I was surprised to learn in Assistant Interior
Secretary Rebecca Watson’s response to High Country
News that I am not a citizen because I am involved in
environmental advocacy groups (HCN, 2/21/05: HCN has it wrong on
Bush). Watson writes, “Furthermore, the term,
‘citizen-proposed wilderness’ belies the very kind of
truth to which you attach so much import.
‘Citizen-proposed,’ in this context is a misnomer; a
more accurate term might be ‘advocacy-group proposed.’
”
In my work at an advocacy group, I always believed that
I was representing the interests of the citizen members who donated
to help pay my salary. When I joined other environmental groups, I
believed that I was paying others to represent my interests. I
guess I should’ve left citizenship to those wealthy enough to
pay for their own personal representatives in natural resource
issues, and not risked having the Interior Department revoke my
citizenship.
Forrest
Fleischman
Eugene, Oregon
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Advocates aren’t citizens, says Watson.
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