Local resident raises real concerns and questinos about BLM WOPR Proposal
Thursday, February 07, 2008
Local resident Bill Hansen has given us kind permission to reprint the following letter sent to Commissioner Fleenor.
Feb 6, 2008
Hi Bill,
First, I'd like to express how much I've enjoyed the give-and-take of our gatherings at "Joe's." I always come away from them having learned more on the seemingly endless learning curve! My neighbors seem to come up with insights that I may never have heard, had we not gathered in this manner. So it's a great "back to the future" concept, and I hope it will continue. As in the commonly-held town meetings in days of yore, one never knows what will emerge until issues are put in the public forum, and people are allowed to speak their minds in a relaxed and accepting atmosphere.
I also took the opportunity to read your excellent letter to the BLM, and you can regard it as a given that you are expressing my position as well. Let solid, unbiased science determine the highest and best uses for the most people in this matter.
Mr. DeFazio has issued a letter touting his proposals for a consensus re: The Northwest Forest Plan, or what's left of it. Interesting material, but I have not yet read the totality of his proposal and nowhere in the cover letter does he mention privately-held lands and government regulation thereof and nothing of W.O.P.R., at least directly. But he is correct in saying that time is running out; the current stalemates that exist legally and philosophically benefit no one, and that we all somehow need to end up on the same page. Hard to disagree with that, eh? Compromise is indeed a wonderful thing, but in that process of give and take, all parties, especially the ones holding the bags of money, want to take and take more, but no one wants to give. I again use the term "conundrum," but dilemma or just plain slippery slope would do as well.
The catch is that none of these issues exists in a vacuum: Change in any sphere affects the nature of the whole matrix, and no single action is without multiple repercussions. Sheesh! I've been following public policy for years and still feel I don't know enough, or at least there's a staggering amount more to be learned. Class is always in session. I must know a little, because I know I don't know allot!
Best,
Richard A. Hansen
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