Now here's a topic that can really bring out the beast in people, at least that's what it has done in my area.
Living in Idaho all my life I have experienced the unpopulated outdoors at their best, from potlatch land above the clearwater in north Idaho, to the frank church river of no return wilderness, to the high desert of southern Idaho we are blessed with some awesome areas to play outside.
In the last few years the "radical" envirofreaks have put forth a massive effort to change the way we use our public lands, citing past damages to the environment from logging, cattle ranching, mining, and damming these very vocal groups have demanded that we close our forest roads and breach the dams that provide energy and recreation for the people of our state.
My experience with these people has shown that many of them are from other areas of the nation and have come to Idaho looking for a place where they can hike and camp in an untouched environment. The major problem with this is that there were others who came before them, and I promise that you won't find many Idaho natives who are happy about being told what to do with "our" forests. If these people are really interested in undoing damage maybe they should close all the roads in their backyards.
Any person who travels through the remote areas of Idaho has to admit that there have been some poor choices made resulting some very unappealing damages to the land, does this mean that we should simply shut the forests up tight and not allow any access at all?
NO
I personally feel that if we want to enjoy the forests we should be allowed to, however we also have a responsibility to maintain the forests for future generations. In the past logging and cattle operations have seen the forests and rangelands as a resource that was theirs to use as they saw fit, and as someone who has grown up among these people I can tell you that they are aware of the finite nature of the resources. No rancher or logger that I have ever met wants to invest years of hard hard work and most of his life and income into an operation only to deplete the resources and leave themselves with nothing. Thankfully most of these people were happy to allow recreationalists to use their lands as well as the public land that they had claim to (leased land), however the last ten years I have watched as more and more of this land was closed to public access because of those who couldn't respect it.
THERE IS THE WHOLE PROBLEM, LACK OF RESPECT!
We all need to see that we aren't the only one who wants to use the public resources we are blessed with, it belongs to all and should be open to all.
Yes mistakes have been made but two wrongs don't make a right. Efforts need to be made to repair and prevent damage to the environment. This is where environmental watchgroups come into play, and I say good for Ford if they can support this type of care for the environment. However we as recreationalists need to also do our part in showing that we are not out to have a good time at any cost to the environment, we need to band together with one another and hold our fellow funfreaks in check if need be. Everyone needs to work together to find a universal plan that incorporates the desires of all, Simply trying to block all efforts by those who have different views of land use results in the same actions by them. Someone has to start the process of coming together in search of a fair and equal division of our reources.
I say that, as the people who have used these lands the most in the past we need to be the ones who admit our past wrongs and work towards a future that will ensure access and conservation in our public lands for the future.
If we continue to have the attitude that nothing is wrong with the way things are the environmentalists will continue to have ammunition to influence the public opinion against future use of public lands. If we can come together and admit past problems as well as presenting the evidence of a more responsible generation of users coming to the forests who can
work to preserve as well as use these resources we can show the public that the environmental radicals are the unreasonable group who have to be controlled.
Just my opinion,
Idajack,
Nampa, Idaho
p.s. Five inches of snow here in the valley today and there was plenty of fresh fluff in the mountains yesterday before this started.

T