`Whose Woods These Are …?'

0 Comments | Insight on the News, March 27, 2000 | by John Elvin

With little apparent media fanfare but with rigorous opposition in the U.S. Senate, the U.S. Forest Service has proposed implementation of "Alternative D," a "protective-management" plan for the nation's public-owned forests that greatly will restrict access by motor vehicles and virtually eliminate off-road access such as all-terrain vehicles and snowmobiles. Motor-vehicle traffic in general would be "concentrated" to main roads under the plan, allowing the government to continue closing side roads as urged by antimultiuse environmental groups.

The plan also would block any further expansion of ski areas, a proposal that has provoked opposition from those who utilize popular resorts that operate on Forest Service lands by permit. The immediate battleground regarding the plan is Colorado's White River National Forest, where planned implementation of Alternative D is the subject of congressional hearings and blocking efforts led by Rep. Scott McInnis and Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, both Colorado Republicans. According to a report by Environmental News Service, or ENS, whatever management policy is put in place at White River will set the tone for future policies governing all Forest Service lands.

ENS said Alternative D reflects the view of Forest Service Chief Michael Dombeck and his allies in the environmentalist faction who desire the nation's taxpayer-owned forests to be "silent, untouched havens for pure water, wildlife and touch-the-earth recreationists." Well, that's one way of looking at it. Others believe that the Forest Service is seeking status on par with the brambles, poison ivy, skunks, precipices and swamps that traditionally have served as nature's police force.