[MCN] Groups object to ‘undemocratic’ Gallatin Community Collaborative process

[Matthew Koehler]

Here's yet another Montana example of an undemocratic so-called
'collaborative' group that is looking to slice and dice up our public lands.

Groups object to ‘undemocratic’ Gallatin Community Collaborative process
<http://forestpolicypub.com/2016/04/01/groups-object-to-undemocratic-gallatin-community-collaborative-process/>
1 April 2016, 10:26 am
<http://forestpolicypub.com/2016/04/01/groups-object-to-undemocratic-gallatin-community-collaborative-process/>

http://forestpolicypub.com/2016/04/01/groups-object-to-undemocratic-gallatin-community-collaborative-process/

Date: March 31, 2016 at 4:03:32 PM MDT
To: gallatincollaborative at gmail.com
Cc: Mary Erickson <mcerickson at fs.fed.us>

Please see the attached letter
<http://forestpolicypub.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Gallatin-CC-letter.pdf>
regarding
the Gallatin Community Collaborative and our recommendation for the
Gallatin Range Wilderness.  The letter is being provided on behalf of 14
organizations and 4 individuals.

March 29, 2016

RE: Gallatin Community Collaborative process

To Whom It May Concern:

We the undersigned organizations and citizens object to the Gallatin
Community Collaborative (GCC) process. It is undemocratic and allows a
small select group of locals to exert undue influence over Federal land
management policy. We object to these efforts to exert local control over
public lands that belong to all Americans. While local citizens will almost
always have more opportunity to influence public land decision- making than
do citizens living thousands or even hundreds of miles away, local-control
groups like the GCC ensure the vast majority of citizens will be excluded
from decisions made about their lands. Such “user group” driven processes
lose sight of the fact that most Americans cherish their public lands for
the benefits these lands provide to wildlife, plants, and ecosystem
processes, rather than the desires of those who care mostly about their
particular use or activities.

We support wilderness designation for the entire 229,000 acres roadless
portion of the Gallatin Range that lies north of Yellowstone National Park
on the Custer-Gallatin National Forest. The Gallatin Range is one of the
premier unprotected national forest roadless areas in the nation and is a
vital component of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem wildland complex. It
may be the best remaining unprotected wildlife habitat in the entire
national forest system. Half of the range north of Yellowstone is already
“roaded and developed” and the remaining wildland should not be further
fragmented or reduced in size in order to satisfy vested local interests.
These lands belong to all Americans and all Americans should have equal
opportunity to weigh in on their future.

Click here
<http://forestpolicypub.com/?s=Gallatin+Community+Collaborative&submit=Search>
for
a discussion about concerns with the Gallatin Community Collaborative
debated previously on this blog.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://bigskynet.org/pipermail/missoula-community-news_bigskynet.org/attachments/20160401/28e725d4/attachment-0002.html>