hi all
Most of you know of Mt. Graham and the many year struggle to protect the area from astronomical development...now another project threatens this unique area...please read the alert below and consider signing onto a letter opposing this new destructive project...as friday is the deadline, please act today...thanx,
David Hodges
Sky Island Watch
(520)322-9819
Once again, the Forest Service is trying to build a large industrial campground at Twilight Canyon on Mt. Graham.
Twilight currently is a primitive camping area with a diversity of big, old trees, Mexican spotted owls and the very rare Apache goshawk. The Forest Service wants to develop this sensitive area with asphalt and ramadas, volleyball courts, pathways and grills. Their plan is in violation of their own Standards and Guidelines. There are several alternative sites in less sensitive areas and no evidence suggests that a new campground on Mt. Graham is even necessary.
Environmental groups have a long history fighting the Forest Service over the Twilight issue. We have been successful several times in stopping this project; however, we faced a tragic set-back after winning in 1995. A pair of Apache goshawks nesting in the area (one of only 25-30 active territories known to exist anywhere in this country) fell victim to a hostile forest ranger's press release sent to local newspapers. The release villainized the goshawks, blaming them for the campground's closure. Subsequently, the male goshawk was found dead. The good news is that goshawks nested in this area this year of the first time since that tragic event. We would like to keep them and will with your help.
For those unfamiliar with it, Mt. Graham is a "sky island," a mountain surrounded by a sea of desert. It's summit is crowned by the southernmost spruce-fir forest in North America. Mt. Graham is located where 4 different bioregions intersect (Sonoran and Chihuahuan Deserts, Rocky Mountains, and the Sierra Madre). For these reasons and more, it is a cradle of evolution for rare and unique species, many of them threatened or endangered. Mt. Graham is sacred to traditional Western Apache people as well as people from neighboring Native nations.
Following is a letter that we are asking people to consider signing. If you would like us to submit the following letter in your name, send your name and mailing address to hodges@goodnet.com. Please do this today as the deadline is Friday morning, Oct. 23. Your letter will help protect a unique and irreplaceable ecosystem.
Thank you,
David Hodges
Southwest Forest Alliance
George Asmus
District Ranger
Safford Ranger District
P.O. Box 709
Safford, AZ 85548-0709
Dear Mr. Asmus:
The following is my response to the most recent Environmental Assessment concerning the Twilight Campground development.
There are many issues that could be addressed but the most important is the preservation of natural areas that still exist in our forests. It is ironic that your district has proposed projects on Mt. Graham that attempts to restore degraded areas to a more natural condition, while destroying this area that exists in an almost natural state. It would require very little resource expenditure to return the Twilight area to a pristine condition.
For too long our forests have been mismanaged for the benefit of the few. Here, we have a chance to restore an area and provide benefits to wildlife, who do not just enjoy visiting our forest but are dependent on it for their existence. I urge your district to show that it indeed has a conservation ethic and ecological vision. This project is ill conceived and should be abandoned. As such, I support Alternative 4, which would close and revegetate the area.
Please keep me informed of developments relating to this project.
Sincerely,
Scott Silver, Executive Director,
Wild Wilderness
248 NW Wilmington Avenue, Bend OR 97701
Phone (541) 385-5261 E-mail: ssilver@wildwilderness.org