Paving Paradise for Parking Lots

Jonathan Hanson wrote a nice piece on the value of roadless areas in The Arizona Republic a few weeks ago. His blog -- The Alpha Environmentalist -- has a permanent link on the far right (scroll down and look around).

It's nice to hear Republicans talking ahout environmental protection. Once upon a time it was quite common. It is not an accident that conservation and conservatism have the same entymological root.

Hunting Greens ought to be the largest tribe in this nation, but the lunatic fringe on the Far Left and the Far Right want to divide us, and they have largely succeeded at their mission.

If you hunt and fish in the United States today, you already know a lot about habitat loss. Joni Mitchell predicted it all: We have paved over paradise and put up a parking lot. My friend Diego writes that sediment from logging roads is killing his trout streams in Idaho, while Matt Mullenix writes about losing his hawking fields to Wallmart parking lots. The rise of more and more plastic houses in farm country means more posted land, and the decline of the rifle everywhere east of the Mississippi.

Meanwhile, we have the Democrat party talking about reaching out to hunters and anglers even as their consultants rent direct mail lists from the Humane Society of the United States and Handgun Control Inc.

On the other side of the coin, we have wingtip-wearing corporate Republicans posing with borrowed shotguns even as they vote to encourage sprawl, widen roads, clearcut forests and strip mine the mountains.

In the middle are the Green Conservatives and the Hunting Liberals. We remain a tribe looking for a candidate. The fakery now being tried by both parties ("We're your friend -- vote for us."). is transparent to serious hunters and anglers who are used to spoting crap on game trails, and shadows moving through dark waters.

The right candidate, when he or she comes, will know which way to go when it comes to roadless forest protection.

This is not about left or right, Democrat or Republican, liberal or conservative. It's about protecting an essential part of the American Experience so we can pass it on to our children and grandchildren to come. Nothing is more liberal -- or conservative -- than that.

The Arizona Republic, July 10, 2006

Hunters, Anglers Should Back Roadless Wild Areas by Jonathan Hanson

As a Republican, 4x4 owner and hunter, I don't fit the current paradigm of an "environmentalist." But just like my mainstream environmentalist friends, I pay close attention to the management of our public lands, the birthright of all Americans.

The nation's national forests provide vital habitat for wildlife, protection for pure water sources and abundant hunting and fishing opportunities. The parts of those forests that remain roadless also offer the knowledge that even in the 21st century we can explore country that is similar to what the first pioneers experienced.

One endangered management policy - the Roadless Area Conservation Rule - ensures that future generations can share that experience. Roads and illegal off-road vehicle routes already crisscross many formerly pristine hunting grounds, reducing the quality of habitat for deer, elk and other species.

It's up to us to save what's left.

The Arizona Game and Fish Department is hosting a series of public meetings so hunters, anglers and others who care about wildlife can weigh in on this issue. The Phoenix meeting is today, and the Mesa meeting is Tuesday. For other places and times and to submit comments, sign on to www.azgfd.gov.

The original Roadless Area Conservation Rule was adopted in 2001 after a two-year process involving more than 600 public meetings. The Forest Service received 4 million comments on the proposal - more than for any other issue in its history.

Polls indicated that more than 80 percent of hunters and anglers supported the plan. The Outdoor Industry Association, which represents 4,000 companies involved in the $20 billion outdoor industry, supported it. Even the corporate headquarters of KB Homes sent a letter of endorsement.
But a recent Bush administration policy change means we must vote once again to maintain those protections.

The Roadless Rule prohibits new road building on only a third of all national forest land. The rest is still open to logging and other resource extraction, as well as motorized recreation, along 386,000 miles of existing Forest Service roads - enough to circle the earth 15 times.

Some say we need more roads for fire crews to fight wildfires. But according to the Forest Service, destructive fires occur much more frequently in roaded and logged areas than in roadless areas, and human-caused fires are almost five times more likely to start near a road. The Roadless Rule allows firefighters motorized access to fight wildfires within roadless areas.

Some hunters say roadless areas make hunting more difficult. But as true conservationist hunters, we should consider the health of the game first, our own convenience second. Several studies have shown that roadless areas make the best wildlife habitat. And I'm happy to work hard to enjoy a quality hunting experience in wild country unspoiled by the noise of vehicles.

America needs lumber and minerals and oil. We also need space for fans of motorized recreation. That's why most national forest land remains open for such activities - and existing motorized trails will remain open if the 2001 protections are reinstated.

The Roadless Area Conservation Rule is supported by a solid majority of Americans (and Arizonans) and is backed by sound science. Hunters and anglers in Arizona must support protection for our remaining roadless areas and show support for Gov. Janet Napolitano's view of the issue. The writer is an author and correspondent for Outside magazine, and a founding member of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers. He lives in Tucson.The writer is an author and correspondent for Outside magazine, and a founding member of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers. He lives in Tucson.

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The writer is an author and correspondent for Outside magazine, and a founding member of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers. He lives in Tucson.