Anti-wilderness supporters continuing misinformation campaign

We keep hearing anti-Scotchman Peaks Wilderness rhetoric. Even after winning last year’s advisory vote, the opposers seem to have a need to justify their beliefs by keeping the misinformation and paranoid speculation flowing. Before last year’s vote they ginned up dire predictions about what wilderness designation would mean. These included eliminating guns and fire suppression from the area, the city Clark Fork burning in a wildfire and outright closure of the area to everyone. Surely the sky would be falling with wilderness designation.

We also heard that the proposed wilderness area covered a “vast swath” of Bonner County, but a closer look shows that the proposed Wilderness covers only slightly over 1 percent the county. National Forest lands belong to all Americans so you would think that the anti-wilderness people could be happy with controlling “only” 99 percent of Bonner County.

The latest speculation is that proposing the area as wilderness is part of the Yellowstone to Yukon Initiative and the UN plan to take over Bonner County (and the rest of the West). They obviously haven’t heard that since Scotchman Peaks is not recognized Sasquatch habitat, Y to Y and the UN are not interested.

The Scotchman Peaks and all designated wilderness areas are open to all people. The only restrictions are on motorized and mechanized transportation. Those restrictions have been in place in the Scotchman Peaks since the 1987 Forest Plan was finalized. We need to save some quiet places for the future as our world becomes ever more motorized.

KEN THACKER

Sagle