Club 20, Wilderness Society Lock Horns

Registration In with the new, but not out with the old. Mesa's 1978 registration has brought both the old and the new to campus. In addition to the 1,100 students who pre-registered at the end of last year, 1,200 new and returning students regis tered for classes on Tuesday. Betsy Sneed, Mesa College registrar, says she expects that 90 per cent of the pre registered students will attend Mesa this fall. Included In that figure are 350 freshmen. Concerning total enrollment at Mesa, Sneed says, ''We're hopeful of 2,800 this term in day school students." THE· GRITERION .... Ve>I. 44 No. 33 Mesa College student newspaper Grand Junction, qo. Friday, September 1, 1978 12 Pages Tnis Week .. Club 20, Wilderness Society lock horns by TAM MY FREEBURG be devoted to three minute of the environment-they only meet-ing may submit written ought to be setting the guide Criterion Editor testimonies by individuals. understand the extraction of testimony, and it will be added lines and rules" for the areas resources and how.much mon- . to Club 20's report. All corre under consideration with The debate on wilderness is 'Not interested' f!'1 can be raised" by extract- spondence· relating to RAREII RARE II, "Not making them warming up. Perry Moyle, the regional . ing those resources. must be received by the Forest black or white." He feels mul"!' As the Oct. 1 deadline nears Service by Oct. I. tiple use of land-such as for submitting all written test- representative of the Wilder Vanderhoof says that since , imony concerning the Road ness Society for Colorado and the Forest Service will accept only written testimony con less Area Review and Evalua Kansas, says his organ lzation "Club 20 does not understand the tion, phase two, [RARE II] to Is not making any efforts to cerning RAREII, there will be the U.S. Forest Service, the attend the meetings arranged oourt reporters present at the preservation of the environment. .. ,, controversy connected with by Club 20 to discuss RARE II. public hearing to record wilderness is growing as are Moyle adds, "I'm not inter speeches. The testimony will timber industry, mining, gra:z the contradictions rampant In ested in participating In a . then be printed and submitted Club 20's July newsletter Ing, water shed, etc. --can be public information. meeting that's biased and to the Forest Service. Vander states that the "removal of a maintained without destroying In an attempt to clarify stacked. Club 20 does not hoof adds that people who· substantial amount of forest public sentiment concerning understand the preservation can not be present at the lands from the multiple use wilderness areas. Moyle says wilderness de the designation of wilderness ooncept to the single use of sig nation is not absolutely a-eas, Club 20 [an organiza wilderness could cause serious black and white. He refers to tion representing numerous economic consequences in the Wilderness Act of 1964 [aU oommunities on the Western Slope communities.'' The publication did not state the wilderness areas are desig Slope] has slated four meet • '".:..:-.!.~- .• ·~. i ,_ ..., nated under the guidelines of ings to serve as forums. "serious economic conse the Wilderness Act] which Although the Club 20 News quences,'' but Vanderhoof states, under its Special Provi letter for July states the wlced his concerns regarding sions section, . that until 1983, organization's stand as being wilderness designation. wilderness areas showing resolved that serious ramifica Vanderhoof feels that set valuable mineral resources tions would result from desig ting up guidelines of land may be prospected, and, If the nating areas as wilderness as management is better than U.S. Secretary of Agriculture opposed to the multiple use of outright wilderoess designa tion, determ in Ing whether deems it beneficial to extract land, Club 20 President John \ those resources, it may Vanderhoof said in an Inter land is open to development be done with due consideration to view that the group cannot or not . He says "absolute preserving the area's natural take a stand ''until we've tour black and white" is not as ed the area or listened to the workable as "grey areas" in environment. Also under Special Provi people.'' terms of land management sions of the Wilderness Act, Vanderhoof says, ''Our · practices. function is to get the viewpoint Vanderhoof says, ''We · continued on page 3 of those who use the national forests In Colorado." In order The schedule of public hearings sponsored by Club 20 to to do this, according to Van The controversial Kannah Creek area under considera.tion by ·discuss RARE 11 are as follows: Sept. 11 for Region 9 at the derhoof, the meetings have RA RE II is area 195, southeast of Grand Junction. Other Durango Savings and Loan hospitality room -in Durango; been structured so that the areas near Grand Junction being considered for wilderness Sept. 12 for Region 10 at the Colorado-Ute Electric major industries as .well as a designatio.n are 193, the Battlement Mesa area northeast of auditorium in Montrose; Sept. 13 for Region 11 at the forest service representative Grand Junction, and 245, the Uncompahgre region Meeker Fairfield Community Building in Meeker; and Sept.' will e·ach have ten minutes in southwest <Jf the city. Other areas bieng considered under 14 for Region 12 at the Kremmling High School auditorium In which to voice their views on the HARE ·11 project are outlined and numbered. This map Kremmling. Each hearing will begin a 9 a.m. and conclude at land use in Colorado, and the shows only a portion of the total roadless lands In Colorado. 4 p.m. remainder of the hearing will All s/J,aded areas are roadless areas. ... ·· ··-·-·- . Page 2 CRITERION ·Friday September 1, 1978 1 7 Wilderness or lr. .. ··· ·· .. \t~tr:,.~,/:lflt1t r ·· '!f!OOdcutting ? "' ':i:.,. ~ Valid questions have t,een raised on both sides of the question of wilderness deslgnatlon--but some are more valid than others. As far as the lumber industry is concerned, timber barons have no real reason to fret about RARE 11 resulting In the designation, at the very most, of 1 /3 of the National Forest Service's land. The timber industry only derives 15 per cent of its total lumber from Forest Service lands now--and it is conceivable that most of the land they log Is not being considered for wilderness designation. It's conceivable because they're logging it right now, and lands under consideration by RARE II are not currently being developed. The timber barons stand nothing to lose from wilderness designation under RARE 11. The hubb-bubb reaches a peak when It comes to land use and the concept of multiple-use managemen~ practices. True, much of the Forest Service's land Is valuable--even vital--to several industries in th~ U.S. If the stability of those industries were threatened, many of us would feel that our very survival was at stake. However, even If all of the land under RARE 11 scrutiny Is designated wilderness- which Is doubtful--the U.S. will still have 2/3 of that 187 million acres upon which to practice multlp.le-use manage ment to is heart's content. In areas where a need for multiple-use management cannot be established, the wild state should be allowed to reign supreme. Wilderness, In Itself, Is Important for Its historical, aesthetic, and ecological qualities. The areas being considered under RARE 11 were not randomly selected by unknowledgeable persons. They were not regions chosen regardless of their mineral, timber, water, and recreational possibilities. The areas are roadless, virtually free of development, and, chances are, not worth the bother to today's technological world. Of course, there may be exceptions to the picture painted Some call for end to RARE II above of .RARE II lands. That's why there's been so much study, research, fieldwork, and more study. That's why The Roadless Area Review threatened to abort RARE II ble, and, in the final analysis, there's a 20-year grace period written Into the Wilderness and Evaluation (RARE II) under ·pressures from western the Congress must approve all Act to allow surveying of land that may one day be project of the U.S. Forest governors and economists who wilderness designations any- designated wilderness. If it can be shown to the Forest Service is a reexamination and . fear that timber sales delayed way. So why delay? The Service first, and Congress second, that serious problems study for possible wilderness by the RARE II process will Forest Service knows as much would arise from declaring an area wilderness, then that classification of all roadles_s · oo g__ to higher lumber prices now about these 65.7 million area most likely would be left open to development, or at areas of 5,000 acres or more and the alarming inflation oores as they will ever know, least to multiple-use management. But remember, those on the National Forests. It spiral. Scheduled for com pie- and the public has had every areas under RARE II were carefully chosen by the Forest oovers some 65. 7 million of the tion and final recommenda- opportunity for input. Service itself. · total 187 million acres in the tions to the Congress by Decisions made for the Na So why the uproar, after all? Why can't the nature lovers National Forest System. Some January 1979, RARE II m·ay be tional Forests, including wll have even as much as a 1 V3 of the Fores Service land to 14.8 million acres already abruptly_terminated under or- derness recommendations, enjoy for eternity? A third of the Fores Service land Is still a have been designated by Con ders from President Carter.

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