CRASH
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Foresthill, CA
Check out this excellent article that lays to bare teh eco-nut mindset. 93% of the forest in monterey county is already wilderness, but is that enough? Oh no, must have it all in wilderness.
Just remember, if you are ever in negotiations with enviro-extremists, your bargaining position has to be as extreme as theirs. That is, if you want to keep a trail open, don't ask for just that, but rather ask to open 5 new trails in the forest. The huggers will ask to close everything, and you can settle on keeping the trail that you have! It's all about bargaining position!
Plan backs wild river status for Arroyo Seco; Would stop dams on river
Monterey Herald – 9/24/05
By Virginia Hennessey, staff writer
A long-awaited update of the Los Padres National Forest management plan released Friday recommends "wild and scenic river" status for the Arroyo Seco River, but would add no new wilderness land in Monterey County.
If approved by Congress, the designation would prevent damming the river, which would protect steelhead habitat.
A spokesman for Los Padres ForestWatch praised the recommendation, but gave the forest plan low marks for adding far less wilderness land than had been hoped, and for its vague language on protecting habitat.
Forest service officials said no wilderness areas were added to Monterey County because 93 percent of the Los Padres National Forest in the county is already designated wilderness area, and the service needed to maintain the ability to thin vegetation in areas where the forest "interfaces" with urban areas.
Bernie Weingardt, Pacific southwest regional forester for the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, called the plan a "balanced, strategic blueprint for responding to the increasing demand for recreation and other uses of the national forests while protecting forest ecosystems and resources, especially threatened and endangered species."
Weingardt said the plan is a compromise version of what had been proposed in the draft environmental impact report. That proposal emphasized "a wide range of recreational activities" in the forest, including increased use of off-road vehicles.
Environmental groups object that off-road vehicles destroy threatened plants and cause erosion that silts waterways.
The alternative approved by Weingardt on Friday expands off-road access, but not to the extent previously considered. According to the plan, the selected alternative "is focused on active management for the maintenance of forests; community protection from wildland fire; managed, sustainable recreation setting and uses; and the management of threatened and endangered species."
Jeff Kuyper, executive director of Los Padres ForestWatch, said the plan's language is too vague to provide any teeth to species management.
"Instead of enacting very strong standards, the Forest Service has set forth very vague and unenforceable standards that sound good, but aren't what's required by law," he said.
Kuyper said the plan originally called for 310,000 acres of additional wilderness in the forest, which runs from Monterey County to Los Angeles County. The approved plan adds 35,000 acres, he said, none of which is in Monterey County or San Luis Obispo County.
"What we're concerned about is the small amount of new wilderness areas the forest service recommends," he said. "Through this entire process, the Forest Service keeps slashing the amount of wilderness that they're going to recommend for protection."
But Kuyper said he was pleased with Weingarten's recommendation to designate the Arroyo Seco a wild and scenic river.
The designation, which would require congressional action and presidential approval, would prohibit damming the river and provide additional protections for threatened steelhead trout.
The Arroyo Seco is the major steelhead habitat for the Salinas River watershed, said John Bradford, district ranger for the Monterey district of the Los Padres National Forest. #
Just remember, if you are ever in negotiations with enviro-extremists, your bargaining position has to be as extreme as theirs. That is, if you want to keep a trail open, don't ask for just that, but rather ask to open 5 new trails in the forest. The huggers will ask to close everything, and you can settle on keeping the trail that you have! It's all about bargaining position!
Plan backs wild river status for Arroyo Seco; Would stop dams on river
Monterey Herald – 9/24/05
By Virginia Hennessey, staff writer
A long-awaited update of the Los Padres National Forest management plan released Friday recommends "wild and scenic river" status for the Arroyo Seco River, but would add no new wilderness land in Monterey County.
If approved by Congress, the designation would prevent damming the river, which would protect steelhead habitat.
A spokesman for Los Padres ForestWatch praised the recommendation, but gave the forest plan low marks for adding far less wilderness land than had been hoped, and for its vague language on protecting habitat.
Forest service officials said no wilderness areas were added to Monterey County because 93 percent of the Los Padres National Forest in the county is already designated wilderness area, and the service needed to maintain the ability to thin vegetation in areas where the forest "interfaces" with urban areas.
Bernie Weingardt, Pacific southwest regional forester for the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, called the plan a "balanced, strategic blueprint for responding to the increasing demand for recreation and other uses of the national forests while protecting forest ecosystems and resources, especially threatened and endangered species."
Weingardt said the plan is a compromise version of what had been proposed in the draft environmental impact report. That proposal emphasized "a wide range of recreational activities" in the forest, including increased use of off-road vehicles.
Environmental groups object that off-road vehicles destroy threatened plants and cause erosion that silts waterways.
The alternative approved by Weingardt on Friday expands off-road access, but not to the extent previously considered. According to the plan, the selected alternative "is focused on active management for the maintenance of forests; community protection from wildland fire; managed, sustainable recreation setting and uses; and the management of threatened and endangered species."
Jeff Kuyper, executive director of Los Padres ForestWatch, said the plan's language is too vague to provide any teeth to species management.
"Instead of enacting very strong standards, the Forest Service has set forth very vague and unenforceable standards that sound good, but aren't what's required by law," he said.
Kuyper said the plan originally called for 310,000 acres of additional wilderness in the forest, which runs from Monterey County to Los Angeles County. The approved plan adds 35,000 acres, he said, none of which is in Monterey County or San Luis Obispo County.
"What we're concerned about is the small amount of new wilderness areas the forest service recommends," he said. "Through this entire process, the Forest Service keeps slashing the amount of wilderness that they're going to recommend for protection."
But Kuyper said he was pleased with Weingarten's recommendation to designate the Arroyo Seco a wild and scenic river.
The designation, which would require congressional action and presidential approval, would prohibit damming the river and provide additional protections for threatened steelhead trout.
The Arroyo Seco is the major steelhead habitat for the Salinas River watershed, said John Bradford, district ranger for the Monterey district of the Los Padres National Forest. #
