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Forest Service bows to Bush Administration and backslides on Emigrant Wilderness dams

The Stanislaus Forest, under political pressure from the Bush Administration, has recently decided to re-open the issue of whether or not to allow human-made checkdams in the Emigrant Wilderness to deteriorate and to eventually disappear, or to artificially maintain them.

What is at stake is not only the integrity of the native aquatic ecosystem impacted by these checkdams but also whether development projects should be allowed and tolerated inside designated wilderness. By allowing these structures to be "reconstructed" the Forest Service is saying that wilderness will be managed by special interest groups, not according to the intent of the Wilderness Act.

Background

At present there are 18 man-made dam structures at lakes and meadows within the officially designated Emigrant Wilderness. They were built before the area was given wilderness designation, and Congress did not specify that the checkdams were either to be maintained or removed.

As part of the creation of the Emigrant Wilderness Management Plan in 1998, the Stanislaus National Forest made an official decision to allow 10 of the 18 dams to deteriorate and to allow maintenance on 8 dams for historic reasons.

Now, in another environmental rollback, the Bush Administration is pressuring the Stanislaus National Forest to propose the maintenance of 12 (not 8) of the 18 dams, and to actually completely re-build Leighton Lake and Cow Meadow Lake dams, to replace structural valves and conduit sleeves and other equipment at other dams, and to generally do everything they can to make sure that these artificial developments are permanently maintained in the midst of an designated wilderness.

It is outrageous that the Forest Service would undertake efforts to re-build, re-vamp, and maintain 12 artificial dams in the midst of a legally designated wilderness area, especially because the majority of the checkdams have only one purpose- to marginally enhance the trout fishing by ensuring that the lakes stay a little fuller for a little longer into the summer season. This alters natural flow regimes and causes imperiled amphibians such as the Yosemite toad and mountain yellow-Legged frog to suffer so that non-native fish populations are kept at high levels. None of the affected lakes had any fish naturally; they have been stocked with various species of trout that feed on the amphibians and other native species.

Long Lake, Lower Buck Lake, High Emigrant Lake, Emigrant Meadow Lake, Middle Emigrant Lake, Cow Meadow Lake, and Snow Lake are all identified as having value for one or both of the sensitive amphibian species. Huckleberry and Bigelow Lakes also have potential to be used as habitat by the Yosemite toad and mountain yellow-legged frog. Allowing the continued maintenance of these dams for the purposes of aiding a non-native fish while ignoring the needs of imperiled native amphibians is just plain wrong.

Y-Meadow dam in particular is a huge eyesore. It is a huge artificial structure with a dam 25-30 ft. high that flooded a wet meadow and ponds that originally were the largest wetland meadow in that part of the Emigrant Wilderness. That dam is on one of the tributary streams that is part of the headwaters to the Clavey River. In 1998, the Forest Service was going to let Y-Meadow dam deteriorate in order to be consistent with managing the Clavey River as wild and scenic. Now, the Bush Administration is causing the Forest Service to propose maintaining this completely obnoxious dam, along with the other 11 structures.

What you can do:

Write a letter to by March 3, 2003 to:

Stanislaus National Forest
ATTN: Emigrant Dams
19777 Greenly Road
Sonora, CA 95370

Points to make in your letter:

• 1) Tell the Forest Service that you oppose the reconstruction and maintenance of dams in the officially designated Emigrant Wilderness.
• 2) If any dams are to be maintained the Forest Service should at the very most, follow the compromise agreement from 1998, not reverse that decision and allow more dams to be permanently maintained. Any attempt by the Forest Service to backstep from the 1998 compromise must be accompanied by a sound rationale as to why the previous final decision was inappropriate.
• 3) In order to adequately protect and restore the dwindling populations of the Yosemite toad and mountain yellow-legged frog, the Forest Service must not allow these dams to be operational. These native amphibians are eaten by the very fish that are being protected by the continued existence of these dams. These fish were all introduced to the Sierra and their value should not trump that of native amphibians.
• 4) The "Y" meadow dam in particular is not only an eyesore in the middle of a wilderness area, but also negatively impacts many species of wildlife residing in the area.
• 5) Any dam kept operational for historic reasons must be shown to be more important than having a properly functioning wilderness environment and experience.