Forest Management Plan Offers Citizens Three Choices

November 16, 2002
By Sammie Snoop

SILVER NATIONAL FOREST- The National Forest Service (The Forest) has presented residents of the Silver County region with three choices. These choices will be presented at an upcoming public forum and will be voted on in the upcoming elections, to be held On November 26.

Says Alice Anderson, spokesperson for the Silver County Forest Planning Team, "Silver County Residents are going to have to make some very difficult decisions in the next few months. The outcome of this process will affect everyone living this area."

The three choices deal with four pressing problems the Silver County Forests are facing. They include the threat of forest fires, the contaminated sediment in the Wamasana River, the proposed development of the Mineral Mountain Estates and the declining population of the Yellow-Breasted Toad.

Silver County residents will choose between Plan A, B and C. Each plan caters to different interest groups. Plan A caters to environmentalists, Plan B is geared towards developers, and Plan C attempts to compromise between the two.

The Forest's proposals have struck some nerves with Silver County residents.

Lucy Lucky, from the Silver County Historic Society and Tourism Board, says, "I'm completely in favor of Plan C. We have been pushing so hard to increase tourism in this area and the other two plans will completely crush our attempts."

Jack Dover, leader of the Silver County Libertarian Movement is in agreement, but for different reasons. He says, "Plans A and B are just another attempt by the government to take away the land that was granted to us by the U.S. constitution. The Forest service doesn't have the right to enact these plans."

However, Abigail Fisher, of Silver Area Network for the Environment, holds the opposite opinion. She says, "I think that many Silver County residents aren't thinking about the future. What we do today will impact this area for generations to come. While plans B and C are good for right now, plan A is the only one that can protect the wildlife and natural beauty of Silver County."

All these differing opinions make it clear that the members of the Forest Service will have their work cut out for them in the next few months.