The Continental Divide is a special part of the western United States, a place of scenic beauty best enjoyed by traditional recreation activities such as hiking, hunting and horseback riding.

For years, families and outdoor enthusiasts from the Helena area have enjoyed winter skiing and summer hiking the trails at MacDonald Pass, our easiest point of access to the Divide.

But the Continental Divide and MacDonald Pass aren't just important to quiet recreation; they also serve as vital refuges and migration corridors for wildlife. The mile-wide MacDonald Pass area is one of the last best wildlife linkage areas for animals moving between the Rocky Mountain Front and the Elkhorn Mountains and other ranges. Last winter, a tracking study confirmed 17 species using the MacDonald Pass area, including elk, moose and deer as well as Canada lynx, gray wolf, pine marten, mink, and red fox. MacDonald Pass represents what is special about Montana -- the abundant native wildlife that supports our hunting traditions and nourishes our desire for quiet recreation in wild landscapes. Areas of the Divide like MacDonald Pass are also very important to Montana's economy, as they sustain the charismatic species that annually draw thousands of people into Montana to hunt big game and view wildlife. MacDonald Pass supports great denning habitat and abundant snowshoe hare for the threatened Canada lynx. In March 2007, the U.S. Forest Service formally recognized MacDonald Pass as lynx-occupied territory and a wildlife corridor for the animal. A corridor is critical for lynx since they must move between key areas to find mates and enough food to survive harsh winters.

However, the security of wildlife using the MacDonald Pass area is threatened. The Montana Army National Guard is proposing to cut 18 acres of trees to create a biathlon training facility in the center of this wildlife corridor that would also include disturbing 32 more acres of forest and wetlands for a new road, a large parking lot, buildings and other features. The nature of MacDonald Pass as both a wildlife corridor and as a quiet place for recreation would dramatically change as a result of this project. As the environmental assessment conducted by the Forest Service acknowledges, because the wildlife corridor area is very narrow, forest clearing and construction will force animals onto the edges where habitat is less secure and topographically unsuitable for wildlife movement. Overall, the environmental assessment for the biathlon proposal reveals a lack of adequate scientific data to determine the real extent of wildlife impacts. Nevertheless, the Helena National Forest has indicated the decision to approve the project may be made in the next few weeks, before sufficient information is available.

I don't believe taxpayers should be funding multimillion dollar facilities for the military that have nothing to do with their primary missions. But even if you are OK with that aspect, consider that there are many places probably more suitable than MacDonald Pass for biathlon training. For example, there is little scientific data suggesting the pass has adequate snow conditions for sustained biathlon activity or proper climactic conditions for high-altitude training. Other locations should be seriously evaluated, not just dismissed with prejudice as was done in the environmental assessment. Unfortunately, wildlife using the pass doesn't have other places to do its "training." To add insult to injury, the Guard is apparently already exploring other uses for the biathlon range once it is permitted. The designated preferred alternative in the environmental assessment admits that multiple summer events would be staged at the facility. Helena National Forest staff privately acknowledges that approval of the biathlon range may open the door to future war games proposals, with more activity and expanded disturbance areas. In other words, less habitat and smaller wildlife corridors.

Fifty or more acres may not seem like much disturbance to some people, but these incremental habitat depletions quickly add up to fragmented, disconnected landscapes without the migration corridors critical for big game and carnivore species. These corridors have to be in place for genetic diversity and long term survival of the very wildlife that so defines Montana. Do we want to look back in five or 50 years and realize that we have now become like so many other states, wishing we could restore what was once special to this place? It's time to stop public land development on MacDonald Pass and the rest of the Continental Divide, and for all of us to work with private landowners to preserve habitat connectivity for generations of wildlife, and Montanans, to come.

KEN WALLACE of Helena is a skier and natural resources consultant.