The Sun Journal headline reads “Plans confirmed to open more forests to logging” (July 13), specifically the 58 million acres of national forests designated by former President Clinton as “roadless.” Nationwide, the national forests total 192 million acres. These forests belong to all U.S. citizens, and we have a vote on how they are managed.

Roads in national forests allow access to forest fires and the West has been a tinderbox in recent years. Millions of forest acres burn yearly. President Bush has the right plan for the national forests. It’s all about managing forests for future generations. Forest fires add to global warming, kill wildlife, decimate forest jobs and burn homes.

Timber harvest, on a sustainable level 20 years ago, was 12 billion board feet on national forests. Today it is 2.5 billion board feet. The Clinton administration’s roadless policy was unfortunate, and President Bush is on the right road for a practical approach for managing national forests.

I am a professional forester and have managed forest-lands on national forests in the West. Politics and turf fights have compromised the ability of foresters to manage federal forests and the increased cost of forest fire suppression is shared by all citizens. Some organizations would have the U.S. shut down timber harvest altogether on national forests. These groups lobby Congress in Washington for this purpose. If they should succeed in their endeavors, then forest insects and disease and forest fires would decimate forests. We all live in wood homes.

Walter R. Gooley, Farmington

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