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Wednesday, May 16, 2018 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
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Letters to the Editor…
The Nugget welcomes contributions from its readers, which must include the writerʼs name, address and phone number. Let-
ters to the Editor is an open forum for the community and contains unsolicited opinions not necessarily shared by the Editor.
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To the Editor:
Each time I drive by Sisters Airport, I shake
my head when I look at the development in the
flight path.
I worked for the USAF for 25 years, and
during that time I witnessed the closure of two
bases because of encroachment by develop-
ment. In each case the municipal authorities
allowed the construction of subdivisions in
the flight path, right up to the perimeter of the
base. As people moved in, complaints began to
mount about safety and noise. Eventually the
bases were forced to close.
The same thing could happen to Sisters
Airport. As more people move in to the
development across from the runway and air
traffic increases with the growth in popula-
tion and number of visitors, inevitably com-
plaints about safety and noise will be increas-
ingly voiced. This will, in turn, increase the
likelihood that the airport will eventually have
to be closed.
In short, allowing development in the flight
path was not a good idea.
Gary Leiser
s
s
s
To the Editor:
A couple of weeks ago, Katy Yoder wrote a
thoughtful article on my sweet little mustang
filly named “Grace” and her complicated
health challenges.
As a result of that piece, we have
experienced so much love and support and
I cannot thank the people of this special
community (and their friends beyond)
enough. In a world where we find ourselves
See LETTERS on page 30
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N
Permits to replace
freedom of the hills
By Art Pope
Correspondent
Are you a hiker, back-
packer or climber — or a
person who just loves get-
ting outside? Well, if you
haven’t heard, your ability
to access five of Oregon’s
premier wilderness areas
is about to change. The
Willamette and Deschutes
National Forests, concerned
about impacts associated
with overuse, have proposed
a quota-based permit sys-
tem for the Three Sisters,
Mount Jefferson, Mount
Washington, Diamond Peak,
and Waldo Lake wilderness
areas. No doubt about it; this
is a historic change. Soon it
will take much more than
just a free weekend or great
weather forecast for you to
be able to load up and go hik-
ing or backpacking in these
areas.
The Forest Service has
determined that overuse is
causing resource damage
and that restricting access is
the only way to address the
problem. At just over 200
pages, the Environmental
Assessment for the Cascades
Wilderness Strategies Project
is a massive document full of
data and copious references
to impressive research stud-
ies. Five alternative actions
are proposed but, except for
the no-action alternative,
they all end up in the same
place: a quota-based permit
system.
As far as I have been able
to determine, if any of the
proposed alternatives (other
than no-action) are adopted,
it will create the biggest, most
restrictive and comprehen-
sive limited-entry wilderness
permit program in the coun-
try. Make no mistake, if you
visit any of the five wilder-
ness areas addressed in this
plan you will be impacted.
Alternative 2, the preferred
alternative, requires permits
for all overnight camping in
all five wilderness areas and
permits for day hikes at most
trailheads.
Implementing a limited-
entry permit system over five
wilderness areas is a very big
deal, and the need for such a
program should be indisput-
ably documented. It is not.
Though the underlying prem-
ise is that use levels must be
reduced because overuse
is causing damage to the
resource there is insufficient
documentation of extensive
resource damage to justify
implementation of such an
extensive and restrictive per-
mit system.
The agency’s push for
a limited-entry permit sys-
tem, one impacting such a
vast area with so little back-
ground data on user impacts,
might make one ask if gen-
erating revenue was a major
focus of this plan — a con-
cern not without merit. The
permit system on Idaho’s
Middle Fork of the Salmon
generates tens of thousands
of dollars in application fees
every year. Yes, that’s right,
application fees. Would-be
boaters must pay to apply
even when most never get to
float the river.
Could this happen
in Oregon? Absolutely!
Unfortunately, we just don’t
know; the current Forest
Service NEPA document
does not address fees or bud-
gets. As it was explained to
me, consideration of issues
related to the permit system
— things like fees, budgets,
personnel and such — are
outside the scope of the
NEPA review; the public
will have the opportunity to
comment on those issues at a
later date.
Being asked to comment
on this proposal without
knowing how much it will
cost and how it will work is
rather like being asked to buy
a house without going inside.
I was told that the agency
expects permit fees to not
only support the permit sys-
tem but trail crews, wilder-
ness rangers and desk time
for office staff. Based on tra-
ditional norms, permit fees
will also support a percentage
of payroll costs for every-
one that touches wilderness;
from the District Ranger to
the Forest Supervisor. How
much will all this cost? Right
now, we just don’t know. My
guess: it won’t be cheap.
In some instances, there
is no alternative to a permit
system. However, the ques-
tion Forest Service leader-
ship has failed to address is:
are we truly at a point where
there is no alternative to a
quota-based permit system?
It is not clear to me that we
are.
You have until May 21
to comment on the Central
C a s c a d e s Wi l d e r n e s s
Strategies Project. Contact
Beth Peer, bpeer@fs.fed.us
or 541-383-5554; or Matt
Peterson mbpeterson@fs.fed.
us, 541-225-6421 if you have
questions.
Opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer and
are not necessarily shared by the Editor or The Nugget Newspaper.