Post by cdaxena on Jul 29, 2010 9:33:33 GMT -5
Even the timber industry is siding with the environmentalists against motorized recreationists. This entire bill is a focus on locking out recreational vehicles exclusively.
Revamping the way forestlands are managed in Washington's northeast corner would make environmentalists happy, but it also would do much more, from increasing tourism and jobs in the area to setting aside land for timber harvesting, said Conservation Northwest Executive Director Mitch Friedman on Wednesday.
The group announced in a news conference at the University of Washington its proposal to designate more than 180,000 acres as protected wilderness. U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Spokane, have said they intend to review the group's final proposal and Cantwell hopes eventually to introduce related legislation in Congress.
The proposal also suggests designating about 146,000 acres as national conservation areas, which would allow old forests to be revitalized. Though this area would not allow access to recreational vehicles, an additional 70,000 acres would be designated as national recreation areas, which would allow for all types of recreation except recreational vehicles.
An additional 424,000 acres would be forest-restoration areas, where forests and wildlife would be protected and redeveloped and where recreational vehicles would be allowed on existing roads.
Keeping these protected wilderness areas together means cutting off some access to recreational vehicles. In Ferry County, "the local public input has been, we want more recreation, no more road closures and more timber harvest," Blankenship said — which is the exact opposite of what the proposal would do.
Read the whole story here:
seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2012475214_wilderness29m.html
Revamping the way forestlands are managed in Washington's northeast corner would make environmentalists happy, but it also would do much more, from increasing tourism and jobs in the area to setting aside land for timber harvesting, said Conservation Northwest Executive Director Mitch Friedman on Wednesday.
The group announced in a news conference at the University of Washington its proposal to designate more than 180,000 acres as protected wilderness. U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Spokane, have said they intend to review the group's final proposal and Cantwell hopes eventually to introduce related legislation in Congress.
The proposal also suggests designating about 146,000 acres as national conservation areas, which would allow old forests to be revitalized. Though this area would not allow access to recreational vehicles, an additional 70,000 acres would be designated as national recreation areas, which would allow for all types of recreation except recreational vehicles.
An additional 424,000 acres would be forest-restoration areas, where forests and wildlife would be protected and redeveloped and where recreational vehicles would be allowed on existing roads.
Keeping these protected wilderness areas together means cutting off some access to recreational vehicles. In Ferry County, "the local public input has been, we want more recreation, no more road closures and more timber harvest," Blankenship said — which is the exact opposite of what the proposal would do.
Read the whole story here:
seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2012475214_wilderness29m.html