Protect woodland caribou and preserve their habitat

In commenting on the snowmobile ban in the designated caribou habitat recovery area, first I'd like to say that I really enjoy skiing and snowmobiling in the Selkirk Mountains. Second, when considering the plight of the woodland caribou, I know that we humans have all the options. Businesses and people are very adaptable. We can reorganize, retool or even relocate.

Woodland caribou, on the other hand, are the result of eons of evolution, very specifically adapted to their limited (and shrinking) habitat, the Selkirk Mountains, and are not adaptable or able to relocate. The woodland caribou is faced with extinction at this very point in history and we humans have the option to prevent it.

In this day and age, we have so many options available to us, to say that we let the woodland caribou go extinct, in part at least, because of our desire to snowmobile in their finite habitat (which they've grown to completely depend on over the centuries) is in my view inexcusable. And, if people's livelihoods are devastated as a result of no recreating in woodland caribou habitat, hen they probably do deserve some type of compensation.

Perhaps that is where we could focus some energy — on how to compensate those whose livelihoods were devastated as a result of protection for the woodland caribou. I don't think there will be many cases.

Meanwhile, there are many other places we can snowmobile where our actions don't directly contribute to the extinction of a unique species of the planet Earth.

Besides, I hope to one day see a woodland caribou and I know that there are many other people, present and future, who would like to see them, too.

Please, folks, support all efforts to protect the last of the woodland caribou.

CHRIS PARK

Sandpoint