New Wilderness Areas 

The Kootenai and Flathead National Forests have recommended adjoining lands for wilderness in the Ten Lakes/North Fork of the Flathead area east of Eureka.

The new wilderness will take in about 90% of Montana Wilderness Association's proposed Winton Wedemeyer Wilderness.  (See MWA map.)  Recommended wilderness must be managed to protect the wilderness values - in other words it will be managed just like congressionally designated wilderness.  

A unique feature of this wilderness will be its close proximity to open roads, an international boundary and private property.  There will be no way for FS to control access like they can with other wilderness areas.  The open road corridors in the vicinity of this wilderness include the Grave Cr., Trail Cr., Frozen Lake,  Red Meadow, Whale Cr., Marston Lookout, and Deep Cr. roads.  These corridors divide both halves of the wilderness into two parts.  

After considerable public resistance against the new wilderness, the Kootenai withdrew its recommendation and placed these lands into a new category they call "wildlands" - which is wilderness by another name.

Snowmobiling and OHV use are currently banned on the Flathead side but some snowmobiling is allowed on the Kootenai portion.