Correspondence on Bonneville Unit of Central Utah Project

Page 21

U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service Ashley National Forest Vernal, Utah 7 A/' u 2310 May 30, 1972 Gentlemen: A review of the undeveloped areas on the Ashley National Forest has been completed. As a result of the analysis, including a thorough eval­uation of comments and statements presented at the public meetings and numerous letters, it is our preliminary recommendation that none of the twenty-one areas be studied for wilderness designation. The above decision is based on the suitability and availability of each area plus consideration of resource inventories, uses, and public needs. Remarks on suitability and availability are made on the attached Summary Analysis sheets for each area. 215,216 acres of the 1,376,999 acres of public land within the Ashley National Forest are currently proposed as the High Uintas Wilderness. Of the forty-two comments received by the Ashley on its inventoried un­developed areas, nine specifically recommended designation of additional wilderness. Twenty-tv/o comments wore specifically opposed to additional wilderness on the Ashley and eleven were generally Intermediate in nature, often proposing management alternatives In between wilderness and nfull development55. The present High Uintas Primitive Area includes 162,586 acres of the Ashley National Forest - about \2% of the land area, in calendar year 1971 the Primitive Area received about 8-1/2$ of the total non-boating, non-water sports, recreation use on the Forest. The larger portion of the undeveloped area on the Ashley is not suitable for wilderness designation. It is low and mid-elevation land with scenic beauty, solitude, and recreational opportunity similar to the bulk of otherJand on the Forest. Some of the undeveloped area is unavailable for wilderness designation because it is needed for development, produc­tion, and use of other resources in a manner compatible with multiple use management. Some of the undeveloped area is marginally suitable for wilderness desig­nation, especially lands at higher elevations such as in Areas 12 and 17. However,^we feel those areas can best be managed to meet the needs of many National Forest visitors who seek undeveloped and natural settings which provide relative solitude, physical exertion, and challenge offered by country without roads. Many visitors seeking a recreation experience in back-country also want or do not object to some convenience facili­ties and improvements which are incompatible under Wilderness.