As more of our BLM and National Forest lands are changed to “wilderness areas,” I believe it amounts to no more than a land grab by a select few that want private rights to public lands. The latest area that will probably receive the esteemed title is the Dominguez area.

Does anyone care about the enormous area they are closing except to a very few? And now that the liberals have this area all but designated, they are eyeing another large area out of Gateway.

Where will they close off next? How many people can hike miles into these lands once they’re “designated”? Are the disabled, handicapped, seniors or young able to? Does our forest service, BLM or state legislators even think about this population? Who cares about their rights?

Several years ago I had an accident that crushed my right foot. My “designation” now is permanently, partially disabled. In order to continue some semblance of our Colorado outdoor life-style my husband and I purchased ATVs. I could no longer hike rough terrain as I used to. But every year more areas are being closed. Every year more closures are due, in part, to wilderness designations.

Special interest liberals are fulfilling their agendas, and there’s not one cup of common sense among them. We, the people, are very gullible if we believe it is “for future generations.” The more areas and roads that are closed off, the more congested and damaged the remainder becomes, which our liberal friends will use to justify more closures. What ever happened to being reasonable? I believe closures and designations are being taken to the extreme, and the next generation will have nominal public lands to enjoy, especially if they happen to be disabled.

JANIS THOMPSON
Grand Junction

This entry was posted on Monday, February 25th, 2008 at 3:00 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.