Pogo may have been right back in the ‗60s when he said,‖ We
have met the enemy, and he is
us.‖ The issue, again, is the use
of Vines, Dewey Moore, Simonds
and Mile Hi airstrips, known
collectively as the Big Creek 4.
One can argue that the Big
Creek 4 are just airstrips and
should be as open to use as any
of the other strips that were in existence when the Central
Idaho Wilderness Act was signed in 1980, but the Forest
Service Resource Management Plan skirted the issue in
2003 by declaring them ―for emergency use only‖. The
Idaho Division of Aeronautics and the Idaho Aviation
Association protested that status and a verbal agreement
was made to keep the strips open for ―sporadic‖ use and
minimum maintenance until a new plan or addendum could
be written, processed and approved.
The point is, the Big Creek 4 are not the same as all the
other strips in the backcountry. Recent increased usage,
including by large gatherings, many documented on
YouTube, have highlighted the Big Creek 4 to the Forest
Service and they are concerned that we are not honoring
the agreement. Until there can be a legal challenge to their
status or a new Resource Management Plan can be
written, there are limitations on the use of these strips and
it is our goal, for now, to do what is necessary to maintain
the status allowing sporadic use.
The IAA is not interested in playing the role of policeman
in the backcountry, but we are interested in promoting
safe, ethical, and adventurous flying opportunities. In order
to accomplish those goals in the Big Creek drainage we,
the general aviation public, need to regulate ourselves and
not poke the sleeping dog. We are asking visitors and
locals to be sensitive to the limitations placed on the Big
Creek 4 by limiting operations at those strips to occasional
and necessary use. In particular, please avoid the urge to
have multi-airplane rendezvous at these strips or to have
round robin or multiple landing group activities there. The
allure of challenging our equipment and ourselves is
evident but, as in so many things, moderation is the key.
IAA members, please be the leaders in this effort. Keep
the attraction of the Big Creek 4 available to us all by using
some restraint and complying with the spirit of the verbal
agreement with the Forest Service until a more satisfactory
and lasting solution is reached.
A REMINDER to ALL: Don‘t forget the General
Membership Meeting in Idaho Falls during the Aviation
Trade Show on May 19
th
.
See you there
Jim