Forest Service Releases Draft Plan for Custer Gallatin National Forest

Fairy Lake in the Bridger Recreation Emphasis Area

Adapted with permission from Winter Wildlands Alliance

 A plan to guide management of the nearly two million-acre Custer Gallatin National Forest in Montana was published on July 9th. The Custer Gallatin stretches from the northwest edge of Yellowstone National Park into South Dakota, encompasses nine different mountain ranges – including the highest peaks in Montana – and is home to backcountry skiing, ice climbing, paddling, mountain biking, camping, hiking, and climbing. Outdoor Alliance and our partners have been deeply involved with the new plan to manage the forest.

 The new plan recommends Wilderness protections for the Gallatin Range, Crazy, and Pryor Mountains as well as management prescriptions that protect undeveloped areas while allowing uses like mountain biking to continue within them. The plan also provides tools to promote and sustainably manage recreation across the forest, including in the Bridger Range and Hyalite Canyon near Bozeman, and popular winter destinations near Yellowstone National Park. And, the plan includes special protections for Wild and Scenic-eligible rivers and streams that are of particular importance for paddlers, such Big Timber Creek, Rock Creek, and the Boulder, Stillwater, Gallatin, Madison, and Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone Rivers.

 Now, we have an opportunity to review the plan and let the Forest Service know what needs to be improved. If you’ve previously commented on the plan you have until September 8 to submit an objection (you can search for your comment on the Custer Gallatin here!). The objection process is the public’s last chance to influence the Forest Plan.

There’s a lot in this plan. Here are some of our reflections on the current proposal:

 Gallatin and Madison Ranges

The forest plan includes a new Gallatin Crest Recommended Wilderness Area stretching from Yellowstone National Park to Hyalite Peak. It also includes a new Sawtooth Mountain Recommended Wilderness Area, adjacent to Yellowstone. This is the first time the Forest Service has recommended any portion of the Hyalite-Buffalo Horn-Porcupine Wilderness Study Area for Wilderness.

In addition, the forest plan also uses a conservation tool called a Backcountry Management Area that protects land from development but keeps it open to existing recreation uses, including mountain biking. The draft plan includes two Backcountry Management Areas in the Gallatin Range – Buffalo Horn and West Pine. Both of these areas are highly valued by mountain bikers in southwest Montana and preserving this access is an important win for bikers. 

The new plan also creates a new Hyalite Recreation Emphasis Area, which will help to manage the extensive year-round recreation use in Hyalite Canyon. We’re excited to see that this Recreation Emphasis Area ensures the Forest Service will continue to work with partners to plow Hyalite for winter access (essential for ice climbing!), and that they’re committed to keeping the high peaks of Hyalite free of trails or other development (at the request of backcountry skiers and hikers) while increasing recreation infrastructure in the lower parts of the canyon. However, our recommendation was for a much larger Recreation Emphasis Area and we’re concerned that the two adjacent drainages - which are extremely popular with cross-country skiers, snowshoers, mountain bikers, and trail runners – have been left out to dry. We’d like to see the Recreation Emphasis Area expanded to include South Cottonwood and Bozeman Creek.

Bridger Mountains

The new plan designates a Bridger Recreation Emphasis Area on the east side of the Bridger Range, as Outdoor Alliance recommended. This will help improve opportunities for mountain biking, skiing, hiking, rock climbing, and camping in this area.

Lionhead

The new plan changes the Lionhead from a Recommended Wilderness area to a Backcountry Area, ensuring mountain bikers will continue to have access to this priority area.

Crazy Mountains

The new Plan brings significant conservation gains to the Crazy Mountains. For the first time ever, the Forest Service is recommending Wilderness in the Crazies, accompanied by a large Backcountry Area that will be closed to motorized recreation, logging, road building, and other forms of development. Mountain biking is allowed in the Backcountry Area. Big Timber Creek – a major paddling destination in the Crazies – is also protected in the new plan, by being listed as a Wild and Scenic-eligible river. 

The plan also designates an Area of Tribal Interest in the Crazy Mountains—the first time we’ve seen this designation in a Forest Plan—to recognize the traditional and ongoing cultural significance these mountains hold for the Apsáalooke (Crow). We’re glad to see the Forest Service committing to work more closely with the Crow Tribe and to honor treaty obligations.

Absaroka-Beartooth

While much of the Absaroka-Beartooth Mountains are designated Wilderness, there is a lot at stake with the unprotected lands on the edges of the Wilderness. The new plan fails to recommend Emigrant Peak and Dome Mountain for Wilderness. These are the only major massifs in the range without Wilderness protections. The plan removes protections for several small areas adjacent to the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness that are currently recommended for Wilderness, including Republic Mountain. These places are particularly important for backcountry skiers, and we’d asked that they be recommended for Wilderness in the new plan.

Next Steps
Outdoor Alliance and our partners will be sending feedback to the Forest Service about what works and what we’d like to see improved in the current plan, and we are hopeful we can help the Forest Service get it right.