WSP06605 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

rro / J. . . Preserving the Recreation Environment ~' '. Preserving the Recreill~~ E~i?O~j-~'; / 181 It is not enough to merely consider the recreation resource planning activities carried out singularly by the U.S. Forest Service. There are a number of other federal agencies who seek to sell their public works projects to the great silent majority on their incidental ability to satisfy leisure needs; . Federal roadbuilding efforts have recently sought to bring people to unique areas with little realization of the ecological dangers accompanying {he roadbuilding process. Roads have a way of reducing uniqueness rapidly-you have seen a hundred examples of roads which swallow up the views you were supposed to see. The Department of Transportation is cooperating with the U.S. Forest Service in the construction of the Ellis Loop Road that will render the Sandia Crest Recreation Area in the Cibola National Forest (New Mexico) more accessible, The present low,standard road to the Crest follows a less objectionable path than the proposed road and also serves as a buffer against over-use of the area. If the proposed road is constructed, recreation use of the Crest will certainly increase and it is highly likely that more roads will be needed. Secretary of Transportation John Volpe justifies the construction of this super-black way through the northern Sandias with simplistic wisdom: "In the early 1960s the President's Advisory Council on Recreation conducted an intensive nationwide study of recreation activities of the American public. This study revealed th:lt driving for pleasure is the nation's most important outdoor activity," If the road is to be built, it will be done over the documented objections of a number of conservation groups. . In 1936 tlie Secretary of Agriculture dedicated 3,800 acres of virgin forest in Western North Carolina to the memory of Joyce Kilmer, author of the well-remembered poem "Trees." TIle area was "to be preserved in its flatulal slate and to include only the simplest recreation facilities." l1ut today this forever~wild designation is threatened by the bulldozer and bureaucratic doubletalk, Working with the U,S, Department of Transportation, the Forest Service has proposed the construction of a scenic highway thcougll the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest. Originally the Iiighway route was scheduled to run south of the Memorial Forest; but many of the local constituency want the road to cross the high peaks in the nOrlhern part of the Forest because of the extra-scenic view and the promise of added tourisl dollars. The proposed intrusion involves more than unsightly road cuts, turbid waters, and the destruction of a virgin forest; it violates a 1936 commitment to all Americans to maintain this tract in its natural state amid development and urbanization pressures whatever they may be. Probably an easy commitment to make in the thirties; it is seen today as a hllldmark decision in the wilderness-short eastern United States. If the commitment is broken, the future security of many of our other recreation resources, however designated, is uncertain. . Even the U,S, Navy's proposed Project Sanguine is being billed by its leading Congressional proponent as potentially one of the greatest tourism and recreation attractions in the country. What is Project Sanguine? The project . While not necessarily thought of as a reservoir builder the Forest Service has warmed to the task because "the need for water-oriented recreation opportunities is important in providing essential benefits to the public," But in providing for the public well-being, we should know what is being s,crificed, In the Shawnee National Forest (Illinois) the U,S, Forest Service has development plans which would sacrifice the unique ecology of Lusk Creek, a cool, clear free-nowing stream which contrasts sharply with the many other murky bottomland streams found in this locale. Lusk Creek is presently used for a number of recreation pursuits, mostly of an environ- mentally compatible low impact nature. With the wide variety of recreation Likes in Southern Illinois, it is incomprehensible why one more unique stre3m and woodland resource need be inundated to provilie the same recreation experience that is now a common commodity. The future uf Lusk Creek is presently in the hands of the Forest Service, but more importantly, Congressional appropriations. In 1968 the U.S, Forest Service seriously considered a Disney-inspired resort area in the Mineral King Valley in the Sequoia National Forest. Planning was carried Ollt in anticipation of 1.7 million visitors annually. To place this in perspeclive, we shuuld note that Yosemite Valley in Yosemite National Park receives about 1.7 million visitors annually-only Yosemite Valley is seven times larger. With problems of environment impact readily apparent in Yosemite, the Sierra Club brought legal action against the proposed resort development-and won, Recently, however, the Sierra Club's right to bring {his suit against the Furest Service has been challenged by a California Federal Court of Appeals decision and the battle continues. With pressure from a number of national conservation organizations, the Sylvania Tract in Michigan's Upper Peninsula \Vas acquired in 1965 by the U.S. Forest Service because of its wilderness qualities and its ability to provide people with a unique experience. Today the tract is knowingly ur unknowingly being developed for high impact recreation pursuits with little concern for the environmental implications of access and resulting human impact. Ecologically inappropriate and uncontrolled use is being encouraged creating further enforcement problems. Development is threatening the habitat and solitude of a rare but reproducing population of bald eagles in Sylvania. Even with partial restrictions instituted, remaining use (and management) of snowmobiles and all-terrain vehicles threatens to negate all previous conservation efforts in behalf of the vanishing bald eagle in the north country, Timber is being cut on the tract by the Kimberly Clark Corporation of Neenah, Wisconsin-further detracting from the quality or the wilderness experienl.:e. The uniqueness of Sylvania is being destroyed by the very thing it is capable of providing-recreation opportunities, It is being destroyed by the access roads that not only have led to the silting uf boglands, but also make it overly accessible. Sylvania's destruction. is ent,ngled with the political process which places high priority on develop. ment for the public and low priority on wilderness. .