Constitutional Law

Federal judge upholds national forest's limits on motorized travel

By By The Associated Press

GREAT FALLS, Mont. — A federal judge has rejected a lawsuit by groups wanting to reverse a U.S. Forest Service ban on motorized travel in a section of the Lewis and Clark National Forest.

The Badger-Two Medicine Travel Plan went into effect in October along the Rocky Mountain Front, limiting access by wheeled motor vehicles to 8 miles of roads and banning snowmobiles. The 2008 plan involves 186 miles of trails in the 130,000-acre area, which is sacred to the Blackfeet Tribe.

The Forest Service said one of the reasons for the ban was that motorized recreation interfered with traditional Blackfeet Tribe religious practices, such as vision quests.

U.S. District Judge Sam Haddon on Jan. 20 ruled that the plan was not flawed as the groups had contended. The groups claimed the Forest Service?s reasoning for the plan violated the establishment clause of the First Amendment, which states ?Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.?

Haddon rejected the argument, saying the plan didn?t result in ?a cathedral for the Blackfeet religion.?

He added that ?any individual, regardless of religion, may access Badger-Two Medicine ? . The decision is devoid of any informed and reasonable perception that it endorses religion.?

The judge also noted that the agency?s decision was based on protecting water and soil quality, and fish and wildlife habitat.

One of the plaintiffs, Montanans for Multiple Use, said the group had ?a long heritage of being able to access public lands for multiple-use purposes.?

?What we?re seeing is a gradual, incremental and cumulative shutdown of our national forest to the average citizen who needs motorized access,? said Fred Hodgeboom, the group?s president.

Supporters of the travel plan said the plan would protect the land from damage caused by illegal vehicle travel and protect sites that are historically and culturally important to the Blackfeet Tribe.

?I think the decision is a good one for the health of the land and wildlife habitat in the Badger-Two Medicine country,? Gene Sentz of Choteau, a member of the Montana Wilderness Society, told the Great Falls Tribune.

Badger-Two Medicine is surrounded by the Bob Marshall Wilderness, Glacier National Park and the Blackfeet Indian Reservation.

About 700 miles of trail remain open to motorized traffic elsewhere in the Lewis and Clark National Forest, along with 400,000 acres for snowmobiles, said forest spokesman Dave Cunningham.

Bozeman attorney Kyle Nelso, who represents the groups that also include the Montana Trail Vehicle Riders Association and the Capital Trail Vehicle Riders Association, said it was unclear whether they would appeal.

Full post as published by First Amendment Center on January 23, 2011 (boomark / email).