The HCN article on the Owyhee Initiative was
superficial, misleading and omitted several key points (HCN,
12/8/03: Riding the middle path). None of the ostensibly green
groups at the table is fighting for what is best for this
ecosystem: real wilderness on a big enough scale for native
wildlife to flourish. The Idaho Conservation League, The Wilderness
Society and The Nature Conservancy ignore the reality that land
with more cattle troughs, fencing and pipelines is not true
wilderness. Instead, this process has degenerated to a sellout so
they can cynically proclaim that they obtained “wilderness
designation” in Idaho for the first time in over 20 years.
Your spin referring to cowboys as “kings” and giving up a portion
of their “kingdom” does a grave disservice to the 280 million
Americans who actually own these lands, many of whom undoubtedly
would be opposed to the giveaway of their legacy if they were aware
of this phony collaborative process.
Finally, from a
taxpayer’s perspective, it makes no sense to spend hundreds
of thousands of federal dollars on fencing, pipelines and other
range structures on grazing allotments that generate only a few
thousand dollars in lease payments annually for the U.S. Treasury,
with livestock grazing continuing to damage irreplaceable streams,
uplands and wildlife.
Rather than propping up extractive
interests which are fading, Idaho’s politicians should look
to the future, and help secure meaningful protection on behalf of
all Americans for these large-scale wild areas that can provide
revenues from hunting, fishing, birdwatching and pack trips. To the
enviros at the table, I say: Abandon this travesty, work for regime
change in Washington, and seek national exposure and support for
real wilderness designation for the Owyhees and Idaho’s other
wild areas.
Debra K. Ellers
Boise,
Idaho
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Owyhee initiative ignores majority interest.
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