From the Thursday, June 16, 2005 online edition of the Whitefish Pilot . . .
Two chunks of mountainous land have been recommended for proposed wilderness designation in the Flathead National Forest's proposed Forest Plan.
Located near the Canada border on the east side of the Whitefish Divide, the Tuchuck and Thompson-Seton roadless areas lie within the 171,100-acre Winton Weydemeyer Wilderness proposed by the Montana Wilderness Association.
The Forest's recommendation was announced Monday during an open house introducing the new Forest Plan. Hungry Horse/Glacier View ranger Jimmy DeHerrera said the recommendation reflects a snowmobile-use agreement that emerged out of a lawsuit MWA brought against the Forest.
The wilderness recommendation in the Forest Plan does not include non-conforming uses, such as Forest Service roads that access the upper reaches of Trail Creek or the Tuchuck Campground. DeHerrera said the Forest Plan could be completed by December 2006.
Portions of the proposed wilderness area lay within the Kootenai National Forest. Fortine Ranger District ranger Betty Holder said the Kootenai's plan is on a similar time schedule as the Flathead's. She said their Forest Plan will be first presented to the public at an open house in the Lincoln Electric Cooperative's meeting room in Eureka on July 7 at 6:30 p.m.
Ultimately, Congress must decide on wilderness designation, and an unwritten agreement calls for unanimous support by each state's Congressional delegation before Congress will create a new wilderness area in that state.
Read the entire article . . .
(Note that the full article includes a map and a nice capsule bio of Winton Weydemeyer.)