Wilderness
Misstatements

In response to the 10/5 editorial "Wilderness Turf War," I must clarify two important factual errors for the readers of the Herald of Randolph.

The Vermont House of Representatives passed its resolution opposing wilderness in 2003, not 2004 as stated in the editorial, when the House had a solid Republican majority (not "dominated by Democrats" as stated in the editorial). The House of Representatives in the 2002/03 biennium was noted by Vermont's conservation community for being particularly hostile towards environment protection. Thus, it was of little surprise to most that they voted to oppose additional wilderness designation on the Green Mountain National Forest. The Vermont Senate, with its Democratic majority took no such similar action.

The editorial also states that "the governor was trying to restore an agreement hammered out over several years among hundreds of Vermonters regarding how much new acreage should be set aside in the GMNF for officially designated wilderness." There was never any such agreement that I know of.

If the editorial is referring to the Green Mountain National Forest Management Plan, then readers of this paper should know that the Forest Service has the legal authority only to recommend wilderness to be protected, while it is solely up to the U.S. Congress to designate wilderness areas. This is a very important distinction.

I agree with the author that the Green Mountain National Forest's multiple use philosophy has served Vermont well. And wilderness is a critical part of that multiple use. Of the 400,000 acres in the forest, 60,000 acres are currently designated as wilderness. If the Vermont Wilderness bill were to pass, it would designate an additional 42,000 acres, that would leave almost 300,000 acres of the Green Mountain National Forest to serve the myriad of other important uses—snowmobiling, timber harvesting, etc.

This seems like a fair balance for our wonderful forest, and one that is backed overwhelmingly by public opinion.

Peter Sterling

The Wilderness Society

Montpelier