Wilderness Commentary

Just 200 years ago, the West as we know it now was inhabited by Indians of many tribes and buffalo herds on the plains along the RockyMountain range as far as the eye could see. Within the next 50 years, the buf­falo were to disappear, the Indians' lifestyles were totally destroyed, and a great surge of settlers was moving west.

It is proving to be a good year for the land that we all love and cherish. On Sept. 16, the Coalition to Protect the Rocky Mountain Front unveiled a comprehensive proposal that will ensure the Front remains the pristine and majestic place that it has been for eons.

I have just read Tony Vagneur's article on the Hidden Gems Wilderness proposal ("Wheels of destruction," Sept. 5, 2009, The Aspen Times), and must thank Tony, on behalf of Great Old Broads for Wilderness, and of future generations, for his thoughtful, powerful and concise description of what our precious remaining wildlands are up against. The sense of entitlement seems to be growing, as does the stridency of its proponents. We have found that an argument based on user conflict, environmental degradation and habitat fragmentation falls upon deaf ears.

Gems worth preserving

I am writing as a supporter of the Hidden Gems wilderness proposal.

It has been disappointing to read the negative letters regarding this issue in the paper recently. I have noticed that many of the letters seem to be from people who may have been mistakenly misinformed.

While the writers are passionate, a trait I admire, some of what they have said is incorrect.

I urge those speaking out, whether it is for or against, to become fully educated on the issue before making impulsive decisions on the matter.

For some three decades now, the most pristine areas of the Organ Mountains and other natural treasurers just outside Las Cruces have been regulated under a federal designation that was intended to be temporary -- a wilderness study area.

The 270,000-acre Tejon Ranch, between Los Angeles and Bakersfield in the Tehachapis, features extraordinary ecological resources: ancient oak groves, Joshua tree and pinyon pine forests, and 80 imperiled species, including the California condor. Its owners and some environmentalists have cut a deal to put 90% of the ranchland into a private conservancy in exchange for allowing intense development on the other 10%.

We spent a good bit of time studying Montana Sen. Jon Tester's bill. While not perfect, this bill will provide support and direction to the wood products industry and the Forest Service while protecting critical wildlands in three nationals forests of Montana.

Tester's bill would affect national forest lands on the Beaverhead-Deerlodge, Lolo, and Kootenai national forests, by designating lands for timber production and resource reclamation as well as recreation and wilderness.

President Theodore Roosevelt, perhaps the most influential conservationist in American history, argued equally that "attention must be directed to the preservation of the forests" and that our forests should be "the means of preserving and increasing the prosperity of the nation."

In response to Katurah Mackay's article ("Beloved conservationist's vision lives on," Aug. 22), I would like to offer my comments.

I have been hunting mule deer in Arizona since the mid-1960s. Little by little, I have seen the erosion of good wildlife habitat due to Arizona's hunger to develop land and to overpower the habitat with destructive motorized use. I have reached the conclusion that unless we designate roadless areas as wilderness, we will continue to reduce game habitat.

For 20 years, America's Red Rock Wilderness Act, which would provide the highest level of federal protection for millions of acres of public land, has been languishing in Congress. Thursday it will get its first congressional hearing, in the House Natural Resources subcommittee. That will be a triumphal moment for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, the organization that has promoted a sweeping designation of Utah wilderness for decades, and many other groups that have fought alongside SUWA.

But the act will not become law -- not this year and not in the foreseeable future.