“It is clear that many roadless areas are unique and need special considerations; however, many others have serious forest health problems.  The president is making a terrible mistake by moving forward with this controversial initiative.

“This year, Nevada experienced one of the worst fire seasons in recent history.  We must move forward with good forest management to avoid potential catastrophic fire hazards in the future.  Access to roads in our nation’s forests is paramount in our efforts to accomplish this task.  By barring road travel in our nation’s forests, President Clinton will sound the death knell for good forest health and commonsense forest management.

“President Clinton’s initiative also destroys the public-private partnership that makes accessibility to our nation’s forests so unique.  His initiative will effectively lock-up our public forests while locking-out the American people.  I am particularly concerned that our nation’s disabled citizens will not have the opportunity to view America’s pristine forests without access to safe roads.

“With this new land-grab scheme, President Clinton has circumvented Congress and shut-out the public from making their concerns known.  This is a ‘top-down’ approach to managing our public lands that could have a devastating effect on Nevada’s national forests.  This presidential power grab must be stopped.”