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Thank you, Mary Malone, for the fair reporting (June 8) of the Scotchman wilderness meeting at Hope, hosted by Sen. James Risch. Besides the January Clark Fork meeting that was held at the request of fed-up local residents, due to a complete lack of local public review in the past, this was the very first wilderness-specific meeting in the Clark Fork-Hope area, in the entire span of storied wilderness “process.”

Despite the law that requires them to do so and the 110 Forest Plan meetings held “across the forest,” the U.S. Forest Service held no wilderness-specific meeting in either community. FSPW boasts of 12 years of wilderness campaigning, yet also never held a single serious public meeting in either community on their own accord. Further in their apparent disdain of engaging the local communities, former and current representatives of both groups have derided local residents for not traveling 25 miles to Sandpoint to listen to the years of exceedingly boring Forest Plan meetings, in which Scotchman is just one part, to learn about what might lie ahead for an area only 3.5 miles from Clark Fork.

After this charade was blown up in Clark Fork in January, Sen. Risch’s office began to make plans for a real review and public vetting process, regarding an area with no realistic threats and an area in serious need of forest and wildlife habitat management. Concerned residents need to stay tuned for the next meeting, to be held in July in Clark Fork. Thank you, Sen. Risch.

STAN MYERS

Hope