Emerson opposes wilderness area plan

U.S. Reps. Jo Ann Emerson and Roy Blunt, R-Mo., have joined together in strong opposition to an environmental group's proposal to put 50,000 acres of the Mark Twain National Forest under wilderness protection.

The two announced Tuesday that they would band together to fight any efforts to designate the acreage in seven different areas of the forest as wilderness areas -- a designation that can only be granted by an act of Congress.

A loosely organized volunteer group of environmentalists, The Missouri Wilderness Coalition, is seeking the designation of these seven areas. One of the areas is near Big Spring in Carter County near Van Buren.

If granted the protection, all motorized and mechanized vehicles would be prohibited in the areas, outlawing commercial logging and recreational ATV or bicycle riding. The U.S. Forest Service, which controls the land, would also be limited in land management, unable to clear out brush or take steps to prevent such things as insect infestation.

Natural forest fires within the boundaries would be allowed to burn unless they threatened forest outside the designated area, said Paul Strong, acting forest supervisor in the Mark Twain forest. Pest infestation is much the same, he said, with the forest service only able to take action if a situation is threatening land outside the natural area.

Blunt cited the restrictions against harvesting of timber -- which isn't currently allowed in the areas -- while Emerson cited fire and disease control as reasons for opposition.

Once a wilderness area is designated, another act of Congress is required to repeal that designation.

Missouri senators Claire McCaskill and Kit Bond said they wanted to hear more information before making a decision to support or oppose the coalition's proposal.

News of Emerson's opposition was made public Monday in an article published in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Wilderness areas can be established under an act passed by Congress in 1964, giving legislators the authority to establish such areas by acts of Congress. The act loosely defines what qualifies as a wilderness area as an area "untrammeled by man."

Once established, ground within the areas can't be disturbed: Roads can't be built, forests can't be logged and no mechanized or motorized equipment can be used within the boundaries, said Jane Cliff, a regional spokeswoman for the U.S. Forest Service.

In Missouri and areas in the eastern United States, wilderness areas typically aren't places that haven't been touched by civilization. Much of the land in the Mark Twain National Forest, for instance, has been logged, but can still be designated as wilderness area, Strong said.

"The history of the land here in Missouri and most of the east is that there are very few areas ... that did not receive some sort of ... human use during settlement," Strong said. "These lands were in fact owned by someone before they were national forest."

The seven areas proposed for designation by the Missouri Wilderness Coalition -- Big Spring Wilderness; Smith Creek Wilderness in Callaway and Boone counties; Lower Rock Creek Wilderness in Madison and Iron counties; North Fork Wilderness in Ozark, Howell and Douglas counties; Spring Creek Wilderness in Douglas and Howell counties; Swan Creek Wilderness in Christian County; and Van East Mountain Wilderness in Madison and Iron counties -- have been managed as "semiprimitive, nonmotorized," Strong said. That designation means motor vehicles can't be used within their boundaries.

National forests create a forest management plan every 15 to 20 years. The last one for the Mark Twain forest was created in 2005.

In the previous plan of 1987, these seven areas were designated as "sensitive areas" and afforded special protections. While some of those protections -- like the ones Strong listed -- are still in place, Scott Merritt of the Missouri Wilderness Coalition said removing the "sensitive areas" designation is the first step in removing those special management practices for these areas.

One of the areas, Rock Creek, was opened up to motorized traffic in some places, though ATVs are not yet allowed, Merritt said.

"It's a move in the wrong direction," Merritt said. He calls the coalition's proposal "very moderate, very modest." The proposal would almost double the 71,153 current wilderness acres in the state.

Strong said that under the 2005 forest plan, these seven areas were examined, and the forest service decided not to recommend them for wilderness area designation. Some other areas, primarily areas contiguous with existing wilderness areas, were recommended, Strong said.

msanders@semissourian.com

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