Sierra National Forest is monument to bad management
The Sierra National Forest already is a national monument. It’s a national monument for the bad management of the natural resources for the past 30 years. It’s not managed for logging or grazing. Just look at all the dead trees that people think are caused by drought and a bark beetle.
If the forest would have been managed the right way, those trees could have been harvested a long time ago. Where do people think the roads in the forest that visitors use come from? They come from loggers who build them as part of their harvest contracts. There are no new roads for visitors, and a lot of old roads are closed and not maintained. Why?
The people who harvested this natural resource are all gone. What you have left are dead trees, forest fires, burned homes and people who worked all their lives for your monument.
You say it’s time to move toward more sustainable management that will place natural and human values above those of corporate interests? You say that since Congress seems incapable of action, ask President Obama to act directly to establish the Sierra National Monument? Really?
Robert Hill, Madera Ranchos
This story was originally published September 12, 2016 at 11:57 AM with the headline "Sierra National Forest is monument to bad management."