Photo: Rich Landers

Plan keeps timber industry, environmental concerns in mind

A proposal to designate 215,000 acres of new wilderness areas in the Colville National Forest is drawing support from a broad coalition of forest users.

I am one of the many local citizens who have long awaited the momentous step U.S. Sen. Tim Johnson recently took: introducing legislation todesignate 48,000 acres of wilderness within the Buffalo Gap National Grassland.

When I was a kid, my dad often took me camping out at Indian Creek. It wasn't your typical cozy Black Hills forest campground with tent sites and lavatories.

The stark, wide-open, raw beauty of the wild prairie and badlands awed me in a completely different way. Its ruggedness and powerful silence left a lifelong impression on me.

"In order to assure that an increasing population, accompanied by expanding settlement and growing mechanization, does not occupy and modify all areas in the United States ... , leaving no lands designated for preservation and protection in their natural condition, it is hereby declared to be the policy of Congress to secure for the American people of this and future generations the benefits of an enduring resource of wilderness."

In another life, I was a wilderness ranger, and to this day there's a certain trail in a certain wilderness where I am most at peace with myself and with the world.

Although the conservation challenges facing others across Montana vary, the fact remains that grassroots efforts have sprung up where folks have chosen to set aside their differences and work together. They say all politics is local and that's certainly the level where the Forest Jobs and Recreation Act originated. The compromises and agreements forged by the many folks involved were done so in an open fashion, through years of hard work, lengthy debate, and input from many different types of people.

Supporters of designating 342,000 acres as federal wilderness in western Colorado are urging Rep. Jared Polis to introduce a bill to start the process.

Proponents say more than 3,000 voters and residents have signed a letter of support for the Hidden Gems Wilderness proposal in Eagle and Summit counties. The proposal includes public land in Pitkin and Gunnison counties, too.

Businesses, including the Aspen Skiing Co., have endorsed the Hidden Gems plan. The Eagle County commissioners and the town of Breckenridge are among the local governments supporting it.

Think of how the forests and mountains of the southern Appalachians shaped the lives of the pioneers who crossed them to settle in places like Johnson City, Kingsport and Bristol. Following trails blazed by Daniel Boone, Henry Johnson came here to found Johnson City in 1856, along the newly laid railroad running from Chattanooga to Bristol.

I have hiked more than 6,000 miles on Idaho trails. I continue to hike with my husband, Wayne, with friends and with our five children and seven grandchildren.