BOZEMAN, Mont. (AP) – A National Forest official says the agency is imposing new restrictions on snowmobiles in a wilderness area south of Bozeman in response to a recent ruling from a federal judge.
Gallatin Forest Supervisor Mary Erickson says snowmobile use in the Hyalite-Porcupine-Buffalo Horn Wilderness Study Area will be limited to just two areas.
Those are the Big Sky Snowmobile Trail and a “play area” for cross country snowmobile travel near Golden Trout Lakes.The machines will be allowed from Dec. 2 through April 15. A 2006 travel plan from the Forest Service had opened new portions of the 18,000-acre wilderness area to snowmobile use. In September, U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy in Missoula ruled that the expansions were contrary to the 1977 law that created the wilderness area.
