Letters to the Editor for July 20, 2009

Wait until the next election

To the editor:

Several city councilors felt that Steve Brocato was an effective and efficient city manager. Others found him to be abrasive to the public and disrespectful of the city council. Unfortunately for him, the latter group was in the majority, and he is now our ex-city manager.

Now we have calls for boycotting York's and Bella's. Petitions to recall Dennis Dorrah and Bev Calder are being circulated. What next? Shall supporters of Dorrah and Calder ask for a boycott of businesses that support their recall? Should the anti-Brocato side seek to recall pro-Bocato councilors? Enough is enough!

If you don't like how Dorrah and Calder voted in the Brocato matter, then in the next election vote for someone you prefer to them. What has been done cannot be undone. So don't sign a recall petition. Don't put the people of Baker City through the bitterness and expense of a recall election.    

Pete Sundin

Baker City

Say ‘no more’ to road closures

To the editor:

Which Travel Management Plan alternative? Again the Forest Service seeks comments, wanting us to pick one of six alternatives. These alternatives reflect  previous rounds of comments. This being said, I urge the over 6,000 signers of a petition that stated “No More Closure” to respond in support of Alternative 1.  Submitting a substantive comment gives us grounds for appeal. The Forest Service and Baker County have indicated focus should be on alternatives 3 and 5, thus distracting comments from the alternative that reflects “no more closures,” which can only be alternative 1.

To quote Cindy Christensen (TMP team leader), Wallowa Chieftain: “Every alternative will get equal analysis and consideration by (Wallowa-Whitman National Forest Supervisor) Steve Ellis. Everything from doing nothing all the way to the full range of alternatives we consider. We have no orders from above that make anything impossible. I definitely anticipate that we will be considering everything they hand into us very seriously.”

Direct your comment to reflect your preference, not that of the Forest Service. Using the ATV as scapegoat for all the woes that exist on public lands is an attempt to justify closures. Culture and economic impacts will resonate many years if the closures become reality. Roadbeds are a resource and need to be considered vitally important to everyone that enjoys the forest.

Take into account the No. 1 threat to our forests, wildfire: Every roadbed has the potential of saving natural resources plus millions of tax dollars. Endangered species and critical habitat are being pushed. It is amazing how prehistoric bull trout have survived through the mining, fire, logging, grazing, seasonal droughts and spring flushes, but are having difficulty with the only activity remaining in the forest, recreation.

The Travel Management Plan isn’t final but already the Blue Mountain Revision Plan is back. BLM’s also working at closures. Millions of acres are up for wilderness designation. Will Baker County fight this next round, or again, offer up 50 percent of our roads? It’s up to us as individuals to make the statement, “No More.”   

Wanda Ballard

Baker City