Copyright 2000 The Seattle Times Company
The
Seattle Times
June 16, 2000, Friday Final Edition
SECTION: OPINION; Pg. B7
LENGTH: 745 words
HEADLINE:
Keep logging out of roadless areas and preserve Roosevelt's
vision
BYLINE: Edith Roosevelt Derby Williams; Special
to The Times
BODY:
MY
grandfather, Republican President Theodore Roosevelt, is remembered as one of
our nation's greatest conservationists for establishing four national parks and
setting aside more than 100 million acres of national forest land for the public
to enjoy.
In his time, America's population was booming, and development was
spreading unchecked across the American landscape. With that rapid growth came
unrestrained natural-resource extraction that was, even then, taking its toll on
America's forests. TR understood that the strain on the environment from
development would only increase in time, so he intervened and sought to create a
balance before our entire natural heritage was lost.
Since his presidency
(1901-09), the U.S. population has almost tripled. Our country now has 275
million people and that number is expected to double again in just 50 years.
Wild, open space and undeveloped landscapes in America are scarcer now than they
have ever been.
With each passing year, we have fewer and fewer of these
large tracts of unbroken land, intact rivers, unsevered migratory routes, and
quiet, undisturbed habitat. And while metals can be recycled and new energy
resources discovered or invented, large expanses of wild land, clean water and
intact ecosystems cannot be created.
Increasingly, as our last wild lands
disappear, people crave the recreation and solitude these lands provide. In
recognition of this, the U.S. Forest Service recently initiated a public process
to permanently protect roadless areas - the last of such unbroken tracts in our
national forests. If the final proposal fully protects these unspoiled areas, it
would ensure that these national treasures would continue to provide some of the
best hunting, fishing and outdoor recreation opportunities in the nation, as
well as clean water, wildlife and a legacy we can leave our children.
Such a
plan would strike a familiar chord with my grandfather. Unfortunately, though,
our pristine forests still face two obstacles in the process before they can
become permanently protected for future generations.
First, the initial
draft of the protection plan falls short. As it stands now, it would ban roads,
but would not ban industrial logging from these back-country lands. You cannot
protect forests by continuing to log them. To truly safeguard our roadless
natural heritage, the final plan must offer protection from further commercial
exploitation. Right now, under the process for implementing this policy, the
American public has a chance to comment on the draft plan and its shortcomings.
Now is the time for citizens to speak up and demand that roads and logging be
banned from our remaining wild national forests.
The second obstacle comes
from a small group of timber, mining, and off-road vehicle interests who believe
that any limit on private use of public lands is detrimental to their
self-interest. They are now trying to mislead the hunter, the angler, and other
recreational users of the forest, arguing that preserving America's last
fragments of unbroken forest will somehow limit access to these areas.
It is
nonsense, of course. Hunting and fishing takes place in all our national forests
and will continue to do so. Further, it is precisely the roadless nature of
these forests that makes them so valuable for the American sportsman. They offer
solitude, undisturbed landscapes and room to roam that you cannot find anywhere
else in America. Leaving these areas roadless will not limit access to the lands
that we all enjoy. On the contrary, it will ensure that we can enjoy them in
their wild state for generations to come.
One hundred years ago, TR looked
ahead and created a legacy that we all enjoy today. He recognized that the
future of America's outdoors does not lie with those who seek to exploit public
lands for private profit. This was true in TR's time, and it is true today. It
is in America's best interest to support the Forest Service's roadless
initiative and also to call for an end to logging in our roadless lands. We
should follow in my grandfather's footsteps and leave a comparable legacy for
our children and grandchildren, just as he did for all of us.
Edith Roosevelt Derby Williams, a Republican, is the granddaughter of
Theodore Roosevelt, the 25th president of the United States. She is a longtime
resident of Washington state and a member of the Washington Wilderness
Coalition. She resides on Vashon Island.
GRAPHIC:
PHOTO; Barbara Cummings / OP ART: Keep logging out of roadless areas and
preserve Roosevelt's vision
LOAD-DATE: June 17, 2000
