rugged roadless lands to the west of the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness – Chico Peak, Emigrant Peak, and Dome Mountain – recommended for Wilderness and we support a non-motorized backcountry designation for the Lionhead.

We support all of the Recreation Emphasis Areas in Alternative E with two modifications: we would like to see the Bridger Winter Recreation Emphasis Area expanded to include the Northern Bridgers, which are very popular with backcountry snowsports enthusiasts; and we support the GFP’s proposal for a Hyalite Recreation Emphasis Area as included in Alternative C.

Aside from designations, one detail that’s really important when it comes to protecting opportunities for quiet recreation is the Recreation Opportunity Spectrum (ROS). The ROS outlines where motorized use is suitable and the types of infrastructure that are appropriate in different parts of the forest. Getting the winter ROS map right helps to protect areas for quiet winter recreation. Because the ROS map shows desired future conditions (not the status quo), it’s the foundation for future site-specific winter travel decisions – whether it’s to update the Gallatin travel plan or to finally write a winter travel plan for the Custer portion of the forest. The final plan should include forward-looking winter ROS maps that carefully consider where over-snow vehicles are ecologically, socially, and physically suitable (i.e. where snowpack and terrain make snowmobiling feasible), and not simply map where snowmobiles are currently allowed.

Take Action

We need your help to make sure the human-powered snowsports community is heard as the Custer Gallatin plan finalizes their plan. Sending in a comment letter is the most meaningful way you can be involved. Comments are due June 6. When you write your comment letter, consider including the following points:

• Gallatin Forest Partnership Agreement– I support the Gallatin Forest Partnership Agreement and would like to see it adopted into the final plan.
• Wilderness– I support the Wilderness recommendations in Alternative C with the exception of the Lionhead, which should be managed as a non-motorized Backcountry Area. I would also like to see the roadless lands from Chico Peak to Dome Mountain recommended for Wilderness.
• Recreation Emphasis Areas– I support designating the Recreation Emphasis Areas identified in Alternative E with 2 modifications. The Bridger Winter Recreation Emphasis Area should be expanded north to Fairy Lake and I support the Hyalite Recreation Emphasis Area as described in Alternative C.
• Travel Management– The revised plan should include an objective to begin winter travel planning on the Custer portion of the forest within 1 year of completing forest plan revision. The winter ROS maps in the final forest plan must reflect desired future conditions based on where over-snow vehicles are ecologically, socially, and physically suitable, and not simply map where snowmobiles are currently allowed.                                                                                                                        pro tip – share some examples of places you think are/n’t suitable for snowmobiling, or that you’d like to see managed for quiet recreation!
• Wildlife– The Forest Service should monitor wildlife populations across the forest, particularly in areas with high human use, and adapt recreation management as necessary to protect wildlife.

Want to dig into maps, read up on the economic impact of backcountry snowsports on the Custer Gallatin, or listen to podcasts about forest planning on the Custer Gallatin? Click here to go to our Custer Gallatin forest planning page for more resources! 

Ready to comment?

Click here to go to the Forest Service’s online comment form