Wilderness News

I write to strongly support your proposed legislation to create a new National conservation area in Taos County. Such a designated natural area of some 300,000 acres would greatly (and permanently) benefit the citizens of Taos County, New Mexico, and the Nation. It would also be of great benefit to the local and state economy, fueled as it is in considerable part by tourism. My partner and I own 12 acres in Arroyo Hondo, land not included within the proposed boundaries of the conservation area but within walking distance of it.

WE have a rare opportunity in West Virginia to protect some of our last remaining wild places for current and future generations to enjoy. Wilderness areas cannot be "created." Areas that qualify for wilderness designation can simply be protected as they are. The West Virginia Wilderness Coalition has been working for five years to develop a proposal for wilderness designation of some of the best of what's left of our spectacular Monongahela National Forest.

Flashing red and blue lights sent me a strong message: I was busted. I’d just passed a truck as I drove into a small, southwestern Oregon town and neglected to slow down to 30 mph. I got a ticket.Deterrents work, yet there are places where deterrents don’t reach, and drivers of all-terrain vehicles know this all too well. There’s not enough money to pay for effective policing on our Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management lands, and the sad result is that you can’t find a desert or forest that hasn’t been trashed by lawless drivers with destructive streaks.

Walking into the community meeting room at the State College Municipal Building last week, I stopped to look at the usual array of publications offered at such events. Most were reprints of articles about the Allegheny National Forest or newsletters from conservation groups both local and national, but a bright red paperback caught my eye. Picking it up, I turned it over and saw the words "Holy! Holy! Holy! -- Kurt Vonnegut."

Memorial Day used to have a singular focus, a solemn day of mourning, for remembrance for those who gave their lives for freedom. Few would argue that some of that's been lost to basic glee around getting a warm weather three-day weekend. Nevertheless, I still remember the placing of flags on veteran's graves as a kid.

On May 18, conservation groups took a stand for a balanced future for the Sierra National Forest. The people who live near and care about our national forests deserve an explanation for why we took this action, and perhaps can then gain a better understanding of what is at stake.People too often hear about the work of conservation organizations through legal actions, which inevitably provoke conflict. But lawsuits are a last resort, something we turn to when we've exhausted all other options.

If you pay attention to the doings of our national government, you’d certainly conclude we live in unusually fractious times, all about harsh rhetoric among politicians struggling for partisan advantage. But some politicians are doing very good things-and in a thoroughly bipartisan way. A case in point: preservation of a decent sample of the original America, our heritage of wilderness landscapes.

Young Thadeus Greenson scores again in the Times-Standard! Clearly, “Falk is not forgotten.” With Shaun Walker’s excellent photos, his articles dealing with personalities and areas of local interest are collector’s items.Timber was once the throbbing heart of North Coast economy. The Bureau of Land Management’s research on the history of company towns such as Falk is commendable. There was plenty of blood and sweat. What indomitable men felled the giant trees with hand tools on this curve of the coast a hundred years ago.

In our democracy, the marketplace of ideas is open to all. Any idea I advocate to my fellow citizens, you can disagree with. We can debate our views at a public meeting or in letters to the newspaper. This exchange helps hone the issues. As others join in, their views enrich the mix of ideas, maybe helping us find common ground.In the ideal of our American democracy, good public policy comes about as elected officials consider and respond to ideas shaped and sharpened by healthy public discussion.

Nearly a half-century ago, the book "Silent Spring" awakened public concern for the health of our environment with its foreboding message. If our country continued along the path it was on, in springtime we could well find ourselves without the lilting and melodious songs of birds. Written by Rachel Carson, a scientist who would have turned 100 on May 27, "Silent Spring" chronicles the devastating effect chemicals such as pesticides have on populations of songbirds.