More support for forest partnership plan

By Rich Prodgers - 01/16/2008

The wilderness preservation system is one of our society’s stunning achievements and a national treasure. To deliberately set aside magnificent public areas and say, no, we don’t need multiple abuse on every single acre, was first institutionalized in the United States, then copied elsewhere.

The call of wilderness is known only to a few. Make that a very few in southwest Montana, where antipathy runs deep, although I have never been able to fathom why that is.

Lord knows that if you look at the travel plan, the prevalent designation is 0, indicating no restrictions on vehicular travel other than staying on maintained roads and trails. Other areas have seasonal restrictions. Enforcement is spotty at best.

Utilitarian justifications for wilderness abound: unsullied watersheds, recreation for those who can’t afford or don’t want a trailer of ATVs, scientific research that increasingly has revealed that “common sense” consumptive uses aren’t as sustainable as almost everyone thought. But while wilderness designation makes sense on many levels, its advocates are more inspired than pragmatic — as they should be, for wilderness inspires those open to transcendence.

Charles Lindbergh said, “In wildness I sense the miracle of life…” Aldo Leopold quipped famously, “I am glad I shall never be young without wild country to be young in. Of what avail are forty freedoms without a blank spot on the map?” and “Having to squeeze the last drop of utility out of the land has the same desperate finality as having to chop up the furniture to keep warm.” Margaret Murie wondered, “Wilderness itself is the basis of all our civilization. I wonder if we have enough reverence for life to concede to wilderness the right to live on.” The love of wilderness and the desire to assure its availability to future generations is certainly a valid pair of values. If political achievement is the art of the possible, then wilderness designation must bend to political realities. This is what the Beaverhead-Deerlodge Partnership has done in its proposal, which in addition to wilderness designation includes stewardship logging projects that will support logging and milling companies, simultaneously improving the health of some beetle-killed stands. Partners include five wood-product companies and three conservation groups.

Let’s get behind the partnership’s proposal and set aside these bits of eternity while managing other lands appropriately for their character and values. The final forest management EIS should be out in early February followed by a 45-day comment period.

Rich Prodgers 610 Monroe Ave.

Dillon