The Flathead Valley’s Leading Independent Journal of Observation, Analysis, & Opinion

10 June 2010

Oppose the Swan Crest 100 footrace

Northwest from Sixmile Summit

North from the summit of Sixmile Mountain. The Alpine Trail does not traverse the next few miles.

Is competitive recreation compatible with designated or proposed wilderness? That’s the question arising from a proposal for a 100-mile-long footrace — the Swan Crest 100 — along the Swan Range east of Kalispell, beginning at Napa Point and ending at the bottom of Columbia Mountain. The Flathead National Forest is taking comments on the proposal, and needs to hear from you by June 18.

I’m familiar with the area. I’ve hiked every inch of the way from Napa Point (and points south) to Columbia Mountain, a lot of it more than once, including the gap in the Alpine Trail north of Sixmile Mountain. It’s a wonderful place for a hike, but no place for a footrace.

The Swan Crest 100’s organizers, led by Brad Lamson of Whitefish, began working on the project well over a year ago. More than 50 runners have registered and, I believe, have paid their $225 registration. Hammer Nutrition, manufacturer of products such as Montana Huckleberry Hammer Gel, advertised as a high energy food for endurance events athletes, is the major sponsor. If the event is approved, Hammer’s products will be available at the aid stations.

Because the race course will be located on national forest land, a special use permit from the FNF is required. Although the race appears to have been in planning for over a year, and despite having been denied a permit for a shorter race in 2004, Lamson submitted the application for the permit on 11 May 2010, less than three months before the 30–31 July race date. Why so little advance notice was provided is anyone’s guess, but one possibility is an attempt to pressure the Forest Service into erring on the side of approval (“We’ve put a lot of time and money into this. We’re ready to go. If you don’t issue the permit, you’ll be responsible for our losses”).

Updated. After reaching the Sixmile Mountain area, where the Alpine Trail’s southern segment ends, the runners follow roads to and up the Quintontkon drainage. As the race route leaves the end of the Quintonkin Road to climb back up to where the Alpine trail resumes, it enters the southern end of FS recommended wilderness and remains in it as the route heads north on the Alpine trail and then along the Broken Leg trail. It then drops down out of recommended wilderness and circumvents Jewel Basin proper. At that point,the route drops down to the valley floor to keep the race out of Jewel Basin. North of the Jewel, the route returns to the mountains, climbing the trail to Strawberry Lake before heading north and higher, through motorcycle infested areas, to Columbia Mountain.

Staying out of Jewel Basin, long proposed for wilderness by conservationists and even the Forest Service, is good. But conservationists propose wilderness designation for the entire Swan Crest. And therein lies the problem: proposed wilderness is defacto wilderness — and wilderness is no place for competitive recreation, for organized athletic events. As Joseph Sax observed in his classic meditation on wilderness, Mountains Without Handrails, wilderness preserves the opportunity for contemplative recreation, for travel at a primal pace, a walking pace; for travel that gives humankind time to slow down and smell the beargrass, time to ponder the wonders of nature and the mysteries of life.

That’s not the experience that awaits the runners, many of whom will find themselves chugging along at midnight in a semi-trance as they peer into the darkness at 7,000 feet by the feeble beam of a dimming headlamp, hoping not to see the glowing eyes of a hungry grizzly on the prowl for a midnight snack. They’re hellbent on speed, contemptuous of a thoughtful pace. But it’s not a good idea to surprise a grizzly in the daytime, let alone at midnight, which is why the National Park Service advises backcountry visitors not to jog or run trails:

While taking a jog or a run may be good exercise, joggers and runners run the risk of surprising a bear on the trail. Trail running is discouraged as there have been an increasing number of injuries and fatalities due to runners surprising bears at close range. NPS, Glacier NP.

Except for the opportunity to become a grizzly’s meal, running a 100-mile footrace is available in many places — but the opportunity to enjoy the Swan Crest at a primal pace is available only on the Swan Crest. The only reason the Swan Crest has been selected for a footrace is because the organizers seek an exotic locale to discharge their competitive juices.

Updated. If the FNF grants this permit, arguing that a few dozen running shoes won’t visit unmitigatable damage on the trails or displace grizzlies from their habitat, the race will be repeated, and perhaps imitated, and become an established use — an established use that is incompatible with wilderness; an established use that will be cited to oppose wilderness designation. Equally important, if the size of wild country is measured by the pace of the visitor, the area is expanded by a slow pace and shrunk by a fast pace. The Swan View Coalition, always a source of good information, makes these points:

1. Running in grizzly bear habitat, overnight during a 36-hour race, promotes behavior that will contribute to the “increasing number of injuries and fatalities due to runners surprising bears at close range.” (http://www.nps.gov/glac/planyourvisit/bears.htm). Bears are often then killed if they’ve mauled someone.

2. A race through Forest Service Recommended Wilderness near Jewel Basin will frustrate Wilderness designation by Congress. Races aren’t allowed in Wilderness solitude and the Forest Service is required to protect the Wilderness attributes and potential of this Broken Leg Mountain area.

3. The race will cause high-intensity uses of the Napa Point and Alpine 7 trail sections closed a year ago to motorcycles to reduce human impacts and reconnect grizzly bear core security areas fragmented by the trails. This includes the remote Bunker Creek Grizzly Area, where the Forest Plan prohibits the encouragement of human intrusions.

4. The 100-mile race proposal was preceded since 2000 by several shorter, single-day foot and mountain bike races along the southern portion of the Swan Crest. None received environmental review or public disclosure. This 2-day race requires prior preparation of an Environmental Assessment to assess cumulative impacts and the likelihood it will be followed by similar permit requests for bike and motorcycle races.

5. The race should be moved to open Forest Service roads outside grizzly bear security core or trails outside occupied grizzly bear habitat. The Foys to Blacktail Trail or open roads in the Swan Valley both offer stunning views of the Swan and Mission Mountains.

Deny the permit. And let the FNF know, and know pronto, by June 18, that you believe the Swan Crest is not the place for competitive recreation.