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Dear M/U and other Interests,
Thanks to a heads-up from Rod Jones about this op-ed/letter to the
editor that ran in the Seattle Times on Nov. 21, 1999. A Forest Supervisor
stands up for multiple-use and counters a green attack on M/U from an
enviro group in the NW. I have attached the website where you can find the
article and also provided contact information for Claire Lavendel, the FS
Supervisor. I am contacting her to thank her for courage...I hope that
many of you will do the same.
---Don Amador, BRC
On Nov. 4, guest columnist Jay Letto of the Central Cascades Alliance wrote that "Gifford Pinchot must be rolling in his grave," and listed a number of alleged abuses to the legacy of the first Forest Service chief ("Auctioning off `the people's playground' "). As one who has long admired Pinchot and what he stood for, I must correct Letto's many inaccuracies and half truths. Letto says that "old growth stands in unprotected roadless areas . . . are still being sold to timber companies." Not true. We have not sold timber in a Forest Roadless Area in at least two years. Letto says the Gifford Pinchot receives nothing from the Interstate 90 (Plum Creek) land exchange. The exchange, legislated by Congress and recently resolved with a compromise that excludes most Gifford Pinchot land, was a regionwide exchange involving three national forests. These lands belong to all the people. Parochializing the issue is an interesting twist by those who normally nationalize any Wilderness debate. Letto says the Southwest Washington Province Advisory Committee "unanimously opposed" an environmental assessment designed to address overuse of certain overnight camping areas. Committee minutes say that there was no response from members to Letto's call for opposition. Letto accuses the Forest Service of turning the Gifford Pinchot's Dark Divide Roadless Area into "an off-road vehicle playground." A bit of overblown hyperbole. The Cispus Trails project proposes to repair and improve about 17 miles of trail - of more than 1,000 trail miles. These 17 miles are open to use by both motorcyclists and hikers. Currently, only 16 percent of Gifford Pinchot National Forest trails are available to motorcyclists. For many hikers, that is 16 percent too much. But we remain guided by Pinchot's example of multiple use, recognizing that there are many public interests to be served. Pinchot said the national forests should be managed "for the greatest good of the greatest number in the long run." That principle still guides us as we adapt to change and struggle to balance the many competing and valid uses of the public land it is our privilege to manage. That debate is important, it is public, and to be successful, I believe, it must be accurate. Claire Lavendel |