Your email today can help stop motorized dirt bike tours in Krause Basin and other harmful Special Use Permits (SUPs) on the Flathead National Forest!

The Flathead National Forest wants your comments on 19 proposed Special Use Permits. Among them are guided tours on motorized dirt bikes, ATVs and UTVs - including in the wildlife rich Krause Basin enjoyed by walkers and horseback riders!

Please send an email by May 12 to the following addresses:

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Consider making the following points:

1. Object to issuing a permit for guided motorized dirt bike tours, especially in the wildlife rich Krause Basin area. Motorized dirt bikes, let alone dirt bike tours, don’t fit in with Krause Basin’s popularity for walking and horseback riding!

2. Object to all of the permits intended to provide motorized recreation as an end in itself. Intentionally promoting motorized dirt bike, ATV, UTV, and watercraft rentals and tours does not work toward the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Each gallon of gasoline burned puts 20 pounds of CO2 into the atmosphere! And the noise spoils the outdoors for everyone else!

3. Object to the permits intended to promote trail running, bike and foot races - with up to 400 participants and 300 spectators! These displace others from the trails and promote recreation that increases the risk of surprise encounters between people and bears, which have resulted in the deaths of both.

4. Ask that non-motorized bike tours stick to roads open to motorized vehicles and not use roads closed to protect wildlife security.

5. Support the Journey to Wellness and Montana Academy permits for healing hikes in quiet, unhurried nature. These stand in stark contrast to the majority of the 19 SUPs being proposed, which instead spew forth crowds, haste, noise, and exhaust fumes that destroy other peoples’ ability to enjoy their National Forests and the planet.

6. Ask that an Environmental Impact Statement be prepared that looks at the cumulative impacts of the Flathead's SUPs and Rental Cabins expansion program, which are pumping hordes of people into far flung corners of the Forest without adequate concern for fish, wildlife, peace, and quiet.

For more detail on these six points, see our letter here.

Click here for the Flathead's description of the proposed SUPs and their maps.

THANK YOU for taking a few moments to comment on these issues important to the health of people and wildlife!

Swan View Coalition • 3165 Foothill Road Kalispell, MT 59901 • 406-755-1379 • .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)