An ad hoc group, known as the North Dakota Wilderness Coalition, has put together a sensible and modest proposal to designate some 68,000 acres of public lands in North Dakota as permanent wilderness.
It's a purely wonderful idea whose time has come. If we don't act now, it's an idea whose time will be soon be gone forever. As far as I can determine, there is no rational reason to oppose the proposal. Nobody's ox is gored.
Deep in the Rio Grande National Forest • In these mountains lies one of Colorado's rarest gems, a place of majesty and wonder, yet free of the crowds that swarm around so many of the state's beautiful places.
After three hours of walking, it seemed, we were no closer to finding it.
We'd set off around 11 a.m. on a recent Saturday in search of Wheeler Geologic Area, a remote place renowned for its bizarre and beautiful rock formations, which are said to rival Utah's Bryce Canyon National Park as amazing examples of how time and erosion can affect a landscape.
Come and get it: Washington's newest wilderness area, Wild Sky, is as pretty as it gets - and has something to offer just about everybody...
About Wild Sky Wilderness area
WHAT: 106,577 acres of the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest in the Cascade mountains. Unlike most other wilderness areas in Washington, Wild Sky includes low-elevation forests.
WHERE: North of Index and Skykomish, along Highway 2. Flanks, but does not include, the Beckler River and North Fork of the Skykomish River. Adjoins the Henry M. Jackson Wilderness on the east and northeast.
Advocates for wilderness designation for some of North Dakota's most remote unspoiled lands have come up with a thoughtful and balanced proposal. Indeed, it might be too modest, too timid. The plan from the North Dakota Wilderness Coalition should be examined by the governor and congressional delegation with the ultimate goal of setting aside as wilderness 62,300 acres of the state's western national grasslands and another 5,410 acres in the Sheyenne grasslands in the southeast.
In the first couple of decades after the Civil War ended, much of Eastern North America was covered by a magnificent forest of towering trees - hardwoods, red spruce.About 1880, lumber companies began looking at the forest with glints in their corporate eyes.
The spread of railroads made the forests accessible. The invention of Ephraim Shay made the innermost nooks and crannies of the forests acces Shay's invention was the geared locomotive, with pistons coming off the sides of the boiler driving a cogged shaft that drove gears in each of the engine's wheelsets.
Standing on the summit of 10,824 foot ‘Big Sammy' we are at the highest viewpoint accessible by trail in the Emigrant Wilderness and the 360 degree panorama of mountains, meadows and lakes has made the rugged six mile path from Leavitt Lake worth the trek. Stretched out below us is the Emigrant Basin, a bright blanket of blues, yellows and greens shining in the summer sun. It was a welcoming site after climbing the steep desolate slopes of Leavitt Lake Pass and Big Sam, the two mountains in the north responsible for guarding this magnificent Garden of Eden.
As The Forum's recent editorial states, the current modest proposals for wilderness designation in North Dakota are a no-brainer. Our state has less than one-tenth of 1 percent designated as wilderness.
Wilderness designation is the most effective method of protecting valuable, unique land's wildlife. And designation is the best way of protecting our few remaining wild lands from damage from off-road vehicles. All-terrain vehicles and snowmobiles have their place and will continue to have access to many more acres than those set aside as wilderness.
When we think of what kind of country we wish to leave our children and grandchildren, we probably would rather not hand down a nation bereft of its natural wonders with its once-abundant resources depleted, gone forever. We need places such as Yellowstone and Yosemite, the Arctic Refuge and the Grand Canyon, just as they are, for future generations of Americans to marvel at, as we have had the good fortune to do.
Greg Stahl made several factual errors regarding CIEDRA's proposed wheelchair-accessible trails in his recent article on Rep. Simpson's hike to one of those trails at Phyllis Lake. As a longtime wheelchair user who has worked hard to incorporate accessible trail language into that legislation, I feel compelled to set the story straight.
That old wilderness magic was in the air in Seattle a few nights ago.
Republicans and Democrats, business leaders and environmentalists, hunters and vegetarians gathered at an outdoor retailer to celebrate the Wild Sky Wilderness in the north Cascades. Earlier this year, legislation designating the 106,000-acre Wild Sky was passed by a Democratic Congress and signed into law by a Republican president.
OPINION: A modest and extremely important wilderness proposal for North Dakota
August 25th, 2008An ad hoc group, known as the North Dakota Wilderness Coalition, has put together a sensible and modest proposal to designate some 68,000 acres of public lands in North Dakota as permanent wilderness.
It's a purely wonderful idea whose time has come. If we don't act now, it's an idea whose time will be soon be gone forever. As far as I can determine, there is no rational reason to oppose the proposal. Nobody's ox is gored.
A monument to solitude
August 21st, 2008Deep in the Rio Grande National Forest • In these mountains lies one of Colorado's rarest gems, a place of majesty and wonder, yet free of the crowds that swarm around so many of the state's beautiful places.
After three hours of walking, it seemed, we were no closer to finding it.
We'd set off around 11 a.m. on a recent Saturday in search of Wheeler Geologic Area, a remote place renowned for its bizarre and beautiful rock formations, which are said to rival Utah's Bryce Canyon National Park as amazing examples of how time and erosion can affect a landscape.
Washington's newest wilderness area, wild sky, has something for everyone
August 21st, 2008Come and get it: Washington's newest wilderness area, Wild Sky, is as pretty as it gets - and has something to offer just about everybody...
About Wild Sky Wilderness area
WHAT: 106,577 acres of the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest in the Cascade mountains. Unlike most other wilderness areas in Washington, Wild Sky includes low-elevation forests.
WHERE: North of Index and Skykomish, along Highway 2. Flanks, but does not include, the Beckler River and North Fork of the Skykomish River. Adjoins the Henry M. Jackson Wilderness on the east and northeast.
Editorial:Protect wild land areas in N.D.
August 19th, 2008Advocates for wilderness designation for some of North Dakota's most remote unspoiled lands have come up with a thoughtful and balanced proposal. Indeed, it might be too modest, too timid. The plan from the North Dakota Wilderness Coalition should be examined by the governor and congressional delegation with the ultimate goal of setting aside as wilderness 62,300 acres of the state's western national grasslands and another 5,410 acres in the Sheyenne grasslands in the southeast.
The Invasions: Adventures on Earth
August 21st, 2008In the first couple of decades after the Civil War ended, much of Eastern North America was covered by a magnificent forest of towering trees - hardwoods, red spruce.About 1880, lumber companies began looking at the forest with glints in their corporate eyes.
The spread of railroads made the forests accessible. The invention of Ephraim Shay made the innermost nooks and crannies of the forests acces Shay's invention was the geared locomotive, with pistons coming off the sides of the boiler driving a cogged shaft that drove gears in each of the engine's wheelsets.
Into the Wild: A Journey Into the Heart of the Emigrant Wilderness
August 20th, 2008Standing on the summit of 10,824 foot ‘Big Sammy' we are at the highest viewpoint accessible by trail in the Emigrant Wilderness and the 360 degree panorama of mountains, meadows and lakes has made the rugged six mile path from Leavitt Lake worth the trek. Stretched out below us is the Emigrant Basin, a bright blanket of blues, yellows and greens shining in the summer sun. It was a welcoming site after climbing the steep desolate slopes of Leavitt Lake Pass and Big Sam, the two mountains in the north responsible for guarding this magnificent Garden of Eden.
Letter: Governor, delegation should support plan
August 19th, 2008As The Forum's recent editorial states, the current modest proposals for wilderness designation in North Dakota are a no-brainer. Our state has less than one-tenth of 1 percent designated as wilderness.
Wilderness designation is the most effective method of protecting valuable, unique land's wildlife. And designation is the best way of protecting our few remaining wild lands from damage from off-road vehicles. All-terrain vehicles and snowmobiles have their place and will continue to have access to many more acres than those set aside as wilderness.
Opinion: Red, white, blue ... and green
August 15th, 2008When we think of what kind of country we wish to leave our children and grandchildren, we probably would rather not hand down a nation bereft of its natural wonders with its once-abundant resources depleted, gone forever. We need places such as Yellowstone and Yosemite, the Arctic Refuge and the Grand Canyon, just as they are, for future generations of Americans to marvel at, as we have had the good fortune to do.
Letter: Wheelchair trail details
August 15th, 2008Greg Stahl made several factual errors regarding CIEDRA's proposed wheelchair-accessible trails in his recent article on Rep. Simpson's hike to one of those trails at Phyllis Lake. As a longtime wheelchair user who has worked hard to incorporate accessible trail language into that legislation, I feel compelled to set the story straight.
Blog: That Old Wilderness Magic Is Still Alive
August 14th, 2008That old wilderness magic was in the air in Seattle a few nights ago.
Republicans and Democrats, business leaders and environmentalists, hunters and vegetarians gathered at an outdoor retailer to celebrate the Wild Sky Wilderness in the north Cascades. Earlier this year, legislation designating the 106,000-acre Wild Sky was passed by a Democratic Congress and signed into law by a Republican president.