Finding common ground on use of public lands
To the editor:
In response to recent letters, stories and editorials about local land use:
There is much concern over the available use of roads on local public lands. I, along with countless others, love the land and enjoy the use of these lands for driving, camping, hunting, etc.
However, there is a responsible and legal way to engage in these activities. When on BLM-managed land, we must all comply with posted signs or risk violating federal mandates and possibly local ordinances.
A recent letter suggested a "serious act of civil disobedience" to protest BLM decision. But as a responsible user of our public land, I believe this is an unwise suggestion and would do more harm than good.
Such acts could lead to emergency closure of more BLM land, and that's the last thing we all want. There are legal and responsible venues for us to use that are part of our great country's democratic system.
The BLM and other federal land managers have the direction to designate the use of roads within their jurisdictions. For BLM, their 1998 Resource Management Plan is the guiding document that spells out how they handle the activities they do. It was part of a process which allowed us, the public, to provide comment and ideas of how we, as the users of the land, wanted BLM to manage such land.
We may not always agree with the direction or actions that BLM undertakes. We should try to get involved, however, when and where we can by being aware of what our local federal agencies are doing. Federal agencies post notices of federal actions in the Federal Register, local newspapers, their offices and other venues. Collectively, by becoming aware and getting involved with federal agency actions, we can continue to enjoy doing the things we all like to do on our public lands.
All users of our public lands should go to our local federal agency offices and their Web sites to become educated on what they already have in place, what they are doing or planning -- and get involved. For actions they propose, let's go to their public meetings, let's talk to their staff, let's tell them our specific concerns, let's submit our specific comments and monitor their progress.
We all have responsible and legal rights we can use to work together and reach amenable solutions for all.
Paul Aguirre
LAS VEGAS
To the editor:
As I was reading Steve Brittingham's Wednesday letter to the editor ("Trust bureaucrats with land-use decisions"), I kept thinking of a famous quote by Gen. Philip Sheridan during a previous U.S. government land grab. To paraphrase: "The only good off-roader is a dead off-roader."
Isn't it interesting that by demonizing off-roaders, the government has effectively closed hundreds of thousands of acres of public ... er, government ... lands to the people. And, in a shining example of "the pen is mightier than the sword," this land grab has been accomplished not with guns and cannon, but with the stroke of a pen.
By the way, what roads are not "user-created," as Mr. Brittingham referred to them? Las Vegas Boulevard? Interstate 15? State Route 157 to Mount Charleston? Hey, wait a minute. Mr. Brittingham is right. Mount Charleston was originally "colonized ... without motorized travel." We should go back to that immediately, shutting down Route 157 completely.
Mr. Brittingham can then walk from his home on Mount Charleston to Las Vegas every day.
Knight Allen
LAS VEGAS
