Arrowhead ACMU

The Arrowhead Coalition for Multiple Use and the Cook County ATV Club assisted the US Forest Service in its education about the closure of the former snowmobile trail, which was found to be encroaching on the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. The groups paid for and posted closure signs on the old trail.

Sound analysis still pending

On March 6, 2009, the US State Court of Appeals, 8^th Circuit, issued a decision on a boundary dispute regarding the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW), clearing one hurdle for supporters of a 2 ½-mile snowmobile trail reroute between McFarland and South Fowl Lakes in Hovland. However, the question of whether or not sound from snowmobiles on the trail negatively impacts the wilderness is still to be determined.
US Forest Service plans to construct the South Fowl Snowmobile access were halted in August 2006 by a lawsuit filed by plaintiffs Sierra Club, North Star Chapter; Wilderness Watch; and Northeastern Minnesotans for Wilderness. Among other complaints, the plaintiffs alleged that the proposed snowmobile trail brought snowmobiles onto a wilderness lake, arguing that North and South Fowl Lakes were actually in the BWCAW. Judge John R. Tunheim first heard arguments in the case in December 2006.

Joining the lawsuit in support of the US Forest Service plan to construct the snowmobile trail reroute was Cook County, Conservationists with Common Sense of Ely, and the Arrowhead Coalition for Multiple Use. Also involved in the lawsuit is the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and the State of Minnesota, which filed Amicus, or Friend of the Court briefs. All of the parties presented their case to the 8^th Circuit Court of Appeals in Minneapolis in October 2008.

Last week, the panel of judges who heard the appeal—James Loken, Kermit Bye, and Lavenski Smith—issued a decision, ruling against the plaintiffs primarily because their lawsuit was brought 30 years too late. The panel of judges did not issue a ruling on whether the Fowl Lakes are outside the BWCAW, but rather that the Forest Service had never treated North or South Fowl Lakes as part of the BWCAW. Instead the judges noted that “this exclusion was evident no later than April 4, 1980, when the Forest Service published the maps and legal description showing the boundaries of the BWCAW in the Federal Register. “

The judges added that the Forest Service never enforced a ban on snowmobiles or set motorboat quotas on these lakes. “As a result, because the Forest Service’s determination of the boundaries of the BWCAW and its treatment of the Fowl Lakes has been public knowledge for 30 years, Wilderness Watch’s failure to bring suit in a timely manner means that this court must dismiss such claims,” wrote the panel.

The judges declined to make a decision on another matter raised by District Court Judge Tunheim—whether or not the environmental assessment completed by the Forest Service during its trail planning was adequate. Judge Tunheim ruled that the Forest Service had carefully considered the impact to Canada lynx; had studied invasive species concerns; and had adequately presented cumulative effects. However, when it came to the question of whether the auditory impact from snowmobiles on the trail would negatively impact the wilderness character of the adjacent BWCAW, Tunheim did not issue a ruling. Tunheim enjoined the Forest Service from beginning work on the trail until an environmental impact study (EIS) is done regarding sound.

Since Tunheim did not make a final decision on the sound question, the 8^th District appeal judges wrote that they had no jurisdiction on the matter, putting the issue back in the hands of the Forest Service and the District Court judge. The 8^th District judges did state that they had authority to consider the injunction suspending work on the South Fowl trail pending completion of the EIS. However, the judges said it is normal practice for the Forest Service to halt activity pending further environmental review. Since this is normal practice, the judges said the Forest Service and the Interveners are not being “irreparably injured” by the injunction, so they took no action.

Gunflint Ranger Dennis Neitzke, who developed the South Fowl Snowmobile trail alternatives in 2006, said he is not certain what the next step will be. “We are exploring our options to see how quickly we can move ahead with an environmental assessment,” he said.

The conflict started in 2002, when the US Forest Service closed a snowmobile trail which had been used to travel from McFarland to South Fowl Lake, after it was determined to be in the wilderness. The trail was partially built by logger Verl Tilbury before the creation of the BWCAW and was called the Tilbury Trail by area residents and anglers.

On February 21, 2006, the Forest Service issued a decision to build an alternative route. The proposed alternative route begins at the existing Little John Lake parking lot. It crosses the Border Route Hiking Trail, the former Tilbury Trail, and moves southeast ascending to a ridge above the Royal River. It is there that it is closest to the BWCAW, approximately 400 feet, high above the BWCAW. The route then follows the ridge away from the BWCAW in an east-southeast direction about 1.3 miles, then down-slope northeast to level ground and directly east to South Fowl Lake.