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LAND OF MANY USES

In the Rocky Mountain West, our relationship with the land is part of who we are. It is part of our culture. It is an essential part of our economy. The land feeds us, pleasures us, cares for us and shelters us.

RECREATION

Snowmobiling, Off Road Riding, Skiing, Driving/Sightseeing, Camping, Hunting, Fishing, Rafting, Canoeing, Photography

ECONOMY

Timber Harvest, Mining, Recreation/Tourism, Grazing

PERSONAL SUSTENANCE

Mushrooms, Berries, Firewood, Water, Wild Game

SOUL FOOD ~ A setting for:

Family Time, Personal Renewal and Discovery

MANY OF OUR FAVORITE SITES FOR THESE ACTIVITIES ARE NATIONAL FOREST LANDS THAT WILL BECOME WILDERNESS IF NREPA IS ENACTED. IF THAT HAPPENS, MOST OF THESE LEGITIMATE PUBLIC USES WILL BE BANNED AND ALL OF THEM WILL BE RESTRICTED TO YOUNG AND HEALTHY FOLK WITH THE TIME TO HIKE INTO WILDERNESS.

THE REST OF US WILL HAVE TO STAY HOME OR SQUEEZE INTO THE EVER SMALLER AREA LEFT OPEN TO US. WITH NREPA, WE WILL BE ESSENTIALLY LOCKED OUT OF THE LAND THAT NURTURES US.

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DO YOU LIKE TO HUNT AND FISH BUT YOU DON'T CARE MUCH FOR LOGGING? - ARE YOU A RANCHER WHO DOES NOT LIKE MOTORHEADS? - DO YOU LIVE FAR FROM THE RURAL WEST AND NEVER PLAN TO VISIT? WHY SHOULD YOU BE CONCERNED ABOUT WHAT HAPPENS TO SOMEONE ELSE IN A FAR AWAY PLACE?

YOU SHOULD CARE FOR THE SAME REASON THAT WE SHOULD CARE ABOUT WHAT HAPPENS TO YOU IN YOUR AREA. BECAUSE IN THE END, WE ARE ALL IN THE SAME BOAT.

For example, the logging industry paid for the forest transportation system that recreationists use. Now that the logging industry has been mostly shut down, there is no money for new roads and not enough to maintain the ones that are left. This is one reason roads are being closed. The loggers needed the support of recreation when they were targeted by the Environmental Industry but recreation was not there for them. Now that recreation is under attack the loggers are cutting their own deals with environmentalists. We must work together.

Another example is the current conflict between non-motorized and motorized trail users. Most avid hikers are vehemently opposed to motorized use on public lands. They have almost succeeded in closing all national forests to off road use as well as closing most of the trails to motorized users. When this battle began, mountain bike riders and horsemen sided with the hikers. Some still do but since mountain bikers are now locked out of wilderness and some roadless areas and horsemen are facing area lockouts and new regulations, many have seen the handwriting on the wall and are having second thoughts. And so should avid hikers. If government can force motorized users and mountain bike riders off of the land, government can also force out hikers and horseback riders.

Whatever government can do, it sooner or later does.

WHAT WE ALL NEED IS BALANCE AMONG USES.

Wilderness is a legitimate use of public lands. Westerners cherish wilderness. We don't want to lose it.

But wilderness is not appropriate for most of our public lands. Although there may be additions here and there that make sense, we have enough wilderness in the west already. Right now in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming approximately one quarter (¼) of all National Forest lands are designated wilderness or wilderness study area. If NREPA passes two thirds (²/₃) will be designated wilderness. 96% of all forest visitors do NOT visit wilderness. After NREPA 96% of forest users in these states will be squeezed onto just 32.9% of the land. After NREPA there will be over 31 million acres of wilderness in these three states alone. Also NREPA creates new wilderness in western Oregon and Washington; it creates 3 million acres of defacto wilderness in the 5 states and locks up most of the remainder in roadless study areas.

IS THIS BALANCE BETWEEN USES????

NO, THIS IS DOMINANCE BY THE ENVIRONMENTAL INDUSTRY !!!!

WILL YOU HELP US KEEP THE BALANCE?

>TAKE ACTION<

The Forest Service has conducted visitor surveys to learn what sites the public uses and how.

They found out that a very small percentage of National Forest visitors use wilderness areas.

On Region 1, which covers most of the public land impacted by NREPA, only 3.36% of all forest visitors entered wilderness areas.

Read the report >HERE<

MULTIPLE-USE SUSTAINED-YIELD ACT of 1960

"AN ACT To authorize and direct that the national forests be managed under principles of multiple use and to produce a sustained yield of products and services, and for other purposes."

"That it is the policy of the Congress that the national forests are established and shall be administered for outdoor recreation, range, timber, watershed, and wildlife and fish purposes."

"The Secretary of Agriculture is authorized and directed to develop and administer the renewable surface resources of the national forests for multiple use and sustained yield of the several products and services obtained therefrom."

"...Then they came for the Jews and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists but I didn't speak up because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics and I didn't speak up because I am a Protestant. Then they came for me but by that time no one was left to speak up.",
Rev. M. Niemoller (1892-1984) Dachau 1945

"I like the idea of taking it all and making people corridors."
Marge Sill, official of Sierra Club, referring to the Wildlands Project. She wants to squeeze the people into reservation like corridors and give the rest of the land to the animals.

"All of us are warriors on one side or another of this war; there are no sidelines; there are no civilians"
Dave Foreman, founder of eco-terrorist group, Earth First and co-founder of The Wildlands Project