For 10 years the U.S. Forest Service has been working to reestablish a snowmobile trail between McFarland and South Fowl lakes in the remote Hovland area. In March, another step was taken in the decade-long environmental and legal process surrounding the 2.2-mile trail reroute. The decision of whether or not the South Fowl snowmobile access should be constructed now rests in the court of U.S. District Judge John R. Tunheim.
On March 7, 2013, U.S. Forest Service Gunflint District Ranger Nancy Larson and her staff wrapped up the analysis regarding the possible impact of the sound of snowmobiles adjacent to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW.) The sound analysis had been requested by Judge Tunheim in October 2007.
The issue arrived in Judge Tunheim’s court after the February 2006 decision by then-Gunflint Ranger Dennis Neitzke. The decision to create a new route to replace the trail found to be encroaching on the BWCAW led to a legal appeal by the Isak Walton League, Wilderness Watch, Sierra Club North Star and Northeastern Minnesotans for Wilderness in August 2006. Other entities aligned themselves with the Forest Service—Conservationists with Common Sense, Arrowhead Coalition for Multiple Use, Cook County and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. All filed amicus briefs, supporting Ranger Neitzke’s decision on the trail reroute.
As the Forest Service worked to fulfill the judge’s request for a sound analysis, legal wrangling continued until the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected all other concerns of the Isak Walton League and others in March 2009.
Ranger Neitzke issued a decision on the sound analysis in October 2011. During the Forest Service comment period, an appeal was launched by the Sierra Club Northstar, Wilderness Watch and Northeastern Minnesotans for Wilderness, citing flaws in the sound study data collection.
In February 2012 the U.S. Forest Service requested assistance on the sound analysis from the National Park Service (NPS) Natural Sounds and Night Sky Division, asking them to provide “independent acoustics expertise and validation.”
When Ranger Neitzke left the Gunflint District in August 2012, he told the Cook County News-Herald the study was nearly complete. “Once the sound EIS is done, we have to figure out the legal side,” said Neitzke, stating that he had been working with the U.S. Attorney’s office, which serves as legal representation for the Forest Service, to determine the next steps.
Ranger Larson finished compiling the information. In her supplemental information report, Larson compared the NPS analysis to the earlier study, the Final Environmental Impact Study (FEIS), conducted under the watch of Ranger Neitzke. Larson wrote, “We have used the data provided by the NPS; the new information provided greater precision to the sound analysis but did not change any basic conclusions or central relationships of the analysis presented in the South Fowl FEIS.”
Ranger Larson concluded her report by stating, “Based on the Findings in this Supplemental Information Report, I have determined that the new information provided by the National Park Service to implement the Forest Supervisor’s instructions does not warrant a correction, supplement or revision of the EIS. The existing South Fowl Final Environmental Impact Statement is adequate to support the original decision documented in the South Fowl Snowmobile Access Project Record of Decision; therefore, a new decision is not necessary and the project activities may be implemented, pending further proceedings with the Minnesota District Court.”
The data was submitted to Judge Tunheim on March 12, 2013 by B. Todd Jones of the U.S. Department of Justice.
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