Camp gets access for wilderness run.

Byline: SCOTT MABEN The Register-Guard

CORRECTION (ran 7/16/02): Contrary to a report in Saturday's newspaper, the Oregon chapter of the Sierra Club has not taken a position opposing the Steens Mountain Running Camp's use of the Steens Wilderness Area in Southeastern Oregon. Some individual Sierra Club members oppose it, and some support it.

High-school distance runners attending a camp in Southeastern Oregon later this month will be permitted to run through the Steens Mountain Wilderness Area over the objections of some who insist that it violates the letter and spirit of wilderness law.

The Eugene-based Steens Mountain Running Camp, which expects 285 students between July 21 and Aug. 3, is free to conduct its "Big Day" treks through the Big Indian and Little Blitzen gorges under an existing special-use permit, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management said.

But the BLM has yet to decide whether the camp's excursions in the 18-month-old wilderness area will continue after this year. The agency's Burns District office is finishing a six-month environmental review to determine the effects several hundred runners have on wilderness and the wilderness experience.

"We don't know what the long-term decision will be," said Mark Sherbourne, the BLM's district supervisor for recreation and wilderness.

The 27-year-old commercial running camp has staged runs in the gorges for years without opposition. But now those areas are in the Steens wilderness, established by Congress in 2000, and some say the daylong runs violate wilderness laws and regulations.

Allowing such large groups to run through the canyons is inconsistent with wilderness values, such as the protection of solitude, and makes an ill-advised exception for a commercial venture, argues the Oregon chapter of the Sierra Club and Wilderness Watch, a national conservation group based in Missoula, Mont., that focuses on wilderness management issues.

"I don't have anything against the running camp, and we totally support its continued use of public land - outside of the wilderness - with a valid special-use permit from the BLM and valid analysis," said Tina Marie Ekker, policy coordinator for Wilderness Watch.

The group proposed a three-year phaseout of the camp's wilderness activities, but camp directors have rejected that as unacceptable.

"The camp is just stubbornly refusing to consider any other routes," Ekker said.

Camp directors counter that the Big Day - one is held during each of the two weeklong camps - poses no threat to the environment. The route is marked to limit the impact, and the students are instructed to leave no trace. The event also is held between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. on a weekday, when few if any other wilderness visitors encounter the runners, organizers say.

The trek through the gorges also is an integral part of the natural experience the camp tries to give students, founder and director Harland Yriarte said.

The program has a heavy emphasis on learning to appreciate the stunning high desert scenery, the wildlife and the solitude of the fault-block mountain 65 miles south of Burns, said Yriarte, athletic director at Lane Community College.

Former camp participants and their parents as well as camp volunteers and some of the key players in crafting the Steens wilderness legislation have rallied around the running program in recent months. Some have criticized Wilderness Watch for taking on an issue that would seem to pale in comparison to concerns about mining, livestock grazing and all-terrain vehicle use on other public lands.

Oregon 2nd District Rep. Greg Walden led a field hearing on Steens issues last month in Frenchglen, near the base of the mountain. Although the bill creating the Steens wilderness doesn't specifically name the running camp, Walden said, the intent of the legislation was to allow the camp to continue its historic use of the gorges.

Other bills establishing wilderness have given specific consideration to historic activities. It's unclear how the legislative intent cited by Walden might influence the BLM's decision on the running camp's permit.

"I think they thought they had it covered, but it just ended up being too vague," the BLM's Sherbourne said.

To rectify that, Walden might introduce a bill amending the Steens act to list the camp as an allowed use.

But camp supporters are first waiting for the BLM's decision, which likely will be appealed by whichever side disagrees with it.

Meanwhile, final preparations for this year's camps are in full swing. Yriarte will meet with BLM officials next week to review the route for the Big Day runs, set for July 23 and 30.

The points where runners will enter and exit the gorges need to be carefully marked to protect some sensitive plants, Sherbourne said. Laying out a route where the runners won't contribute significantly to soil erosion also is important, he said, adding, "I think it will be fairly close to where the routes have been in the past."

Yriarte said the camp will go on this year as planned unless someone seeks a court injunction to stop the wilderness runs.

Asked if Wilderness Watch is considering such a move, Ekker responded, "That's certainly a possibility that's open," then added, "I'm not really free to make public statements about that."

The BLM plans to release its environmental assessment at the end of the month. After a 30-day public comment period, it will issue a decision on the camp's special-use permit in mid-September, Sherbourne said.

The BLM also is working on a wilderness management plan for the Steens, due by October 2004, he said.

"That will set the long-term direction with how we manage this wilderness area and whether events like this will be allowed," he said.