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FEDERATION OF WESTERN OUTDOOR CLUBS

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RESOLUTION #16: PROPOSED DARK DIVIDE WILDERNESS

The Dark Divide Roadless Area, containing more than 76,000 acres of steep, open, mile-high ridges and two old-growth forested valleys in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, is the largest unprotected roadless area in western Washington state.

The gravest threat to the Dark Divide roadless area comes from motorized recreation. The Forest Service, with funds from Washington State's gas tax rebate program, has persisted in promoting and expanding motorcycle use on the Dark Divide's trails. The scenic ridges and deep forested valleys are linked by a network of 94 miles of trails; all but ten miles are open to motorized use. Motorcycle tires have eroded the feather-light pumice soils into knee-deep ruts in the trail tread, parallel tracks that mar the steeper slopes, and scars in meadows where users have taken their machines off-trail. Water runs down the ruts -- wearing them even deeper and silting streams.

The steepness and difficulty of the trails have kept motorcycle use to moderate levels. The Forest Service has proposed improving many of the trails, however, to make them accessible for less-experienced riders. The agency also wants to build new trails that would link the Dark Divide to another system of motorized trails on nearby ridges, creating a huge network of interconnected motorized trail loops that would make this a destination recreation area for motorcyclists from all over the Pacific Northwest. The only way to permanently ban motorcycles within this area is through legislation that would add the area to the National Wilderness Preservation System.

The Federation of Western Outdoor Clubs urges: 1) the immediate closure of trails there to all motorized use; 2) the protection of the Dark Divide Roadless Area from further development; and 3) the enactment of federal legislation to establish a Dark Divide Wilderness as soon as possible which does not include special provisions or exceptions that weaken wilderness protection.

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