Lost Horse Canyon Threatened

[JoJo]

Lost Horse Canyon offers splitter granite cracks littered with crisp Bitterroot edges up to three pitches long at all grades, free car camping next to a beautiful stream with hundreds of boulder problems scattered throughout the forest. It is spectacular.

 

Last summer the local county government wanted to quarry the cliff. After a long fight and overwhelming public outcry against it, they tabled the issue indefinitely. What appeared to be a victory to save what I consider one of the best crags in the entire Pacific Northwest from being quarried into chip seal now seems to have been little more than a ploy with the hopes everyone forgot about it. Well many of us haven't. The fight has just begun...

 

Please take a moment to read the below note I just got from Steve Porcella, Access Fund Regional Coordinator for Western Montana. Better yet sign up (it's free) with the Bitterroot Climbers Coalition and get the email updates directly.

http://bitterrootclimbers.org/

 

We are going to need your help writing letters to the Forest Service and the County Commissioners. Basically the road department have all along wanted to quarry this and don't give a damn about us "rock fairies" (that is what they have been overheared calling us climbers). The scrapping away of materials will destroy the parking, much of the trail and perhaps permanently alter our ability to reach the cliffs. More likely, it is only the start of their desired development of this area for "resource extraction" (their words not mine).

 

Much of the backstory for this issue can be found at http://www.firstascentpress.com/losthorse.html and at the above link for the BCC.

 

Thanks in advance. I'll keep you all posted.

Long live Lost Horse.

 

Joe Josephson

 

----

 

With zero public notice the commissioners had a

meeting yesterday (Commissioner Grandstaff is driving this issue). I was the

only climbing rep there, I spoke up, but you can see the results below. This

article came out in today's Ravalli Republic. I would like to get a letter

writing campaign going again to the Commissioners and FS. More information

to follow on that shortly.

 

Steve

 

Lost Horse quarry reopened by commission

by ANTHONY QUIRINI - Ravalli Republic

 

The Lost Horse Quarry issue reared its head again, despite immense public

opposition to halt any action at the site in the past.

 

On Wednesday, Ravalli County commissioners agreed to let the county road

department take 1,000-cubic yards of rock from the Lost Horse Quarry to be

used for rip-rap near a new bridge being built on Kootenai Creek Road.

 

The commission voted 4-0 to extract the rock. Commissioner Kathleen Driscoll

abstained from the vote, similar to when the issue came before the

commission in 2007.

 

The commission said the rock would save the county thousands of dollars and

if the county didn’t come up with the rock, the grant money from the bridge

project would be pulled.

 

 

Also, Commissioner Carlotta Grandstaff said that during past hearings

citizens were opposed to the rock crushing, not just taking rock from the

quarry.

 

According to Ravalli County Road Supervisor David Ohnstad, the department

will not be using any crushers or explosives to extract the rock and the

project should take a week. The rock will be taken from 500 to 600 feet west

of the quarry’s access road, and in another location 100 feet north toward a

vertical rock wall, Ohnstad said.

 

Forty-three truckloads of rock will be hauled from the quarry. There is no

date for when the project will begin.

 

For the 15 or so citizens who attended the meeting, which was posted on

Monday, the resurrection of the issue wasn’t well accepted.

 

Residents who live in the canyon have serious concerns about the truck

traffic and safety concerns.

 

“Safety is my biggest concern,” J.C. Howell said in an interview after the

meeting. “But the biggest problem I have today is we will be hearing this

conversation a year from now.”

 

During the meeting, the Forest Service hinted that it will be looking at the

quarry for additional projects down the road, a topic that raises citizens’

hackles.

 

“So, in a year from now are we looking at the quarry being used for

crushing?” Tori Nobles asked the commission and Forest Service officials.

 

Kent Miller of the Bitterroot National Forest said it’s a possibility the

agency will use the quarry for more rock and rock crushing.

 

Recreational users, primarily rock climbers, are opposed to quarry being

used. The rock in the quarry is hard, clean granite with many natural

features which make it an ideal climbing area.

 

When the quarry issue first arose it prompted climbers to organize to keep

the quarry for recreational use. Climbers formed the Bitterroot Climbing

Coalition.

 

“In our opinion it is a very valuable recreational area and it has a high

use for residents in the county,” Steve Porcella of the BCC said. “The value

they think they are getting out of that quarry is counter productive to

recreational use.”

 

Porcella is the western Montana coordinator for the Access Fund, a nonprofit

dedicated to preserving climbing environments for rock climbing, mountain

climbing and bouldering.

 

“We want to work with landowners regardless if they are public or private to

represent the sport or to mitigate or deal with impacts to areas,” Porcella

said.

 

This past weekend climbers cleaned up garbage, gun shells and spray paint

off boulders in the area.

 

Last fall, a number of recreation users created a proposal to upgrade the

quarry, placing a toilet, dumpster and signs to deter off-road damage to the

environment. The funds would have come from federal payments to the county,

but that proposal barely failed because of the plan’s location for the

toilet, Porcella said.

 

Four weeks ago recreational users met with the Forest Service to try to work

out a solution.

 

“All we were asking for is input on what they’re thinking,” Porcella said.

“I understand that the county has constant and forever rock needs, but I

think it’s dependent upon the county and Forest Service to get their

resources in a place that doesn’t have a conflict with a valuable

recreational area.”

 

As well, the canyon is popular for bikers, hikers and fisherman - all of

which may be impacted with heavy truck traffic.

 

“Frankly, from a Forest Service perspective this goes against everything

they are trying to accomplish - for this to be a premier recreation area,”

Howell said.

 

Others questioned Ohnstad’s numbers.

 

“It seems like we’re hearing erroneous numbers again,” Mark Bearman said

during the meeting.

 

In 2007 the Ravalli County commission was deadlocked 2-2 on a vote to

re-open the quarry. Commissioner Driscoll abstained from voting, saying she

wanted to review Ohnstad’s numbers.

 

After researching those numbers, Driscoll was ready to vote, but the

commission indefinitely tabled the issue after dozens upon dozens of

citizens protested the issue.

 

The Forest Service is supposed to conduct an analysis on how to mitigate

dust and road issues, officials said. At this point, many questions remain -

such as when it will occur and what residents and recreational users can

expect.

 

“There’s a bigger picture in this thing,” Driscoll pointed out. “Is this the

only time we’re going in there?”

 

Reporter Anthony Quirini can be reached at 363-3300 or

aquirini@ravallirepublic.com

 

Edited May 1, 2008 by JoJo

[kevino]

I hope the best for you guys. I remember when the city of redmond decided to sell parkland with trails on it to build more houses, blatently ignoring the citizen's outcry. Hopefully your outcome is better.

[JoJo]

From Steve Porcella,

 

Hi Everyone, it’s sad, but true. County has voted to begin mining at Lost

Horse immediately. Little to no numbers, cost comparisons, scope, impacts,

or boundaries have been described. Bottom line is that the County

Commissioners (Carlotta Grandstaff-chairman) don’t care about recreation,

climbers, the recreational value of the canyon and nor does the FS. Their

goal is purely resource extraction for financial gain, with 8-10 other

projects (no detail, no scope) also proposed.

 

Write to Dave Bull and the other folks below, send your letters to the

Ravalli Republic and Bitterroot Star. Dave has given us an ear in the past.

Impress upon him the high recreational value of this site. Our only hope is

that he will take that into consideration and limit the impact of mining at

the site. Use the email addresses below if easiest for you. Tell the

respective people that Lost Horse Canyon is a valuable recreational site

that you use. Further industrialization and therefore degradation of the

canyon, in the form of active rip/rap and road rock mining for financial

gain is counter-productive to the high recreational value of that canyon.

Be clear that you are against further mining in the canyon, that other

sources of rock are available that do not conflict with high use, high value

recreation. Demand that the County and Forest Service recognize your

recreational use of the canyon. We are not against resource extraction, but

we are against it when it conflicts with a high use, high value area. See

the latest news story below for more information.

Thank you for your effort and support

“Ya gotta freakin fight for everything!”

BCC

 

WRITE LETTERS!

 

Dave Bull, Forest Supervisor, Bitterroot National Forest

1801 North 1st

Street

Hamilton, MT 59840 59840

dbull@fs.fed.us .

 

Ravalli County Commissioner

C/o Glenda Wiles, Administrative

Assistant

Ravalli County Commissioners Office

215 S. 4th Street, Suite

A

Hamilton, MT 59840

 

commissioners@ravallicounty.mt.gov

 

Senator Max Baucus

Missoula Field Office

1821 South Avenue West, Suite

203

Missoula, MT 59801

(406) 329-3123

www.baucus.senate.gov

 

Senator Jon Tester

Missoula Field Office

116 West Front Street Missoula, MT

59802

(406) 728-3003

 

www.tester.senate.gov

Congressman Denny Rehberg

Kelly McQuiston, Field Representative

301 East

Broadway, Suite 2

Missoula, MT 59802

(406) 543-9550

 

www.house.gov/rehberg

 

THE MISSOULIAN

oped@missoulian.com

Letters to

the Editor

PO Box 8029

Missoula, MT 59807

 

www.missoulian.com

 

The Bitterroot Star newspaper

thestar@montana.com

 

Ravalli Republic Newspaper

editor@ravallirepublic.com

 

 

[crackers]

Here's a copy of my letter:

 

Howdy,

 

I graduated from the University of Montana in 1996, and I return once or twice a year primarily for weddings and to take advantage of the recreational opportunities available in western Montana.

 

I recently learned that the Ravalli County Commissioners decided to mine around one of the best sites for rock climbing in all of Montana. I'm pretty shocked, as last year a strong showing of support for maintaining the recreational value of Lost Horse seemed to convince them not to wreck the canyon beyond the current quarry scar.

 

I took classes from Tom Power, and I make my living here in New York City selling backpacks to people who go climbing all over the world. That said, I'm not a silly idiot opposed to mining. Some of my best friends make their livings running mines all over the world, and our economy demands the harvesting of extractive resources. None of us could live without mines. It is that simple. However, the sly approach of the county commissioners, the lack of any release of planning documentation and lack of public comment appears to embody the worst features of local government in Western Montana.

 

Lost Horse has the potential to be the most significant and popular climbing destination in Western Montana. Does anybody really want to lessen or destroy that economic potential? Does anybody really want to revisit the range wars as experienced over the McDonald Mine project on the Blackfoot back in the mid-90's? If the county commissioners are to be believed, 1,000 cubic yards or 43 trucks of rock are required for a bridge. Is there really nowhere else in Ravalli county that this rock can be found? Getting this rock from Lost Horse Canyon only furthers the degradation of a hugely popular climbing recreational area, and could easily wreck its future as a destination climbing area, as well as obliterate the area's value for hunters and create another lost landscape for the local economy.

 

It strikes me as stupid to intentionally destroy a viable, growing economic resource of expanding importance, especially when immense public opposition remains and gathers more stength every minute.

 

Yours,

Graham

[DRep]

Looks great Graham. I'm writing my copy right now. Seriously, this place is freeking AMAZING and we need to save it!!!!

[DirtyHarry]

That sucks. I was there when most of those initial routes were put up. There used to be an old burned out sedan in the parking lot the locals and climbers would shoot guns at. Hence the name of that stellar route, Who Shot the Datsun. Some good times were had there.