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Feedback ForumNOW wants to hear from you! Send us your opinions, reactions and ideas about "Fighting Over Forests."Submissions for this question are no longer being accepted. Previously submitted comments appear below. Comments may have been edited for content or space. Poster: Florence Silberger Comment: I am vehemently opposed to having the public lands under the Roadless Area Conservation Rule opened up to private developmenr. Because of greed, the rain forests are slowly being eliminated, an area that is one of our largest suppliers of oxygen. Now, in his infinate wisdom, Mr. Bush is looking to eliminate another source of oxygen in our own back yard. When will it stop? Why does the greed of some people for more money have to mean the destruction of our planet? The need to destroy must be stopped and it must be stopped now! Poster: John Stephenson Comment: I hunt and recreate in the area around the Simplot Smoky Mine. I do not concur with such a distorted view as was presented on the PBS program. I think anytime you listen to something that is presented in the extreme, you need to recognize that it is just that, extreme. Mining and recreation can exist together on public lands. Mining practices have evolved as have many other environmental practices have. There are current problems from past practices that were state of the art then. Does that mean you cannot mine cleanly now? No. Clean up is happening for old problems. As for the guide who says he does not fish from a certain stream near the mine....I drink from that stream when I am hunting. My health is as good as his. Poster: Nelson Comment: Thank you for your excellent piece about the Idaho roadless areas. The 2001 Roadless Rule was arguably the most significant conservation action taken by the federal government since the enactment of the Wilderness Act in 1964. Despite the significance of the rule, very few people outside of the environmental community know anything about where the roadless areas actually are. Roadlessland.org is a non-commercial site that was put together to help people understand and explore these lands. The site maps all the roadless areas in the country and includes photos, comments, recreation sites and maps. Roadlessland.org (http://roadlessland.org) Poster: Su Harrigan Comment: I was shocked and so upset viewing your show, to think Bush would open these lands to mining and whatever they want to use them for. Why doesn't anyone hear about this??? I would like to see more shows on these devious acts of his. Or maybe not, they make me sick. Thank you for airing this show. Poster: Wanita Sears Comment: I highly recommend that anyone questioning beyond The Fighting Over Forests 2/22/'08 show read this excerpt and article Why Clinton is Taking American Land based from the October 29, 1999 Special Report by David Morgan Asheville Tribune The Revealing Story of a Rancher and the National Debt Case History: Hage v. United States. http://tinyurl.com/2wqe3q I found the Asheville Tribune article a few years ago. Unfortunately it is no longer archived. How to obtain full transcript is at bottom of linked article. Poster: Joanne Marlowe Comment: Thanks for the forum allowing people to weigh in on this most urgent problem. This is the type of thing that the Bush administration sneaks by the public before anyone is aware of it. We wouldn't be apprised of the Bush plan if it weren't for diligent reporting. This is one more example of how quickly our national resource heritage and our constitution can be damaged by a determined administration. Where is the oversight? The public has to assume more and more responsibility to make sure that sunlight reigns in the myriad of public policy decisions that this (and any) administration can affect and effect. Right on NOW! Poster: cmarg Comment: Controlled thinning of a forest and forest management is one thing and open mining is another thing all together. The wilderness we have as protected lands needs to stay protected and roadless for the future generations to enjoy. Poster: Madeline Brick Comment: What is so very sad is that George Bush continues to take America away from Americans. Your story about using our beautiful federal land for big business profit is yet another step in his continued destruction of our country. Poster: John Rathke Comment: The Bush administration's legacy: a wild America owned by businessmen;national parks that will be unrecognizable as such in 50 years;and increased global warming. Poster: marymccarthy Comment: No public lands to go to private interests. I want some pristine areas left for my children and grandchildren to enjoy. I am so tired of corporations and the obscene greed that fuels every move. It is time for the Congress to protect the interests of the American people over corporate interests. Poster: Rodger Schmitt Comment: I was dismayed to see that you got the first name of the Secy of Interior wrong; it is Dirk, not Dick. If you can't get the basic facts right, can you get the rest right? That's what some will think. But you did get it essentially right. I worked under the Bush Administration within the Department of Interior in the outdoor recreation arena and can verify that the Bush Administration focused on an agenda to open up the public lands to mining,logging, oil and gas drilling, off-highway vehicle use and general resource exploitation at the expense of conservation and sustenance of the resource. I watched as the Administration put political appointees like Mark Rey (and I sat in on meetings with Mr. Rey) into positions with a very clear agenda to undermine the conservation gains of the past 40 years. They controlled the agencies' agendas from the White House, taking away professional perspectives on issues and diminishing the scientific point of view. I left after 2+ years under Bush because I did not want to be part of this undermining of the missions of the agencies and the expertise of their staffs. There will be a concentrated effort to accelerate the entry onto the public lands to exploit resources during this year. Your pointing out this fact and raising the awareness of the American public might help to limit this effort. Thanks for tackling the subject. Poster: P. Mihalick Comment: Thank you for the program about Hillary Clinton. I agree completely! It is FINALLY an opportunity for a well-qualified WOMAN to have the highest office in the country and once again a man, much less qualified decides that he wants the job, so the women is once again shoved aside, demeaned, etc. When will it be time for the most qualified person, who happens to be a woman ! When will it be time for a less qualified person, a man, with little experience to wait his turn, or more to the point, work to get qualified! Hillary Clinton worked hard to get to this point. Barack Obama just one day decided he felt like running for president, what the heck! Sincerely! Poster: Janet Woodard Comment: I am now in my seventy-seventh year and have been a life-long Republican as well as having strong environmentalist leanings. Through the years, I have felt my political leanings being threatened as I've seen the Republican administrations threaten our legacy of beautiful national lands which were not meant to be raped by big business interests. With all the political words currently wafting around, I've heard not one candidate touch on preserving the national lands. It would be sickening to see the Bush administration open up these lands for destruction by big business leaving them polluted and scarred. It would be just one more thing that would make me very sorry for having voted largely Republican! I grew up on the edge of the beautiful Shawnee National Forest in southern Illinois spending almost every weekend in it hiking, walking, studying wildlife of all kinds and absorbing the beauty of this wonderful place. Today, one hears only the roar of ATV's in it and much of the land has been torn up by the machines. It's another sad case of government mismanagement of public lands. I grew up thinking the National Forest Service was there to preserve this area. Now, at this time of my life, I know that the government just let that area by misused by one small group, spoiling it for the rest of the public. Let's hope your great program will serve to make more people aware of the leanings of the Republican Party and, in particular, President Bush, and keep that in mind when they go to the polls this year. Poster: Margaret Schneider Comment: It is the policy of this president to strip Americans of our common heritage. George Bush has debts to pay back the corporations who helped get him elected. It is a travesty of justice to allow Bush to steal our public lands and pollute our environment. Why isn't this policy public knowledge? Were is the press and why aren't they presenting the story? Poster: Christian T. Misner Comment: If the Bush Administration goes forth with their plans to expand mining on Public land, I say we sue them. That's right. The land belongs to the people. So how does this sit with you: The People v. U.S.? I'm sick and tired of Bush's unilateral behavior threatening our lands and our health. Think this is possible? Why or why not? christianmisner@hotmail.com Christian T. Misner |
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