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Viewpoints

Closing Forest Service Roads
By Drew Mathews

 

January 29, 2008
Tuesday


Recently there has been a push by the USFS Ketchikan Ranger District to close some of the old and new logging roads in the Ketchikan area. As a user of these roads I am concerned that non-logging interests are being over looked. The USFS builds these roads for logging and once the logging has been done, they want to close them. I can understand that they do not want the expense of maintaining them, but these roads provide us use for berry picking, sightseeing, hunting, fishing and other activities.

My hope is that they will leave the roads in a status that allows us to use ATV's and bikes on these roads as long as nature allows us to use them. If the roads are not maintained, they will slowly grow over and close themselves, but why rush that process when the rest of the public can use these roads for several years to access remote areas and enjoy the forest and the clear cuts? Lord knows a clear cut is not that enjoyable to look at, but they are fun to pick berries in and to hunt.

I am not opposed to logging, but am opposed to shutting down logging roads once they are built. Let nature shut the roads down by themselves and let us use them as long as we can, without any added expense to the USFS. One of the proposed road closures is a road that is currently being built. That just does not make any sense to me. They have not even logged it yet and they have proposed closing it.

Drew Mathews
Ketchikan, AK

Received January 29, 2008 - Published January 29, 2008

 

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