(On 6-1-05, the Sun) published a press release from the U.S. Forest Service describing their "management direction for inventoried roadless areas within National Forests."

I have to respond to this article because I have been studying this issue and working on it for a year and a half. I know that this piece is nothing, but pure political propaganda and disinformation. There are a lot of sentences in that article, but after reading it you will not know what the Bush Administration's plan for managing our roadless areas really is. So I will tell you: the Bush Administration's plan for managing our roadless areas is to log them. Not for economic reasons, or fire prevention, or any reason involving science, common sense, or anything the average person would be able to get a handle on, but purely for reasons of extreme right-wing political ideology.

We have a high concentration of Inventoried Roadless Acres, here in the Southern Sierra, so we have a lot to lose. That is our inheritance. It's what makes our area special. It's why we like it here. We have that immediate connection to our history and heritage, because we have not been "discovered" and despoiled - yet. We have real people here, who make economic sacrifices to live here because we like doing real things - hunting, fishing, hiking, camping, backpacking, kayaking, birdwatching, mountain-biking, cattle ranching, horse and mule packing, and sitting on our porches, or driving around feeling lucky that we live here. All of this is at risk since the Forest Service reversed the Roadless Rule, under orders from the Bush Administration. There is more economic value, and more real value to this community to fight to keep things the way they are, than to stand back and watch our country get chopped up and shredded for toilet paper.

Fortunately, there will be a bill (National Forest Roadless Area Conservation Act of 2005 that can be read at http://www.ourforests.org) introduced to Congress, with bi-partisan support, designed to protect our roadless areas. It would give them an intermediate level of protection that would keep them roadless, and protect them from most logging, while still allowing more human activity than true Wilderness designation.

If you are interested in learning more about this issue, or if you want to work to protect our Roadless Areas, feel free to contact me at roadlessproject@aol.com, or just call me - I'm in the book.

Archie J. Logsdon

Bodfish