[pct-l] United we Fall

[Lonetrail at aol.com (Lonetrail@aol.com)]

United We Fall 
I have been noticing articles about our forests that concern me. I have  made 
a list, that if you are not aware of, you should be. After all its our  
forest. 
A plan for luxury homes to be built on the road to Mt Whitney by none  other 
than a prominent member of yes ?The Sierra Club,? Jim Walters a dedicated  
conservationist wants to develop 74 acres into luxury housing sub division below 
 the jagged gray 14,494 foot peak.  
Forest Service may sell 20 percent or more of its buildings and the land  
they sit on. Some of these properties are in our National Forests. This would  
create pockets of private development, bringing people vehicles, pets and noise  
to wildlife areas. 
In the Las  Vegas area the administration is planning to sell  billions of 
dollars of Public land to offset the Federal deficit. The  president's 2006 
budget proposal slashes the Forest Service capital improvements  and maintenance 
by 25% to 381 million. Yet we can forgive 40 Billion dollars of  debt to other 
nations. 
Development in the Eastern Sierra threatens the mule deer herd along the  300 
mile section of U. S 395 running between Bishop and Susanville. The fate of  
the herd depends on local decisions by local elected officials. Money talks 
and  the Herd walks said a local Land developer.  
Where have all the Rangers gone? What happen to these once ubiquitous  
helpers with funny hats? The root reason is, they say, a persistent shortfall of  
government funding. They are being replaced by employees and volunteers from  
private nonprofit Assn. or foreign investors buying up resorts in or boarding  
our National Parks... If there are four or five programs a night perhaps only  
one is done by a National Park Service Ranger. 
In the  last  decade, the National Parks  Service has added 20 parks, an 
increase of 5.4%,  Totaling more then a million acres, but  has added only 4% more 
employees. One of these is a Park in the Florida  Everglades purchased by the 
present administration. What was not told to us was  that it was owned by a 
friend of the Governor of Florida, the brother of our  President George Bush. 
Purchase price was $80,000 million more than the asking  price.  
I must say we are united for failure. We no longer have a right or left,  
liberal or conservative standing up for our forests. We can no longer polarize  
our beliefs by taking sides with one political party over another both have  
turned against us. It is now our fight lets stand shoulder to shoulder making a  
forest out of our bodies a tree can't vote but we can. We must make our 
voices  be heard before the laws like the above are made. Let's make the Land 
Builders  take a walk not our herds. 
We need a political action group to represent us, or united we  fall 
Lone trail 
.