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Promoting opportunities for quality, human-powered winter recreation and protecting winter wildlands Supreme Court Rejects Challenge of Sequoia NM A Win For Human-Powered Recreation and the Environment The Supreme Court refused to hear a challenge to the creation Change Needed in OHV of national monuments in five Western states in the waning days of the Clinton administration. Sequoia National Monu- Grant Process ment was one of these. Winter Enforcement Gets Short End As a result, snowmobile use within Sequoia National The October 2, 2003 meeting of the California Off-Highway Monument will be limited to existing roads. Snowlands Motor Vehicle Recreation (OHMVR) Commission left the Network knows that continued vigilance will be necessary to public working on winter issues dumbfounded. The meeting, ensure that this requirement is followed. where grants for 2003-04 summer and winter OHV recreation The Antiquities Act gives presidents the power to protect were approved, was a huge change from past meetings with land threatened by development. It was first used by nearly all grants on the consent calendar. One could request Theodore Roosevelt to establish Devil’s Tower National that a grant be removed from the consent calendar, but that Monument in Wyoming. Since then, every president except made little difference because there was no provision in the Reagan and the two Bushes have used the Act to create or process or budget for shifting allocations. Continued on page 3 Marcus Libkind of Snowlands Network attended the meeting and was shocked at what had gone on behind closed doors. “On the summer side, one [OHMVR] Commissioner met Is This Your Last Issue with two members of the OHV community and one from the of the Snowlands Bulletin? environmental community. They divided the money between winter and summer grants, and then allocated the summer If the mailing label on this issue is marked “complimentary,” funds to specific grants. The allocation of the money for this is your last regularly mailed copy of the Snowlands winter grants was solely determined by the [OHMVR Divi- Bulletin. sion] staff.” But Marcus says, “What ticked me off most was The cost of printing and mailing the Bulletin does not that this whole process was made public the morning of the permit us to indefinitely mail copies to nonmembers of Commission meeting. We had no time to prepare.” Snowlands Network. Therefore, this is the last complimentary Although many of the winter grants were taken off the issue nonmembers will receive. consent calendar and discussed by the Commission with the We urge you to become a member and support the critical public given opportunity to comment, the process was work we are doing. Snowlands is the voice of the human- fruitless. It was impossible to increase funding in any area powered winter recreation community. Membership gives you: because all the money had already been allocated. Because • Peace-of-mind that someone is representing your each grant was considered individually it could not be interests increased because there was no process to simultaneously • Benefits of an organization networking with state and consider decreasing a different grant. national environmental organizations Libkind spoke repeatedly about the lack of funds for • Regular updates on issues through the Snowlands enforcement with little effect. OHMVR Division staff said that Bulletin and e-mail alerts some carry-over from the previous year could be made Please fill out and return the membership form on page 11 Continued on page 9 or become a member on-line at www.snowlands.org. December 2003 Lake Tahoe Community College Offers Great Opportunities Classes Open to Everyone Wilderness Studies Department The website for the Wilderness Studies Program is Wilderness Studies at Lake Tahoe Community College (LTCC) www.ltcc.cc.ca.us/special_programs/wilderness/index.htm. blends outdoor adventure with the disciplines of college Tahoe Adventure Club education. The philosophy of the program is that academic The Tahoe Adventure Club (TAC) has its home base in the training is far more effective when combined with experiences Wilderness Studies Department of LTCC. The Club is dedi- which help you grow physically and personally. cated to the pursuit of wilderness activities for the benefit of Wilderness Studies classes at LTCC teach you how to all people. It has a special interest in and focus on backpack- enjoy the wilderness, adapt to different conditions and at the ing, rock climbing, whitewater rafting and kayaking, back- same time care for the fragile environment. Classes are offered country skiing and snowboarding, and mountaineering. TAC in fall, winter, spring, and summer. Each session offers seeks to promote these areas of interest, to encourage detailed in-depth study of wilderness skills and techniques, students to expand their education with outdoor adventures, leadership skills, wilderness first aid, environmental aware- and to unite those adventuring spirits. ness, and recreation opportunities. The winter 2004 class schedule will be available on Wilderness Studies Coordinator November 24, 2003 and class registration begins December 8, Rosie Werner is the Wilderness Studies Coordinator at 2003. You do not have to be a resident to take advantage of LTCC. She is responsible for the Wilderness Studies Depart- these classes. Like all community college courses, the cost for ment and is working to create an AA degree in wilderness these courses is a bargain. The hitch is that some require studies. Her contact information is: midweek attendance and some are multi-week courses. But Rosie Werner some are limited to a Friday class lecture and weekend of Wilderness Studies Coordinator outdoor training. For those with flexibility in their schedule, [email protected] these courses are a great deal. Read on for more information (530) 541-4660 ext. 463 including a list of classes. Winter 2003-04 Classes The following classes will be offered this winter. Look for The mission of Snowlands Network is to promote them in the Physical Education Department. opportunities for quality human-powered winter recreation and to protect winter wildlands. We will educate the public • Cross-Country Skiing and government agencies about winter recreation and • Backcountry Skiing environmental issues. • Telemark Skiing Board of Directors • Snowshoeing Marcus Libkind President • Winter Survival Jim Gibson Secretary • Avalanche Avoidance and Rescue Charles White Treasurer • Avalanche Forecasting Symposium Gail Ferrell Bill Flower • Level II Avalanche Janet Hoffmann • Land Navigation Regional Coordinator • Map and Compass Gail Ferrell Lake Tahoe • Mountaineering Editor Lake Tahoe Community College Marcus Libkind One College Drive Snowlands Network South Lake Tahoe, CA 96150 P.O. Box 230, Livermore, CA 94551 530-541-4660 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.ltcc.cc.ca.us Website: www.snowlands.org © 2003 Snowlands Network All Rights Reserved 2 • Snowlands Bulletin • December 2003 Switzerland Faces Same Issues Whoever imagines Switzerland as a quiet country with over to Switzerland. Snowmobiling is permitted for leisure use peaceful alpine valleys where backcountry skiing and in France and Italy, but not so in Switzerland, Austria and snowboarding is undisturbed is only partly right. If you know Germany. where to go, you will find a splendid untracked landscape Austria and Germany are very strict about enforcing their with powder or corn all winter long. Steep peaks as high as bans on snowmobiling, so they avoid conflicts between 15,000 feet and wide open valleys are perfect terrain for snowmobiling and non-motorized backcountry uses. Not so in snowsport enthusiasts. In Switzerland all the huts owned by some of the Swiss cantons. The Ticino region is the snowmo- the Swiss Alpine Club (SAC) have small winter rooms that are bile mecca of Switzerland with regular use for fun and leisure. open for everybody and make perfect base camps for back- Simone Sprunck, MW board member explains: “In the 2002-03 country trips. But skiers and snowboarders better choose winter we watched the practice of snowmobiles high-marking their targets well if they want to find a peaceful and quiet steep slopes in the premier ski touring area west of Lucomagno surrounding. Pass for the first time. It was amazing how half a dozen snow- Heli-skiing: an old conflict mobiles tracked the valley in only a few minutes. The slopes would have had enough potential for fresh ski and snowboard The Alps are a relatively small mountain range, 600 miles tracks for many weeks. After the snowmobiles had passed, all long and 120 miles wide. Fifteen percent of the alpine territory the good slopes were groomed.” Stephan Harvey, mountain is in Switzerland. With more than seven million inhabitants and ski touring guide from the Swiss Federal Institute for Snow Switzerland is densely populated. A short look at the statis- and Avalanche Research (SLF) in Davos, is aware of the tics shows its potential for tourism – more than 1700 lifts and forthcoming problems with snowmobiles and avalanche hazard. cable cars and 52 million overnight stays per year. Because of Up to now there have been no deadly avalanche accidents with global warming, many ski areas below 5000 feet don’t receive snowmobiles reported in Switzerland. enough snowfall any more and are building new chairlifts and cable cars to reach higher altitudes. Mountain Wilderness: the attorney But the backcountry of the Swiss Alps is not only endan- of the alpine backcountry gered by ski areas, urbanization, traffic and hydroelectric Since 1994 MW Switzerland, a group of backcountry power stations. Despite the limited space, heli-skiing is skiers, snowboarders and climbers, have fought for the allowed in Switzerland, while it is prohibited in most of the preservation of the mountain environment. MW Switzerland is other alpine countries including France, Austria, Germany and part of the network of MW International with eight national parts of Italy. In the Swiss Alps there are 42 officially permit- divisions.

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