Wilderness Commentary

There are few times in a person's life where one is able to be a part of something truly historic. Today we have such a moment for our communities in Doña Ana County. On Sept. 17, Sens. Bingaman and Udall introduced legislation called the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks Wilderness Act in Congress to forever protect some of the most important natural areas in our county - including our iconic Organ Mountains - as new wilderness areas. The time has come to take the next step in securing this natural legacy for our region's future generations.

I greatly enjoyed and appreciated your editorial (Sept. 8). The wilderness system is a true national treasure and we are lucky to have areas in it right here in Tennessee. Although I am handicapped and cannot venture into the wilderness itself, I appreciate it being there. I especially love Bald River Falls and greatly desire to see its entire watershed given wilderness protection so that it can remain as it is forever.

Forty-five years ago this month, a bipartisan group of lawmakers agreed to legislation that would have a lasting impact on our nation's public lands - not by changing them, but by making sure some portion of these magnificent wild places would stay as they were for all time and for all generations to use and enjoy. The Wilderness Act, signed into law Sept. 3, 1964, was acknowledgement that our public lands are part of what shape us as a people and that there is value in protecting some of them in their pristine state as a natural legacy.

Although folks may regard me, a Marylander as an interloper, I have two reasons to thank Mike Costello for his thoughtful article on the recent designations of Wilderness Areas in West Virginia.

First, I spent a number of years on the board of The Mountain Institute and helped staff outdoor education programs at their Spruce Knob campus where I had first hand experiences in the Monongahela National Forest. It was there that I developed a deep appreciation and love of your incredible West Virginia natural heritage.

I support the Hidden Gems wilderness proposal and I hope you will also.

We are very fortunate that previous generations had the foresight to set aside our existing wilderness areas. We also must have the wisdom to enlarge that legacy for our children and grandchildren.

The Hidden Gems proposal has gone through years of field-checking and stakeholder outreach. Major boundary adjustments have been made to accommodate the interests of mountain bikers, grazing and outfitter permit holders among many other potential users.

I was blessed to be born in northwestern Montana and to grow up in the middle of the majestic and towering forests surrounding Libby. I loved those trees then and, like so many Americans, I love them even more now. My ancestors were involved with logging for a very long time, starting with my grandfather, a logging camp cook who came to Montana with a timber company from Minnesota early on in the last century before the advent of logging trucks.

In "Wilderness Warrior," a new and acclaimed biography of Theodore Roosevelt, author Douglas Brinkley says the former Rough Rider's crusade for conservation was perhaps the greatest presidential initiative between the Civil War and World War II. Brinkley credits the 26th president with saving 234 million acres of public lands through the creation of national parks, forests and monuments, like the Grand Canyon, federal bird reservations and game preserves.

Most people do not realize the impact our nation's forests have upon their daily lives. Forests provide countless recreational activities, alternative energy possibilities, local economic benefits, and wildlife habitats all across our country on public and private lands.

There are folks in this community who will no doubt be pleased to see Harris Sherman leave his post as head of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources, even if he may be assuming a new job that could be just as critical for Colorado.

Sherman, as the top natural resources person in Gov. Bill Ritter's Cabinet, was a driving force behind the development of new oil and gas regulations that many people hereabouts blame for the sharp decline in gas drilling in this region over the past year.

When I read a recent article about Sen. Jon Tester's "Forest Jobs and Recreation Act" and how it all started, I can't understand what is being criticized. For decades, Montana's loggers, conservationists and motorized users have been in serious conflict. As the article said, over the last 25 years there has been no new wilderness and no logs for the mills. Because of the timber wars, management became stagnant - nothing changed to alleviate these contentious issues.