*** BLUERIBBON ALERT *** BLUERIBBON ALERT *** BLUERIBBON ALERT ***
Comments must be in by Thursday, September 12th!

Dear Subscriber:

President Bush has announced his new Forest Health Initiative in response to the record number of acres of public and private lands devastated by catastrophic wildfires, along with hundreds of homes destroyed, and over a score of human lives lost. The need for the initiative is the inability of the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management to effectively respond due to gridlock within the agencies. This gridlock is a result of a steady stream of appeals and legal challenges by anti-recreation and anti-access groups, and has resulted in “Analysis Paralysis,” in the words of Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth.

To take action now and send a letter to your congressionals supporting the President’s initiative, go to:

http://capwiz.com/share/issues/alert/?alertid=472801

We urge you to send a letter as soon as possible! We must let our professional land managers use the tools they have available to them to reduce this fire threat.

Bill Dart
BRC Public Lands Director
brbill_d@sharetrails.org

Don Amador
BRC Western Representative
brdon_a@sharetrails.org
*** END ALERT *** END ALERT *** END ALERT *** END ALERT ***

btt

Done ... on behalf of central WI.

cm "btt" k

done

One from Nevada,,

done!

Done

done

Done.

Wes

and over a score of human lives lost

how many are in a "score"?

Done BTT
Score equals 20 :flipoff2:

Those were some of the easiest letters I have written:D

That system is NICCCCCCEEEEE!

Done!

Done, from Western NY.

Done for 37086.

be careful what you wish for. his plan is to let the timber industry select what they want to cut. it needs to be modified so the government (foresters) selects the cuts and hold the timber industry to cleaning up the lower level of debri, which is the main problem. no, i'm not a tree hugger, just a wildland firefighter that can see through the loopholes in his plan.

Originally posted by hightechredneck
Done for 37086.

thanks for stealing my avatar tag line Newbie!:mad:

Originally posted by Macgyver


thanks for stealing my avatar tag line Newbie!:mad:


oh, fawk off! :flipoff2:

on edit: I actually had never noticed your line before. I've used this user name on other boards over the past few years and tried it first thing when signing up. It worked, so I used it. I didn't "steal" your line. Sorry. :flipoff2:

Done from Louisiana

Done and to the top:D

Completed....Kentucky has been informed.

One in from Central Texas

Done.

done

BTT

Add another Texas boy to the list!


Hank

93940 rep-re-zent-in! That is the third letter I have sent to Barbara Boxer this month, that woman must hate me by now. :flipoff2:

Done.

Done

98908

Sent link to all in my address book

done

Done.

one more!

Done from 95023

did it

the underbrush that start's said fires wasn't an issue 15 years ago when timber buisness's were allowed to do "slash burns" after a unit had been logged off all tehcrap was drug into big piles and burrnned, hence no underbrush, better for wildlife, better for the timber and better fire safety... but some dumb ass didn't like the smoke...

Thanks for the link! Done!

It doesn't get any esier than that!

done. we should have a letter of the week.

Originally posted by larryboy
done. we should have a letter of the week.

I agree, we should have a letter of the week.

Let Brad or Peter pick a topic from the Landuse Forum, and let Congress know how we feel. This effort should not be limited to only this BBS.

A quick letter letting Congress know you plan to be out exercising your right to motorized recreation on National Public Lands Day might be a good thing to communicate, so they know we are watching their voting record and actions.

Currently there is the Yellowstone Snowmobile Ban as a topic, and the "Wild Sky Islands" Bill (HR4844) on the prepackaged selection of choices. The Snowmobile Ruling is another eleventh-hour rule that the Clinton/Gore Administration tried to railroad, and Sky Islands is disguised Wildlands project legislation. You can guess that the "guiding" and "curfew" restrictions placed in the snowmobile rules are high on the radical's agenda to impose on OHV's and wheelers (if they are successful).

If any of you guys have not used the Blue Ribbon Coalition web link to write Congress before, the addition of allowing you to "write a letter of your own choice" to your Senators and Representitives is great, providing great freedom regarding topics.

BTW, if we get organized and share zip codes for targeted Congress members, we can all reach out to support your local issue of concern -- with that specific local Congress member ;).

Happy Trails!

Done

top

bump

done

now go do it yourself!

That was easy....

I always do these, but I feel like a sheep.
Do these sort of things work?

The form letters, like this recommendation to support the President's position (linked from the Blue Ribbon Coalition web site) have an impact to inform our politicians that there are others watching them, people like us that are not aligned with funded lobby interests (folks like the Sierra Club).

I have received return letters from my House Representative acknowledging my concerns, and with a phone call they have told me I was one of less than a dozen letters on the topic. One of twelve is a fair odd for consideration (and they offered that the recommendations were split on many of the issues). If we can help neutralize the anti-recreation lobby attack on Congress, it helps (they know who watches and remembers when election time returns).

The e-mail campaigns for comment on issues of Administrative Agency Rule making carry more weight. These are the requests for comment on BLM and USFS Management Plans, Plan Revisions, and Amendments. These messages are disassembled and each separate topic of concern must be recorded and addressed. Each unique topic or comment carries weight, even emotional demands. This is why the personal input in the "open comments" window of web site letter generators are so important.

The Roadless Rule advanced notice of decision report is a great example of this procedure. The radical environmental establishment generated over 100,000 common (down to the letter) postcard comments that were disassembled and recognized as a single topic. Weight = one comment. The recreation and resource protection establishment comments were much more varied and carried as much weight, without the thousands of repeated demands.

California enthusiasts would be surprised to find less than 300 comments came from Southern California on the BLM NEMO process. There are easily more than 300 people on this BBS who could comment on restrictions that could effect the Rand Mountains, the Mojave Road, a potential route for Barstow to Vegas races, and Surprise Canyon eligibility for closure as a Wild and Scenic river.

I know the counts, because they print the County of respondents and number of letter submitted per County in the reports.

Comments (letters) on local issues really make an impact. Two years ago an Agency requested "environmental concern" comments on a permit for a motorcycle event. Few motorcycle enthusiasts had any "environmental concern" and most initially elected to not write a letter (why raise an issue that may cancel the event).

The permit was in danger of cancellation, because all the comments submitted demanded the agency do expensive work to mediate potential habitat impacts. A word got out that letters were needed stating a voice of assistance and support to the Agency, to mitigate any issues that would reject the permit. Telling the agency to spend what it takes to approve the event became an "environmental concern."

The final comment count was seventeen letters of "concerns" and almost forty letters of support for the agency to hold the event. The weight of the letters urging the agency to spend the funds to approve the event without conflict (for the biological review of the course, and mediation measures for identified habitat conflicts) were enough to assure the event could continue. Without the enthusiast letters, the agency would not have allocated the expenses and labor to harden all stream crossings and cover all course routes that traveled in close proximity to archaeological sites (two of the many demands by the radicals to get the event cancelled).

The agency had a choice: cancel the event permit and abandon researching any mediation that would allow the event to continue (at no cost), or spend the effort and expense to address all the "environment concerns" and grant the event permit. The enthusiast comment weight persuaded the agency to spend the expense.

The mediation measures were documented and monitored, and this year the event permit was solicited for comments with a lengthy letter reflecting each "environment concern" and each mediation measure employed to address the concerns. The comment request removed the standard objections with a statement requesting only "new concerns." This years event permit was granted without all the prior years' drama.

What do you think (now)?

I also hope when you read "environmental concern comment" requests you realize that the agency has no choice but to address each submitted concern: through abandonment and closure, or through the expensive process of active management. The anti-recreation advocates want them to decide the cost is too much to warrant keeping recreation access open (manage it like Wilderness, and it will eventually qualify for Wilderness, the Roadless Rule strategy that it's too expensive to maintain the areas road backlog). Enthusiast comments telling them to spend what it takes to keep the area free of environment concern conflict, but keep the area open to motorized recreation as well, carries a voice that also must be addressed (a defensive line opposing unwarranted Wilderness additions).

Happy Trails!