The Hidden Gems Wilderness proposal is not about bikers. It's not about hikers, motorized users or horseback riders either. It's about the land. It's about the creatures that inhabit the land, their only option. Many of the Hidden Gems are excellent wildlife habitat. Let's give the wildlife some space of its own.

No one's access is being denied. Everyone can go into these places on foot. If you only visit the forest sitting down, get on a horse. To want to access the forest in any way we want is extraordinarily selfish. We don't want to be denied anything. We never want to hear "no." The Wilderness areas in the White River National Forest may look large on a map, but they aren't that big. There are few Wilderness areas in the WRNF that I, at the age of 66, can't traverse in a day.

The Hidden Gems Wilderness proposal is not about you. It's not about me. It's about the forest, the land and the wildlife. Let's protect it for its sake.

Gerry Terwilliger

Basalt