Dear HCN,
It was refreshing and
encouraging to read “A new world in the woods” (HCN, 4/1/02: A new
world in the woods). While environmental groups promote
divisiveness and confrontation through the courts at taxpayers’
expenses, people such as Headley and Wilcox make a difference on
the ground without sensationalism or posturing. They directly help
restore ecological health to degraded areas, whether it be stream
restoration to help fish populations, planting seedlings in
deforested areas, control erosion on washed-out roads, or thinning
out tree stands.
Those actions do more for the
local environment than the flurry of lawsuits preferred by most
environmental groups opposed to the multiple-use concept on public
lands. Hands-on restorations have a high rate of success, because
of their small scale, flexibility, and light approach on the land.
Micromanaging an area is labor intensive, but identifies and
addresses the problems found in this specific area with successful
results.
It is encouraging to see more and more
concerned members of the general public getting involved at the
local level by offering their time and efforts periodically to
repair or restore damaged areas with positive and immediate
results. You won’t find members of Forest Guardians or the Center
for Southwestern Biological Diversity coming out of their
air-conditioned offices or SUVs to sweat and get their hands dirty
on a restoration project. They are too busy condemning others and
filing lawsuits to “save the environment.”
Tony Lunt
Klondyke,
Arizona
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Fresh alternative to lawsuits.
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