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Show he Cinies-- 3 Page A7 guest editorial Some members by Wayna Y. Hoskiason Senator Larry Craigs Writers on the Range column is a shameful display of politics If he truly chd not want protecting watersheds, wildlife habitat and homes to be political he would never have ri traduced the amendment. He misleads the public in a number of ways with this opinion piece. First the amendment is also commonly know as a rider These are generally pieces of legislation which cannot pass on their own merits when introduced as standalone legislation. Senator Craig also states some partial truths which are very misleading. Senator Daschle did not exempt the state of South Dakota from the laws which ordinarily govern the process of forest management or fire prevention actions. He did not even exempt the entire Black Hills National Forest. He exempted a small timber harvest supposedly meant to reduce fire fuels in a small portion of the forest. Perhaps even more important Senator Craig fails to reveal that the protect had already gone through the National Environmental Policy Act analysis, had been appealed, and negotiations were underway to settle the appeal. The Department of Justice withdrew from the nego Craig-Oomeni- tiations leaving no means to proceed with the protect until after a federal court ruling. Senator Daschle created legislation which permitted the protect to proceed with what would have been the negotiated settlement The complete a story behind foe settlement tittle complicated and controversial but foe tact remains that foe substance of Daschle's legislation was the end result of a NE.RA process. Many people, including politicians like Sen. Craig, R(ID), blame environmentalists tor the fires burning throughout the West. Such ac- cusations are unfounded. The single most important factor m this fire season is drought. Not even such adamant anti --environmentalists like Sen. Craig have accused environmentalists of causing foe drought. Some claim that foe reason there are so many fires this year is because environmentalists have appealed foe decisions of foe Forest Service, thus inhibiting or stopping the Forest Service from taking necessary steps to keep communities safe. A few facts should help clarify foe inaccuracy of these accusations. According to the General Accounting Office, in 2001 the Forest Service proposed 1,671 hazardous fuel reduction projects. Of Letters to the Editor Belated thank you to fair board Dear Editor, belated thank you to the Grand County Board for such a wondercommunity event month. Many kudos go to fair Sam board: A hard-workin- Fair ful g fun-fille- last the d of amount on private la nos. Environmentalists have no means of appealing or litigating over any of foe reservation or private land forests. About 2 percent of the area burned was under appeal. Environmentalists agreed to a thinning project on 20 percent of the area under appeal. Only a portion of the thinning was completed prior to foe fire. The fire did not cross foe thinned area. More importantly, during foe last 1 3 years foe Sitgreaves National Forest completed 10 timber sales m the burn area The fire burned through all or portions of all ten sale areas. Forest Service timber sales have no beneficial effect on fire prevention and by foe agencys own admission increases fire risk. towns. In spite of acknowledging foe actions needed to reduce foe risk of fire to western communities, of areas scheduled for only 39 hazardous fuel reduction treatments tn 2002 were in or around communities. A General Accounting Office report noted that most of foe trees that need to be removed to reduce accumulated fuels are small m diameter and have little or no commercial value The same report revealed that forest officials tokJ us they tend to (1) foe comcus on areas with mercial timber rather than on areas with high fire hazards or (2) include more large, commercially valuable trees in a timber sale than are necessary to reduce accumulated fuels. The USFS has misspent funds allocated to reducing fire hazard. The November 2001 USFS Inspector General reported that foe Bitterroot Forest m Montana wasted $2.5 million designated by Congress for reducing fire risk. The money went to commercial timber sales and even permits to harvest mushrooms. Information from some of the fires burning this summer may help clarify foe situation in our national fire forests. The Rodeo-Chedesin Arizona was extremely large. Two fires merged to form the fire which ultimately burned 468,000 acres. The fires started on the White Mountain Apache Reservation. The fire was out of control before it ever reached the Sitgreaves National Forest. Thirty-eigpercent of the fire was within the Sitgreaves portion of foe Apache-SitgreavNational Forabout thus 178,000 acres of est, national forest burned. The remaining 290,000 acres were mostly on Congress were upset with the facts and asked foe Forest Service to cond duct another study The Forest Service report that concluded that 48 of all fuels projects were appealed and litigated has turned out to be a complete fraud, according to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by the National Forest Protection Alliance. Rather than taking a systematic written approach and reviewing all varieties of fuel reduction projects, foe Forest Service spent just several hours on the phone, recorded anecdotal reports from the field about logging projects that were appealed, and jumped to their phony conclusion This report continues to be held up by the administration and the Republicans in Congress as a reason to suspend environmental laws and citizen participation. The Forest Service could only have come up with these new figures by using accounting methods pioneered by Enron, WorldCom and Arthur Anderson. In Utah none of foe fires have burned in areas profiosed for fuels reduction treatment. In 1 999 the United States Forest Service reported to Congress that .. timber harvest, through its effect on forest structure, local micro climate, and fuels accumulation has increased fire seventy more than any other recent human activity" Forest Chief Bosworth testified before Congress that the most effective means of reducing the risk of fire to western communities is through careful thinning of small much-heralde- drought and the West was set tor a year of huge fires The Hayman and Missionary Fhdge fires m Colorado are not very different form foe Rodeo-Chedesfire. The Missionary Ridge fue was ignited by a vehicle on a forest access road. The fire quickly spread spruce clear through cuts. One of foe strategies m fighting both fues was allowing wilderness areas to act as a fire sink The Wemmuche Wilderness bordered the Missionary Ridge fire on the north. The Lost Creek Wilderness was on foe western flank of the Hayman fire in both cases foe fire was allowed to burn into foe wilderness while tire fighters focused efforts tn populated areas. Ultimately the Hayman fire stopped m roadless areas at foe periphery of foe fire Within the area burned by foe Hayman fire conservationists appealed a portion of a project which was less than 2 percent of foe fire area That two percent was a roadless area far from where foe fire started. reservation lands with a small diameter trees near homes and those only 20 were appealed by any conservation or recreation group. Only about one percent of fuel reduction treatments were appealed. Times-Independe- nt Thursday, October 17, 2002 uhepenhent high-valu- The Na- Apache-Sitgreave- s tional Forest is the most heavily logged forest in the Southwest Region. Small tree densities increased between 1972 and 1997. Smalt tree densities increased after logging operations. Over 2,145 miles of roads weave throughout foe burn area, most of them logging roads. There are no wilderness areas in the Sitgreave National Forest. There are only two recognized roadless areas in the Forest, both under 5,000 acres. Most environmental groups would like to see foe Forest Nether area burned. There are ki ments from powerful politicians like Senator Craig do nothing for America. Following his advice will ultimately lead to even worse probe lems in foe future. If foe weather patterns for this century follow the pattern of (he last century, we could be in for another 25 to 30 years of dry weather. We need to look for ways to protect our homes. Apparently we may also need to find a way to protect our homes from politicians like Senator Craig. eight grazing allotments on the Sitgreaves which lie within or largely within the burn area. Only four of the eight have had environmental assessments completed Of the four completed all noted that grazing contributed to the "thicket" like forests or pole sized trees with no old growth. Unfortunately this is the typical picture of a forest at risk of fire: logged, heavily d Combinroaded, and 1 00 with factors these years of ing fire suppression and prolonged Rodeo-- Chedeski ht Ser- vice plan real fuel reductions projects which actually addiess places where humans and their property are at risk. The political posturing and misleading state- long-rang- over-graze- Hertha Cunningham, Wakefield, Adrien Taylor, Ginny s' s' s' Leech, Shirley Stewart, Tina Brown, Bill Zanotti, Wanda Secrest, and Leah Noser. Lou Gostlin Moab Get to the bottom of mystery Dear Editor, Thank you, very much, for the very good article that appeared in the Oct. 3 issue of your newspaper concerning the strange death of my cousin, Steve FitzSimon. I, too, can attest to the improbability of his death being a suicide. Steve attended a family gathering at my home in February, and he was jovial, in good spirits, with no sign of depression. It is gratifying to see such a caring responae from your communitya newspaper. I especially appreciate the quote from the sheriff asking for help from the public at large, and the efforts of all local law enforcement personnel. Hopefully, with the grace of God, we will get to the bottom of this mystery. Sincerely, Ed Conroy San Antonio, Texas ; Thoughts from Wisconsin reader Mr. Taylor, Prior to my marriage approximately one year ago I was a frequent visitor to the Moab area. I truly love the Canyonlands area. I have traveled all over the world and your part of the globe is my favorite. I have used Moab the Wisconsin herd and could have a potentially disastrous effect on our deer herd and rural economy. The deer-huntin- g sea- son pumps millions and millions into our rural economy. The loss of this income will be devastating to many small towns should the disease spread statewide. In fact, it has already had a as a jumping off spot for extended trips into the back country. This is a hard time of year for me as many of trips were made in the faU. Unfortunately, my wife does not share my love of camping and the Southwest. To somehow stay connected to the area I read the online version of your publication on a weekly basis. Its certainly not as good as being there but 111 take what I can get. Don't get me wrong, I love living here on the shores of Lake Michigan but, the Moab area is something special. lb the point I am writing in response to a comment you made in this week's 'Community Comments column of this weeks edition. You stated that Chronic Wasting.. It has already made its way from the Great Lakes states to western Colorado. negative effect as the current public perception is that the states entire herd is infected. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is struggling to come up with a response and to contain the disease. In fact, the D.N.R. has just asked the state legislature for $12,000,000 more to deal with the problem. We have been told that it has spread from the west to here. We also believe that one of the reasons it has appeared here is a result of inaction on the part of western states to deal with it when it first appeared there. Your column gives the impression that it spread from here to Utah. Just some thoughts from a reader in Wisconsin. Adam S. Jones It has recently appeared in Milwaukee, WI Somerville getting play in media Dear Editor Is the Times-Independe- going to give all candidates what I consider bask free page time for numerous articles as it has Kent Somerville? I have noticed almost all of our current candidates posting paid advertisements in your paper, yet it seems almost weekly, Mr. Somerville is mentioned one way or the other, over his many woes as to recertification. Okay, we get it. He has the opportunity, if elected, to take the short course prior to taking office in January. No one has stated however, what would happen ifbe failed. Or, is that just too far fetched to imagine. I happen to support Jim Nviand. He has been our sheriff for 24 years and has done a fantastic job. Together with his deputies and fine staff, Grand County, I feeL is one of, if not the best, counties in the State of Utah. If the day comes when Jim retires, I would love to see Doug Squire or any one of Jims deputies step up to the plate. These people, along with Jim, know our town, county sum! community so welL They have stayed in the mainstream of law enforcement and are better for it. They have the respect and praise from their fellow law enforcement agencies throughout Utah. So, here in my own opinion, is my free plug for Jim. I hope other citizens endorse their candidates with the same enthusiasm. I also would like to wish ALL candidates good luck. Sincerely, Marilyn Siedentopf DON'T JUST ' ampku, (mji&entid, PUN ON IT, FOR IT. fe'i never too late, or too early, to think afcodt fkuscui your finanoai goak'S&tJf rveg brlj you otpeam. 8 of ywt -must vxa3 financial docustesn to oat UMSsa ' ' So wbat have to TWet a cost Suad you wt jf Me entice stage- n rigfir e4 up wwk a foossjgfe asseatmest if wwt ssaatem, md teccnwitevifooa for whet wul need Jew'S r . , Bask farancul pi&mmg, Fortunately foe iMcn Checkup coatprehctasw, grnotakmi financial tsummem for wlwtew : way to prepare for your financial Jiitttre. east-fr- ee s , SawsoJ to am whLgauoft. Sckefoik four Checkup today W cJkng or ism your Joed Zicf Bank fewAk. Whet v btmm't ferg.-8- a who keeps m m 3 ' ' t, T ' Uxb Editor 't Note Yes. The week before the election, we provide all candidates free space for statements up to 800 words. The PUN ' , .. - . be t wwawiy V I die Ur - VS ' e A ' ZIQNS BANK wro Wf . t nSR , . - pm tax. i M |