Local Area
Activism
of the Lochsa Backcountry
Giving Back
We are very blessed to have this phenomenal country we play in. We want to always give back to it where we can. These public lands need our time and assistance. Agencies who traditionally maintained and supported these lands have seen considerable funding cuts.
Great Burn Update 2025
The recent forest management decisions regarding the Great Burn area have raised serious concerns within the snowmobiling and larger motorized/wheeled recreational community. While conservation groups advocate for increased wilderness protections, the latest Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest plan, finalized in January 2025, designates only 108,276 acres as recommended wilderness—opening over 40,000 acres to continued snowmobiling and other recreational activities which Team Lochsa has been very involved in securing over the 8 year process.
Some fear that this decision, while preserving some access, sets a precedent for further restrictions in the future. The Great Burn has long been a premier destination for backcountry riding, offering deep snow, challenging terrain, and a rare sense of freedom in the mountains. With the growing push for stricter wilderness designations, riders worry that future policies will eliminate more of these opportunities, despite their efforts to practice responsible recreation. Here at Team Lochsa, we are just very excited that our voices were heard and the various agencies involved worked with us to find a common ground and keep areas like Williams Lake and Hoodoo accessible for motorized over-snow use.
Unlike some conservation groups, who view snowmobiles as a disturbance to wildlife, riders see themselves as stewards of the land, contributing to local economies and respecting seasonal closures. It is our goal at Team Lochsa to continue to grow the steward-first culture and push motorized users to take part in uplifting the conservation efforts in place, as well as help where we can to improve the areas we recreate for all recreators, and inhabitants.
As land management decisions evolve, motorized use advocates continue to push for a balanced approach—one that protects the environment while preserving access to public lands for responsible motorized recreation.
Search and Rescue
If you are lost in the Lochsa country or need help, it will probably be members of Team Lochsa coming to your rescue. While we try to support all public needs in the region our priority is our members. Many on the team are highly trained to get in and out of tough situations and they know the Lochsa country well. In addition, some of the members are EMTs and/or highly trained medical professionals. Our close relationship with the local county, state and federal agencies provides us with unique abilities to quickly address emergency or difficult situations.
Fighting Back
Giving back to the land is our mission… fighting to keep public lands accessible is sometimes our cause. Unfortunately, there are wealthy groups out there who try their best to restrict public land use. Many want to blame the U.S.F.S. or other agencies in charge, but we actually find it is less often the agencies and more often private interest groups lobbying in Washington D.C. WE are NOT that kind of a special interest group. Rather, Team Lochsa is dedicated to working with federal, state, and local organizations to find ways to improve access and opportunity in our substantial and beautiful public lands. We look to provide facts and offer a strong, substantive argument for keeping lands open. Often times that includes compromise. Sometimes it means holding our ground.
There are closure scenarios in almost all of the extreme mountain sports from skiing, bicycling, whitewater to motorsports. Here is an example of Team Lochsa’s position as it relates to snowmobiles in the high country.
- The sport of “Hill Climb” snowmobiling is at an all-time high in popularity and growing exponentially each year.
- The technology used in this sport has improved considerably over the years so that the sport is being adopted by women, men, and children of all ages and with a variety of skill levels.
- The popularity of this snow sport, the improvements in technology and emissions, local businesses that are partially dependent on the continuance of this sport, did not exist when early, “proposed wilderness” decisions were made.
- It should be the responsibility of the governing agencies to reevaluate the new and actual growing public use of these lands and weigh decisions on the impact closure will have on the sport, the public affected, the local businesses and the economy affected.
- Many lands proposed for closure in the past years are some of the few areas left in the United States that this sport can thrive.
- There is no known animal impact in these deep snow regions due to incredibly high snowpacks where this sport takes place (12 to 20 feet+).
- There is no proven negative impact to watershed, ground, or forests from snowmobile hill climb sporting due to the high depth of snow in these regions. Often tacks blow away the same day.
- Other snow users (skiers/snow showers, etc.) are not bothered in these regions by snowmobiles. These regions are too far away for other use unless brought in by snowmobiles.
- Organized sledding clubs like Team Lochsa and Sled Patriots, (the biggest users of those lands during the high winter season) are stewards of the land, donating money and their time to agencies, (all seasons). We do backcountry road and trail clearance, facility restoration, forest clean-up, campground openings/ maintenance, search and rescue, firefighting, and other volunteer assistance as part of our “Giving Back” motto and commitment. We are environmentalists as much as any other group might claim.
The Lochsa drainage situated in the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest and butting up to the Lolo Nation Forest is headquarters for our Club. Team Lochsa has been and will continue to be very active with the collaboratives being led by the USFS as it relates to the future state of our wonderful public lands and forests. We are very pleased with how the agency has reached out to the community and given hours of their time to understand the evolution of public land uses. A big thank you to those in the Clearwater-Nez Perce National Forest who lead those initiatives.
To learn more or be a part of this mission reach out to us at teamlochsa@msn.com and/or donate to our 501 C3 non-profit and join us!