Dear HCN,
Jeff
Golden’s “Modest forest proposal for President Bush” (HCN, 9/16/02:
A modest forest proposal), while sound in its reasoning, has one
fatal flaw: People like George Bush could care less about common
sense in regard to public-lands management, Forest Service fire
suppression, and forest health policies and practices. The only
thing people like George Bush care about is the bottom line, the
profit margin. George Bush is just blowing smoke at the
voters.
And so, once again, as is the case for so
many Writers on the Range submissions that are printed in your
newspaper, Mr. Golden is merely preaching to the choir. His ideas
are good, his proposal laudable. Sad to say, the powers that be are
not listening, or reading High Country
News.
I have a proposal of my own. I
implore folks like Mr. Golden, who are influential and pro-active
in their regions and local communities, to take their messages to
their local Forest Service managers, forest supervisors and
district rangers. I implore these folks to get personal and develop
friendships and alliances with their public-lands managers,
supporting them in the almost-impossible job of trying to please
everyone while at the same time protecting and nurturing
ecosystems, all the while with the rules changing every time the
political winds blow from a different
direction.
The biggest obstacle in the way of
sound forest practice and fire management is not people like George
Bush; it is the lack of a vision and a mandate within the Forest
Service. The senior managers look for this vision and mandate to
come from their politically appointed supervisors. They are looking
in the wrong direction. They should be looking toward their field
personnel, who live and work in communities and forests all around
the American West and West Coast, and are a part of a much larger
community that does indeed have a bit of common sense, and a
voice.
Jim Proctor
Maple Falls,
Washington
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Don’t beat up Bush, get personal.
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