Lolo releases State of the Rattlesnake report
by Boyd Hartwig
The Missoula Ranger District has just finished the 17th annual Rattlesnake National Recreation Area and Wilderness monitoring report for 2009. This report is sometimes referred to as the “State of the Rattlesnake” report. The Rattlesnake includes the only congressionally designated National Recreation Area in Forest Service Region One and is a place near and dear to the hearts of many Missoulians. The report assesses current recreation trends, needs, and impacts, and also serves as a tool for long-term management of the area.
The Limits of Acceptable Change based Management Direction was approved in 1992 and is a part of the Lolo National Forest Land Management Plan.
In 2009, the Missoula Ranger District did:
* 81.6 miles of trail maintenance and drainage improvements
* 2.7 miles of trail construction/relocation
* 700 feet of user-created trail obliteration
In 2009, law enforcement violations in the National Recreation Area (NRA) were mostly for dogs off-leash, illegal dumping, vandalism, illegal shooting, fires where they are prohibited and parking outside designated areas. But there were also benefits associated with increased law enforcement patrols and contacts. For example, incidents of unauthorized transient camping, which have been a problem in the past, were down from 2008.
In 2009, visitor use in the lower National Recreation Area (NRA) within three miles of the main trailhead was:
* 54% day hikers and runners,
* 29% mountain bikers
* 17% cross country skiers
In the NRA in the spring, summer and fall, use was
* 47% hikers and runners
* 38% mountain bikers and
a smaller proportion of other users included anglers, hunters and horseback riders,
Missoula Ranger District resources staff officer Andy Kulla noted a decrease in large groups (groups of over ten people) in the NRA compared to 2008. District officials attribute the group size decrease to the implementation and enforcement of a Special Order that limits group size to ten people, the standard set in the management plan. The Special Order was intended to help the Forest Service manage user congestion and conflicts, especially along the heavily used ”South Zone”, the part of the NRA within three miles of the main trailhead.
Also in the NRA: no bear-human conflicts were reported, and there were no reports of bears raiding human food sources. The biggest threats to the recreation quality in the NRA according to Kulla, are noxious weeds, non-system trail development, transient camps in the south zone, and large mountain bike groups.
The 2009 report indicates a slight decrease in visitor use of the Rattlesnake Wilderness and a decrease in hunter impacts from the three year old early elk hunt compared to past years. The reduced hunter impacts are attributed to increased hunter education efforts conducted by the district and Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks employees, as well as more hunters going to the wilderness boundary on mountain bikes instead of riding in on horses, according to Kulla.
The Forest Service continued its Leave No Trace educations program and did 34 presentations to 795 people.
In the Rattlesnake Wilderness Area:
The majority of the visitors were from the Missoula area (92%) and most were hikers (73%); the next most common user group were horseback riders (14%)
Three mountain bikers were ticketed for riding in the wilderness (which is prohibited)
The district completed maintenance on the entire trail system -- 49.9 miles, and also did extensive water-bar work throughout the Wrangle/Lake Creek Loop.
The Forest Service monitored and maintained the obliteration of the Porcupine Creek user-created trail
Worked with Mountain Water Company on dam maintenance and repair projects
Updated the Wilderness weed map and found that weed treatments have been effective in reducing weeds in the wilderness
Kulla noted that noxious weeds, early elk hunter impacts, and low flying aircraft were the biggest threats to the Rattlesnake Wilderness Area in 2009.
###
The Missoula Ranger District has just finished the 17th annual Rattlesnake National Recreation Area and Wilderness monitoring report for 2009. This report is sometimes referred to as the “State of the Rattlesnake” report. The Rattlesnake includes the only congressionally designated National Recreation Area in Forest Service Region One and is a place near and dear to the hearts of many Missoulians. The report assesses current recreation trends, needs, and impacts, and also serves as a tool for long-term management of the area.
The Limits of Acceptable Change based Management Direction was approved in 1992 and is a part of the Lolo National Forest Land Management Plan.
In 2009, the Missoula Ranger District did:
* 81.6 miles of trail maintenance and drainage improvements
* 2.7 miles of trail construction/relocation
* 700 feet of user-created trail obliteration
In 2009, law enforcement violations in the National Recreation Area (NRA) were mostly for dogs off-leash, illegal dumping, vandalism, illegal shooting, fires where they are prohibited and parking outside designated areas. But there were also benefits associated with increased law enforcement patrols and contacts. For example, incidents of unauthorized transient camping, which have been a problem in the past, were down from 2008.
In 2009, visitor use in the lower National Recreation Area (NRA) within three miles of the main trailhead was:
* 54% day hikers and runners,
* 29% mountain bikers
* 17% cross country skiers
In the NRA in the spring, summer and fall, use was
* 47% hikers and runners
* 38% mountain bikers and
a smaller proportion of other users included anglers, hunters and horseback riders,
Missoula Ranger District resources staff officer Andy Kulla noted a decrease in large groups (groups of over ten people) in the NRA compared to 2008. District officials attribute the group size decrease to the implementation and enforcement of a Special Order that limits group size to ten people, the standard set in the management plan. The Special Order was intended to help the Forest Service manage user congestion and conflicts, especially along the heavily used ”South Zone”, the part of the NRA within three miles of the main trailhead.
Also in the NRA: no bear-human conflicts were reported, and there were no reports of bears raiding human food sources. The biggest threats to the recreation quality in the NRA according to Kulla, are noxious weeds, non-system trail development, transient camps in the south zone, and large mountain bike groups.
The 2009 report indicates a slight decrease in visitor use of the Rattlesnake Wilderness and a decrease in hunter impacts from the three year old early elk hunt compared to past years. The reduced hunter impacts are attributed to increased hunter education efforts conducted by the district and Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks employees, as well as more hunters going to the wilderness boundary on mountain bikes instead of riding in on horses, according to Kulla.
The Forest Service continued its Leave No Trace educations program and did 34 presentations to 795 people.
In the Rattlesnake Wilderness Area:
The majority of the visitors were from the Missoula area (92%) and most were hikers (73%); the next most common user group were horseback riders (14%)
Three mountain bikers were ticketed for riding in the wilderness (which is prohibited)
The district completed maintenance on the entire trail system -- 49.9 miles, and also did extensive water-bar work throughout the Wrangle/Lake Creek Loop.
The Forest Service monitored and maintained the obliteration of the Porcupine Creek user-created trail
Worked with Mountain Water Company on dam maintenance and repair projects
Updated the Wilderness weed map and found that weed treatments have been effective in reducing weeds in the wilderness
Kulla noted that noxious weeds, early elk hunter impacts, and low flying aircraft were the biggest threats to the Rattlesnake Wilderness Area in 2009.
###