On May 7, 2006, 200,000 acres of Recommended Wilderness disappeared from the Kootenai Forest Plan and the Yaak lost 75,000 acres of first-time-ever recommended wilderness.
 
Yaak - The land that the Wilderness Act forgot - has been abandoned again.

    Yaak Valley has been extensively logged and roaded. The Yaak Valley Forest Council has been proposing wilderness for the remaining headwaters roadless areas since 1997 – a total of some 180,000 acres.

    There remains a place in the lower 48 where wildlife present since the end of the last Ice Age still exists. Nestled in the Kootenai National Forest, in the extreme northwest corner of Montana, lies the Yaak Valley. The Yaak Valley's low elevation and high precipitation result in a climate described as "modified Pacific maritime" in character. Large larch, cedar, hemlock, spruce, Douglas, grand and alpine fir, ponderosa, lodgepole and white pine fill the landscape. This forest is home for an abundance of wildlife. It is also a vital link in the chain of wildlands that sweep north into Canada. Inhabitants include grizzly bears, wolves, lynx, mountain lions, wolverine, marten, fisher, mountain goats, great gray owls, bull trout, west slope cutthroat trout and inland redband trout. Nothing has yet gone extinct here - a testament to the Yaak Valley's strength and resiliency. But not a single acre of the Yaak Valley is permanently protected.

    The Roderick-Saddle-Grizzly complex is the largest roadless area in the completely-ignored Yaak, and represents the best and traditional stronghold for female grizzlies in the valley. Secure, round, diverse, low-elevation mixed forest, it is the gold standard for biological diversity in the Yaak. Insist that Saddle Mountain be restored to recommended wilderness, and that the maximum Roderick-Grizzly acreage be included. (51,270 ACRES ) We lost Roderick and Saddle.

     Buckhorn Peaks and Northwest Peaks offer the best alpine country in the Yaak, and are home to a regionally-vital population of wolverine and lynx. Wilderness protection in this long chain of roadless lands along the state line is absolutely critical for its own sake, as well as transboundary connectivity to Canada's Southern Purcells and to Idaho's Selkirk Range. This area also possesses the best backcountry skiing and high-elevation winter solitude potential in the Yaak. (44,186 ACRES) We lost Northwest Peaks.

     Gold Hill West is the best wilderness opportunity on the Libby District of the Kootenai National Forest, headwatering numerous fully-functional watersheds, and home to a high density of furbearers and elk, and also offers critical wilderness transition into the Fisher River country, in which the state and federal government recently invested nearly $70 million in conservation easements. ( 10,000 ACRES)


E-MAIL YOUR DEMANDS THAT THE BIG RODERICK COMPLEX (INCLUDING SADDLE MOUNTAIN), NORTHWEST PEAKS AND BUCKHORN RIDGE, AND THE PRICELESS GOLD HILL WEST BE RECOMMENDED FOR WILDERNESS. DON'T LET THE KOOTENAI FORGET THE YAAK, EVER AGAIN!

Why recommended wilderness?   Recommended Wilderness is the only designation that will protect roadless areas from potential harvest and salvage sales. Recommended Wilderness protects valuable water sources and biological reserves in a unique ecosystem such as the Kootenai. The desire for Recommended Wilderness should be given equal importance as those expressed by timber interests and motorized recreationists. Areas recommended for Wilderness in the Forest Plan can be considered for permanent Wilderness designation by Congress   True collaboration efforts require legitimizing the desires of all collaborating parties, including wilderness.

We desperately need to show the Forest Planning team that recommended wilderness IS one of the public’s desires on the Kootenai National Forest.  We need letters sent now to the forest revision team asking for wilderness to protect the last remaining wild areas. Please send them to:

USDA Forest Service
KIPZ Revision Team
1101 US Hwy 2 West
Libby, Montana 59923
Email: r1_kipz_revision@fs.fed.us

Stay tuned to this web site to see additional comments to address concerns across the Kootenai National Forest.