Letters To The Editor

THE ENVIRONMENT

Show up, speak up for forest protection

The U.S. Forest Service has options to protect the natural values of the remaining wild forests in Idaho and Washington. At stake is the future of 9.5 million acres of wild lands in Idaho (857,000 acres of Panhandle Forests) and 2 million acres in Washington (180,000 acres of Colville National Forest), where many residents of this region hunt, fish, camp, hike, canoe and recreate.

Public opinion research shows that three out of four Americans believe more should be done to protect wild forests. However, the Forest Service option falls short of the protection that citizens called for at previous hearings. The option does not end logging in unspoiled forest areas but does prevent road building. A ban on road building makes logging difficult but it does not halt the destruction of these forests.

The option delays until 2004 any decision protecting Alaska’s Tongass National Forest, allowing logging to destroy the Earth’s largest intact temperate rain forest.

There will be public hearings in Spokane on Thursday, from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. at City Hall; and at the Panhandle Forest Office in Coeur d’Alene on June 21st, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. This is a historic opportunity for people to voice their support for the protection of wild forests.

The final plan must protect all roadless areas larger than 1,000 acres from logging, mining and ORVs. If ever there was a time to turn out in force to demand protection for our national forest heritage, this is it - for our families, for our future. Chase Davis Spokane

Urge effective roadless forest protection

The Forest Service is taking public comments on its proposed Roadless Forest policy Thursday at City Hall chambers between 2 p.m. and 10 p.m.

While the proposed alternative bans road building, it allows helicopter and other types of logging, off-road vehicle use, new mining claims, new mineral leases and new grazing permits in the few pristine, undeveloped areas on our public national forests.

There are enough roads in national forests to circle the Earth 16 times. Roads disrupt and fragment habitat, ruin fishing streams, cause increased flooding events and contribute to the spread of noxious weeds. In Washington state alone, the Forest Service builds about 200 miles of new logging roads per year, using five million of our tax dollars.

Despite overwhelming scientific reasons to protect roadless forests, National Forest districts and their entrenched pro-timber staffs continue to log wild forests.

The Colville National Forest has 4,000 miles of roads and more planned timber sales in roadless forests than any other national forest in Washington. Right now, less than 3 percent of the Colville is protected from logging and road building.

Wild roadless forests are our natural heritage. Here in the Northwest they provide unparalleled outdoor experiences, clean drinking water and are the last refuge for grizzly bear, elk, wild salmon and trout. Protecting roadless areas does not prohibit hunting, fishing, horseback riding, skiing, biking, hiking or backpacking.

On June 15, tell the Forest Service and President Clinton that you want true protection of our last wild roadless forests. Lupito Flores Kettle Range Conservation Group, Spokane

Smaller roadless areas are important

The fate of nearly 9.5 million acres of roadless forest in Idaho will either be protected or impacted. One of the main reasons I live in this state is that I have the opportunity to hike, fish and study these priceless areas.

More and more folks are leaving urban sites to visit Idaho’s roadless and wilderness areas. However, wilderness trails are becoming crowded and the need for more getaway places is important.

The concept of island biogeography proposed by Robert MacArthur and Edward O. Wilson should be applied to the roadless area debate. Its basic principle is that large islands close to the mainland can support more types of plants and animals than smaller, more isolated islands. As islands shrink, species fall prey to inbreeding and accidents, and start dying off. Large expanses of roadless areas will enable us to view creatures that were around hundreds of years ago, unlike smaller areas, which will lose residents.

To fully safeguard unspoiled forested areas, the final plan must also protect small roadless areas, especially headwater drainages that are important to water quality. A good example is Upper Hemlock Creek, which flows into unspoiled Weitas Creek in the Clearwater National Forest. Upper Hemlock is a site of high biological integrity and thus important as a reference stream to compare with forest locations that have been impacted in the past and may continue to be affected in the future. Fred Rabe Moscow, Idaho

Enlarge Superfund cleanup area

We should all thank Gov. Gary Locke and Sen. Patty Murray for their letters to the Environmental Protection Agency. As reported in the May 20 Spokesman-Review, the letters urged that the Spokane River be part of the EPA regional mine waste cleanup plan.

To stop the ongoing loading of the Spokane River and, consequently, its beaches, with lead and other toxic metals, the cleanup must be extended outside the current 21-square-mile Superfund site to include the Coeur d’Alene River Basin downstream of Kellogg .

The state of Idaho wants to take over the cleanup, but in that case, who will look out for us? Idaho? I don’t think so. Historically, Idaho has done very little toward mine waste cleanup and then only when forced to do so. Nor does the state have adequate financial resources to do a credible job.

The only effective cleanup ever done in the basin has been by the EPA.

This is interstate transport of toxic substances and we need our elected and appointed politicians in there fighting for us, supporting an effective cleanup by the EPA. We need Locke and Murray to continue their support and for Sen. Slade Gorton and Rep. George Nethercutt to step up and help. David Moershel, M.D. Spokane

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS

Diet inquiry more big brotherism

Comments by Agricultural Secretary Dan Glickman and Health and Human services Secretary Donna Shalala about fad diets are revealing about the larger philosophy of the Clinton administration. They can’t seem to trust Americans to run their daily lives without the firm guiding hand of Bill Clinton and his cronies.

The government evaluating fad diets is yet another absurd waste of time and money. Fad diets will come and go as surely as the sun rises in the east. Scientists, doctors and nutritionists will criticize such diets, and such criticism will be largely ignored by diet proponents. Long after the Clinton administration has ridden off into obscurity, millions of new diet books will be sold, and Americans from sea to sea will embrace some new diet fad. Even then, Glickman and Shalala won’t understand that nothing they or any government can do will change it.

So why waste taxpayers’ money on yet another moral crusade to force Americans to start behaving themselves?

This issue represents a fundamental difference between liberals, represented by Clinton, and conservatives. The current liberal philosophy is best summarized in saying that people are gullible, errant and benighted. Accordingly, they can’t be trusted to run their own lives without government leading the way.

The countervailing conservative philosophy was best stated by Clinton’s opposite pole, Ronald Reagan. Reagan said, “I am not telling you to trust me, I am telling you to trust yourselves.”

For those of us inclined to run our lives without any government help at all, it could not have been said better. P. Norman Nelson Colbert

IDAHO VIEWPOINTS

Northern Lights should keep Elsaesser

I have lived in Bonner County and have been a member of Northern Lights since 1943. I was pleased to serve 12 years as a member of the board of directors.

I was very disheartened to learn that by a 5-4 vote, the board has terminated Ford Elsaesser as general counsel, without any discussion or stated cause. This is a big mistake that will hurt the co-op members.

Elsaesser has served as Northern Lights general counsel for 12 years. He has done a great job, and has been a real help in getting the co-op into it’s current solid financial position. He helped write and pass legislation that allows unclaimed capital credits to help provide scholarships to students throughout Northern Lights’ service area. He provided solid legal advice to the board that has prevented costly litigation.

He has devoted many hours of service to the Bonner County School Board, the Festival at Sandpoint, the Scouts and many other community activities. Last year, Elsaesser received the Idaho State Bar Association’s professionalism award.

All co-op members should join me in urging the Northern Lights board to reconsider this hasty decision. Art Burnett Sandpoint

Fishing line refuse poses danger

Coeur d’Alene Audubon thanks Dori Rice and her daughter, Sarah, for rescuing an American crow tangled in fishing line. Many birds are not so lucky. The bird, hanging for hours by one wing from a power line, otherwise would’ve suffered an agonizing and needless death. Thankfully, crows are very resilient and I was able to release him the next day.

The fishing public should remember that little effort is required in rolling up the line and placing it in your pocket. We applaud thoughtful fishermen and women who do so.

Spent fishing line belongs in the garbage, not on Idaho’s shorelines.

Thanks also to Dr. Steve Lindsay for his continuing efforts providing treatment to injured birds of prey (and one American crow). His invaluable service is the first step in the lengthy rehabilitation process.

A rescue network for injured birds of prey is in place and may be accessed by calling the Idaho Department of Fish and Game. Audubon volunteers will be contacted to capture and transport injured birds to Dr. Lindsay. The birds then are transferred to a person licensed to provide rehabilitation and eventual release. Susan Weller Coeur d’Alene