Review forest plan online
By now you have read various opinions regarding the Nez Perce-Clearwater Forest Plan and draft Record of Decision. The plan provides a strategic framework for future forest management; the draft Record of Decision articulates the decision with supporting rationale.
As required by law, this plan is based on best available scientific information and seeks to provide for current social and economic needs while sustaining the health, diversity and productivity of the forests for future generations.
With science and extensive collaboration as a foundation, the plan was constructed by assembling tens of thousands of comments into management scenarios across the 4 million-acre landscape, much like fitting pieces of a puzzle together to create a cohesive picture. My goal has been for everyone to see their “piece” in the completed puzzle, though it might not be shaped or positioned exactly as desired.
As we enter the home stretch of a 12-year planning process, I encourage individuals ... to ask questions and review our documents by searching “Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests – Planning” on usda.gov.
Individuals who provided comments during formal comment periods have until Jan. 29 to file an objection so unresolved concerns can be reviewed prior to a final decision. Individuals with “standing” who do not file an objection have an opportunity to stay involved as an interested party.
Our goal is to have a final decision in mid-year. I sincerely appreciate the efforts of all who have participated thus far. This is your plan. This is our future.
Cheryl Probert
Nez Perce-Clearwater Forest supervisor
Kamiah
Fuel for ‘fear train’
I’m writing regarding the article in the Jan. 3 Lewiston Tribune in the Inside Northwest section headlined “Those breathing poor air in WA live sicker, die younger, report says.”
The report from the Washington Department of Ecology, based on research from the University of Washington Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, tells us all that the BS factories, centered in Olympia and institutions of higher learning, are spending time and tax dollars telling us nothing and only providing fuel to drive the “fear train.”
The “experts” would have us believe that the air we breathe is determined by skin color, the language we speak and the locations where we live. Living in Los Angeles or Seattle will for sure mean you are breathing more exhaust effluent.
Air quality has nothing to do with language or skin color. Skin color cannot, under any circumstances be changed, so making it part of the research equation is flawed at best. The language one speaks and the location where someone lives can both be changed. They are choices. So is the concept of economic status.
So this research, closely tied to the Climate Commitment Act of 2021, (a boondoggle put on us by woke politicians and unelected bureaucrats), is a stepping stone to more regulatory control over the general population, and has nothing to do with health.
Jock Demme
Lewiston
Questioning the wreaths
I read with interest Sandra Lee’s letter published Dec. 31.
My parents were Marines in World War II and were very active in veterans’ organizations. My mother taught flag etiquette to many schoolchildren. We decorated veterans’ graves with U.S. flags before the Wreaths Across America began.
However, I, too, like Ms. Lee, question the wisdom of the expense and benefit of all the wreaths. Is it really the right thing to do when so many veterans and active duty soldiers are hurting?
For a long time, I’ve wanted to express these concerns but thought I’d be judged “un-American.” Thank you, Ms. Lee, for writing your letter.
Please consider her advice in the last paragraph: “Spend the money to help the living, and gather flowers or greens from your yard or the forest to decorate graves. Gather at the cemeteries and sing a song or tell a story about the veterans you know. Use the money for more than feeling good and pray for peace.”
Michelle S. Perdue
Grangeville
